MATHEdunesa Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan Matematika Volume 3 No. 6 Tahun 2017 ISSN :2301-9085 107 PROFILE OF STUDENTS’ MATHEMATICAL COMMUNICATION ABILITIES IN LEARNING USING RECIPROCAL PEER TUTORING STRATEGY Aprilia Damayanti Mathematics Education, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, State University of Surabaya e-mail: apriliadamayanti04@gmail.com Rini Setianingsih Mathematics Education, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, State University of Surabaya e-mail: rinisetianingsih@unesa.ac.id Abstract Mathematical communication ability is the skill of students in expressing the set of problem or idea in mathematics by using concrete object, picture, graph, table or mathematical symbols as the content of the message to be delivered. Mathematical communication ability should be created in the learning process so an appropriate learning strategy should be chosen by teacher. One of the learning strategies that can be used to do so is Reciprocal Peer Tutoring Strategy. It is a strategy that focuses on the learning process in which the teacher divides the students into some groups consisting of two students in each group. This study aims to describe students’ mathematical communication ability during discussion, on writing and in oral form while they are learning mathematics using Reciprocal Peer Tutoring Strategy. This study is descriptive in nature, and using qualitative approach. There are six research subjects. They are two students with high mathematics ability, two students with medium mathematics ability and two students with low mathematics ability. The data were collected by using observation sheet to know students’ mathematical communication ability during discussion, then Mathematical Communication Ability Test to know students’ mathematical communication ability on writing and the last interview to know students’ oral mathematical communication ability. The result of the research showed that the students’ mathematical communication ability during discussion can be categorized as ‘very good’, while the one in writing form shows that students only fulfill two indicators, namely writing the formula or condition that were used to solve the problem, and writing the calculation related to the formula. In addition, in the oral form, the results show that students fulfill only the indicators of accurateness and fluency. Keywords: mathematical communication, reciprocal peer tutoring strategy INTRODUCTION The Law number 20 year 2003 about National Education System on paragraph 37 states that mathematics subject is one of the required subject for students in the elementary and middle education level. Lerner (in Abdurrahman, 2009:252) proposes that mathematics in addition to being symbolic language is also as universal language allowing humans to think, record and communicate ideas about elements and quantities. Every symbol in mathematics has a clear meaning and it is shared by everyone. In accordance with it, Sumarmo (2010) explained that mathematics as symbolic language delivers meaning that mathematics is universal and easily understood by everyone. Based on these definitions, we know that mathematics as universal language allows humans to communicate ideas. Communication is an essential part of mathematics and mathematics education (NCTM, 2000). NCTM (2000) sets out five basic abilities that students can gain when learning mathematics, namely (1) problem solving ability; (2) reasoning ability and proof; (3) communication ability; (4) connection ability; and (5) representational ability. It means that one of the basic abilities that students must possess is communication ability. In addition, NCTM (2000) also states that mathematical communication is a way to share ideas and clarify understanding, through the communication of ideas into subjects that can be reflected, corrected, discussed and revised. A study conducted by Umar (2012) explains that mathematical communication is one of the heart learning, so it is necessary to develop in the activity of learning mathematics. Similarly, the research conducted by Yang (2016) explains that mathematical communication brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by Jurnal Mahasiswa Universitas Negeri Surabaya