| To address a need for more research on teacher knowledge in second language education and applied linguistics, this study examined EFL teachers' practical knowledge and the background sources shaping their knowledge and classroom instruction.; Data included three months of classroom observations, audio and videotaped lessons, stimulus-recall activities, formal and informal interviews with teachers, thick field notes, and curriculum documents.; One finding is that teachers' knowledge is fluid, always developing through personal, professional, and educational experiences. In the process of that development, the teachers adapt and readapt their practical knowledge according to the needs and expectations of their learners as well as their accumulated experience.; Another finding is that every encounter in the classroom, whether with the whole class or an individual, has to be dealt with as a unique event at the same time that the teacher is drawing on her past experiences. A third finding is that participating in studies on their knowledge raises teachers' own awareness while it informs the research. To understand the ways in which teachers organize and deal with the complexities of teaching, teacher educators need to focus on teachers' undefined goals, their subjectivities, and their affective thinking, which help them teach within entangled domains and ill-defined problems. |
