ORIGIN AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE ONTO-SEMIOTIC APPROACH TO RESEARCH IN MATHEMATICS EDUCATION

The onto-semiotic research approach to mathematics education (EOS) was started at the University of Granada in the early nineties, as a result of the interaction of researchers from this university with the French theories of mathematics education started in France. Likewise, the diversity of theories used to study the teaching and learning of mathematics processes led to the conviction of the necessity and usefulness of clarifying and comparing them. The networking of theories strategy and the development of the onto-semiotic approach resulted from the rational analysis of principles, issues and methods of various existing theoretical frameworks and from the application of the theoretical tools developed to experimental research. In this paper, a historical overview of the origin and development of EOS, its main contributions to research in mathematics education, its current international state and some reflections on its future potential development are presented.