Abstract
Problems teaching probability in Tonga (in the South Pacific) led to the question on how language and culture affect the understanding of probability and uncertainty. The research uses a discursive approach to identify the endorsed narratives which underlie Tongans’ reasoning in situations of uncertainty. I aim to justify the claim that the Tongan language and the Tongan way of life interact to make the concept of uncertainty very different from that found in western countries and the concept of probability almost redundant in Tongan day-to-day discourse. There are very few cross-cultural studies concerning the ways in which probability and uncertainty are understood in different cultural contexts, and this article aims to make a small contribution to filling this gap.
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Notes
I was shown a copy of this in the Curriculum Development Unit of the Ministry of Education but was unfortunately unable to make a copy or record a reference
Probability theory originated with a correspondence between Pascal and Fermat. They aimed to answer a question relating to the probability of winning a card game.
The idea that angels act as intermediaries has a long history. An interesting example comes from Kepler’s description of his coming across the idea that constituted the seed of his discoveries about planetary motion. He wrote: “It would be mistaken to regard it as a pure invention of my mind ….. For as if a heavenly oracle had dictated it to me”.
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The research described in this paper was carried out in collaboration with Anna Sfard and as part of a doctoral thesis at the University of Haifa.
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Morris, N. Learning probability in the Kingdom of Tonga: the influence of language and culture. Educ Stud Math 107, 111–134 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-020-10022-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-020-10022-z