This paper is concerned with the role of language in mathematics learning at college level. Its main aim is to provide a perspective on mathematical language appropriate to effectively interpret students' linguistic behaviors in mathematics and to suggest new teaching ideas. Examples are given to show that the explanation of students' behaviors requires to take into account the role of context. Some ideas from functional linguistics are outlined and some features of the texts usually produced by students are discussed and compared to the corresponding features of standard mathematical texts. Some teaching implications are discussed as well. [For complete proceedings, see ED489632.]