Every
country has its own culture. There is a different culture between Indonesia and
Malaysia, also between Indonesia and Japan. There’s also different culture
between one province and another province in Indonesia. It is because Indonesia
is a country with thousands of islands spanning out from the West (Aceh,
Sumatra) to the East (Merauke, Irian Jaya). It is located between two oceans,
the Pacific and Indian, and two continents, Asia and Australia. The population
would be about 350 million residents. In fact by 2011, the population had grown
to 375 million. Those different cultures we usually called as ethnology.
Mathematics
learning process is also different between one country and another country. It
depends on the culture of the country. For example, in Europe we can use
mathematics problem based on four seasons. But we can’t do this in Indonesia,
since Indonesia only has two seasons. This difference usually called as ethno
mathematics. Ethno mathematics consists of the culture of mathematics, mathematical
culture, the uncultured of mathematics, and also the context of mathematics.
In
mathematics education, ethno mathematics
is the study of the relationship between mathematics
and culture
(D'Ambrosio, 1999, 146). Often associated with "cultures without written
expression" (D'Ambrosio, 1997, may paraphrases Ascher 1986), it may also
be defined as "'the mathematics which is practiced among identifiable
cultural groups'" (Powell and Frankenstein, 1997 quoting D'Ambrosio). It
refers to a broad cluster of ideas ranging from distinct numerical and
mathematical systems to multicultural mathematics education. The goal of ethno mathematics
is to contribute both to the understanding of culture and the understanding of
mathematics, and mainly to lead to an appreciation of the connections between
the two. (1)
Ethno
mathematics comes from the philosophy of mathematics that affected to the
paradigm of mathematics. This paradigm then developed into two kinds of
theories. The first theory is about history, psychology, anthropology, and
sociology. The second theorem is about mathematics. Then this two theories
combined together become ethno mathematics that developed into mathematical
context (formal mathematics, model of mathematics, model concrete, and the
concrete of mathematics. Ethno mathematics also be in ice berg theorem.
The
final project of studying ethno mathematics is a small research in mathematics
learning process that’s affected by the culture of a country. This research
based on a theory. Then from the theory we can uncover the culture phenomena,
so we get the data and develop it into a construction of research and we can
make a new theory. This research must contain of the unity, concept, method,
scope, relationship, structure, subject, characteristics, value, and timeline.
The
example of ethno mathematics around the world is on numerals. These are some
explanation of the numerals in some countries: (1)
1. English
For
instance, in English, there are four
different systems. The units words (one to nine) and ten are special. The next
two are reduced forms of Anglo-Saxon "one left
over" and "two left over" (i.e., after counting to ten).
Multiples of ten from "twenty" to "ninety" are formed from
the units words, one through nine, by a single pattern. Thirteen to nineteen,
and in a slightly different way twenty-one through ninety-nine (excluding the
tens words), are compounded from tens and units words. Larger numbers are also
formed on a base of ten and its powers ("hundred" and
"thousand"). One may suspect this is based on an ancient tradition of
finger counting. Residues of ancient counting by 20s and 12s are the words
"score", "dozen", and "gross". (Larger number
words like "million" are not part of the original English system;
they are scholarly creations based ultimately on Latin).
2. German
The
German language counts similarly to
English, but the unit is placed first in numbers over 20. For example,
"26" is "sechsundzwanzig", literally "six and
twenty". This system was formerly common in English, as seen in an
artifact from the English nursery rhyme
"Sing a Song of Sixpence": Sing a
song of sixpence, / a pocket full of rye. / Four and twenty blackbirds, / baked
in a pie.
3. French
In
the French language as used in France,
one sees some differences. Soixante-dix (literally, "sixty-ten") is
used for "seventy". The words "quatre-vingt" (literally,
"four-twenty", or 80) and "quatre-vingt-dix" (literally,
"four-twenty ten" 90) are based on 20 ("vingt") instead of
10. Swiss French and Belgian French
do not use these forms, preferring more standard Latinate
forms: octante for 80 and nonante for 90.
4. Mesopotamia
In
ancient Mesopotamia the base for constructing numbers was
60, with 10 used as an intermediate base for numbers below 60.
5. West
Africa
Many
West African languages base their number words on a combination of 5 and 20,
derived from thinking of a complete hand or a complete set of digits
comprising both fingers and toes. In fact, in some languages, the words for 5
and 20 refer to these body parts (e.g., a word for 20 that means "man
complete"). The words for numbers below 20 are based on 5 and higher
numbers combine the lower numbers with multiples and powers of 20. Of course,
this description of hundreds of languages is badly oversimplified; better
information and references can be found in Zaslavsky (1973).
From
the example above, it’s very clear that the culture of a region or a country
affected to mathematics itself. But, since mathematics also different for each
province in Indonesia, so there are some issue about ethno mathematics in
Indonesia :
1. The
role of mathematics in Yogyakarta palace
2. The
role of mathematics in Javanese culture
3. The
role of mathematics in ‘wayang’ culture
4. The
role of mathematics in Borobudur and Prambanan building
5. The
role of mathematics on the counting of someone death
6. The
role of mathematics in fengshui
7. The
role of mathematics in Javanese calendar
8. The
relation of mathematics and forecasting
9. Irrational
mathematics
10. The
relation of mathematics and horoscope
11. The
role of mathematics on Javanese ‘primbon’.