The African Mother Tongue and Mathematical Ideas

Abdul Karim Bangura’s new text has its roots deep into the socio-cultural science that has eluded Africa for so long. The colonial legacy has shattered the dreams and aspirations of African students on the continent who aspire to relate the study of mathematical science to their cosmological realities. The book demonstrates that the study of mathematics in Africa should be informed by, and anchored in the socio-cultural linguisticity of the continent since Mathematics as we know it was birthed in Kemet/Egypt. Without the marriage of linguistics and mathematics, computational science as we know it today will continue to be a pseudo-science for Africans because of the paucity of Afrocentricity in them.

Prof. Dr. Kehbuma Langmia,

Department of Strategic, Legal and Management Communication (SLMC), Cathy Hughes School of Communications

author/editor of Black/Africana communication theory

"The African Mother Tongue and Mathematical Ideas" uniquely and distinctly focuses on two very important points with a plethora of evidence. It eloquently appeals for the use and applicability of African languages in Mathematics education and the dire and urgent need for more sociopolitical research on language, teaching and the learning of mathematics.

Dr. Bangura challenges the exclusion of African languages in mathematics education. He provides a variety of ideas and critical perspectives of African languages in mathematics education and how the application of these languages in mathematics education will impact sustainable development in Africa.

The book goes beyond exploration. It illustrates, presents, highlights, and offers Africancentric perspectives in the understanding of and education of mathematics. The author methodically illustrates the important role of linguistics by outlining: Africancentricity research, Study of Linguistics and Mathematics, Semanticity, Cultural Transmission, Arbitrariness Discreteness Displacement, and The Role for Mathematicians in African Rennaissance.

This is a must read book and highly recommended for various practitioners, mathematics educators, teachers, students in various disciplines, and policy makers whose decisions impact educational curriculum.

This is a fascinating, invaluable and intriguing resource for mathematics education.

Dr. Onimi Wilcox

Lee College