Three embodied voices speaking on/to research on language, mathematics, and the learner

In this literature synthesis, the three authors bring their embodied voices to collectively retrace the political-cultural-racialized-gendered topographies where key conceptualizations of language, mathematics, and the learner have emerged. Recognizing that they themselves have never been outside these landscapes as mere objective observers, the authors project their situated voices to critically consider—always with a sense of ownership and responsibility—what the field of language and mathematics research has done with/to these conceptualizations. These critical considerations are intended as a collective reminder that the field of language and mathematics education research can move forward by (re)engaging a dialogue between “what is” and “what could be” In this sense, the purpose of this literature synthesis is not to report yet another state of the art in the field, but rather to pierce through ongoing discourses to re-engage the field in reimagining possibilities for reopening, revising, and reimagining the concepts, methodologies, and philosophies that inform research in language and mathematics education. The synthesis concludes with a discussion of how and why our multivocal literature synthesis matters in the field of mathematics education research.