TERMINOLOGY OF FUNCTION ARGUMENTS IN MICROSOFT EXCEL: AN ANALYSIS OF THE LOOKUP_VALUE ARGUMENT OF THE VLOOKUP FUNCTION IN MATHEMATICS EDUCATION

This study analyzes the correspondence between Lookup_value, the name assigned to the first argument of the VLOOKUP function in Microsoft Excel, and the role played by this element in the lookup operation. The qualitative study combines document analysis with controlled functional testing in Excel, using text, numerical, and date inputs. For comparison, official sources and interfaces from Google Sheets and LibreOffice Calc were examined. The tests showed that the nature of the input can vary without altering its role in the procedure in the cases analyzed. The comparative examination identified Lookup_value, search_key, and Search criterion for functionally corresponding positions, revealing lexical choices that emphasize different aspects of the operation. The results neither establish the superiority of any of these formulations nor indicate a failure in VLOOKUP processing. They do, however, reveal an issue of conceptual correspondence between the name used and the role performed in the lookup operation. In Mathematics Education, this distinction contributes to including interface terminology in the analysis of computational representations.