This article discusses the development of a unified social theory of genre learning based on the integration of rhetorical genre studies, activity theory, and the situated learning perspective. The article proposes that these three theoretical perspectives are compatible and complementary, and it illustrates applications of a unified framework to a study of genre learning by novice engineers. The author draws examples from a longitudinal qualitative study of a group of novice engineers who developed their professional genre knowledge through both academic and workplace experiences. These examples illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework for the study of professional genre learning.Genres [are] trajectory entities through which participants negotiate their way through time and space.-Schryer (2005) The perceptions resulting from actions are a central feature in both learning and activity. How a person perceives activity may be determined by tools and

This article explores the role of students’ prior, or antecedent, genre knowledge in relation to their developing disciplinary genre competence by drawing on an illustrative example of an engineering genre-competence assessment. The initial outcomes of this diagnostic assessment suggest that students’ ability to successfully identify and characterize rhetorical and textual features of a genre does not guarantee their successful writing performance in the genre. Although previous active participation in genre production (writing) seems to have a defining influence on students’ ability to write in the genre, such participation appears to be a necessary but insufficient precondition for genre-competence development. The authors discuss the usefulness of probing student antecedent genre knowledge early in communication courses as a potential source for macrolevel curriculum decisions and microlevel pedagogical adjustments in course design, and they propose directions for future research.

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This article explores the multimodal nature of teaching university mathematics in international contexts. It focuses on the 'cinematic' art of teaching, applying a multimodal approach in the analysis of the pedagogical genre of 'chalk talk' as embodied disciplinary practice. The research draws on rhetorical genre studies and theories of situated learning and communities of practice. The data considered for the study consist of audio/video recorded lectures, observational notes, and semi-structured interviews collected from 50 participants teaching in 7 countries. Participants differ in linguistic, cultural, and educational backgrounds, teaching experience, and languages they use for instruction. The study suggests that a multimodal treatment of chalk talk as an embodied disciplinary pedagogical practice of teaching mathematics in the undergraduate lecture classroom allows researchers to further uncover the complexity of this genre. Better understanding the embodied pedagogical practices of the international mathematics CoP may lead to new insights regarding disciplinary-specific pedagogies. key wordsgenre, multimodal analysis, disciplinarity, professional practice, university mathematics multimodal communication The cinematic art of teaching university mathematics: chalk talk as embodied practice Janna Fox and Natasha Artemeva C a r l e t o n U n i v e r s i t y , C a n a d a

This article reports on an international study of the teaching of undergraduate mathematics in seven countries. Informed by rhetorical genre theory, activity theory, and the notion of Communities of Practice, this study explores a pedagogical genre at play in university mathematics lecture classrooms. The genre is mediational in that it is a tool employed in the activity of teaching. The data consist of audio/video-recorded lectures, observational notes, semistructured interviews, and written artifacts collected from 50 participants who differed in linguistic, cultural, and educational backgrounds; teaching experience; and languages of instruction. The study suggests 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. Pervasive pedagogical genres, like chalk talk, which develop within global disciplinary communities of practice, appear to override local differences across contexts of instruction. Better understanding these genres may lead to new insights regarding academic literacies and teaching.