The writings on the board: An international study of chalk talk genre in teaching undergraduate mathematics Associate Professor Natasha Artemeva Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada Date: Friday 6th May 2011 Time: 12.00 13.00 pm Venue: Education Lecture Theatre 351, The University of Sydney In this presentation I report on a large-scale longitudinal international study of the teaching of undergraduate mathematics in six countries (Artemeva & Fox, 2010). It was informed by an integrated socio-cultural theoretical framework (Artemeva, 2008), which brings together Rhetorical Genre Studies (RGS), Activity Theory, and theories of situated learning (e.g., Artemeva & Freedman, 2006; Freedman & Medway, 1994; Miller, 1984). In this framework pedagogical genres are viewed as meditational tools employed by teachers in the activity of teaching. Study participants (n=55) differed in linguistic, cultural and educational backgrounds, years of teaching, and their language of instruction. The study demonstrates that chalk talk, namely, writing out a mathematical narrative on the board while talking aloud, is the central pedagogical genre of the undergraduate mathematics lecture classroom. Drawing on audio/video recorded lectures, observational notes, semi-structured interviews, and written artifacts, I report on what repeats and what differs in the enactment of the chalk talk genre across international sites and participants. The findings suggest that powerful pedagogical genres, like chalk talk, which develop within disciplinary communities of practice, override linguistic and cultural differences across contexts of instruction.