EFL Teachers’ Practical Knowledge About Tertiary-Level English Reading Instruction:a Case Study

Practical knowledge is believed to be the knowledge base of teachers’ professional development, but it has not been sufficiently explored in specific content areas. In a foreign language teaching and learning context, reading is the primary source of English input, and it accounts for a large proportion of English courses in Chinese universities. Investigating Chinese EFL teachers’practical knowledge about tertiary-level English reading instruction is thus of theoretical and practical importance. The author conducted a multiple-case study investigating the practical knowledge of four EFL instructors teaching tertiary-level English reading over a period of one to two years. Data was collected using class observation, interviews of teachers, questionnaires and interviews of students, course syllabus, etc. Three research questions are addressed:What are the contents of the practical knowledge of the four EFL instructors teaching tertiary-level English reading? What are the features of their practical knowledge? How does their practical knowledge develop and change? The major findings of the study are as follows:Firstly, six core knowledge categories of the four EFL instructors’practical knowledge about reading instruction are identified. English reading content knowledge is about "what to read", "how to read" and "why to read". English reading curriculum knowledge involves setting course objectives, selecting and using course materials in personalized ways, finding extensions from the texts, handling the tension between language forms and content, and using the courseware flexibly. English reading pedagogical knowledge is teachers’knowledge about ways of creatively representing and explaining the texts and organizing classroom activities in order to make the texts comprehensible to students and help students develop their reading ability, including using illustrating tools such as giving examples, drawing pictures, telling stories, using guiding questions to facilitate reflection, overt instruction about particular language points, encouraging multiple ways of interpreting, making the texts relevant to students and integrating reading with writing or other skills. Knowledge about the relationship between self and reading is teachers’understanding of the reciprocal relationship between self and the teaching of reading, including personal meaning of English reading, perception of one’s role and competence in teaching reading, and self-concept formed as a result of teaching reading. Knowledge about the relationship between students and reading has three aspects:understanding students’characteristics and teaching them accordingly, perception of what reading the texts means to students, perception of one’s relationship with students and students’role in interpreting texts. Contextual knowledge about reading instruction is teachers’understanding of sociocultural context and school environment as reflected in teaching reading, and teachers’ knowledge about how to facilitate dialogues between students and the texts in classroom contexts.Secondly, the individual characteristics of each teacher’s practical knowledge about English reading instruction are revealed by analyzing the representing forms of his or her practical knowledge, such as images. Further comparison and analysis of the four cases reveal the governing theme and disciplinary dimensions of practical knowledge about EFL reading instruction. The governing theme of these teachers’ practical knowledge about English reading instruction is the dialogic relationship between the teacher, the students and texts. "Infusion of horizon" at various levels can be achieved by classroom dialogues of the three parties. There are four dimensions of practical knowledge as related to the subject of English reading:linguistic, cognitive, sociocultural and aesthetic-educative.Thirdly, based on personal life history, personal attainments and experiences related to the subject matter, teaching experience and the learning of education theory, teachers develop their practical knowledge about English reading instruction through constant reflection in educational contexts, with professional motivation as the internal driving force and environmental factors as external medium. Reflection-fbr-practice during teaching design and reflection-on-action after teaching practice are equally important as reflection-in-action.With the contents and features of EFL teachers’ practical knowledge about reading instruction proposed here, this study can provide insights into Chinese EFL teachers’ cognition about reading instruction, shed light on the study of teachers’ practical knowledge in general education research, and draw implications for EFL reading instructors’ teaching, their professional development and English curriculum reform in Chinese universities.