Comparative Study Of Two EFL Course Content From The Perspective Of Pedagogical Content Knowledge

According to the concept of pedagogical content knowledge (commonly referred to as PCK) which is put forward by Shulman, and other scholar's development, this study tries to explain the essence and characteristics of PCK in the FLTE (Foreign Language Normal Education) curriculum, and propose a kind of knowledge view and teacher's knowledge development view, which should be based on the teacher's personal theory.So this study has selected two typical texts of foreign language normal education curriculum in china as research subjects (One is A Course in English Language Teaching which is edited by professor Wang of Beijing normal university, the other is 3DR Courses for TEFL, which is edited by professor Han and her research group of Hainan normal university). Through investigating and comparative analysis, this study intends to answer a series of questions, e.g., what kind of knowledge could be provided for EFL student teachers in these two course content? How will the knowledge be different in nature and characteristic? How do they impact EFL student teachers'understanding on foreign language teaching? How do these two different types of knowledge reflect people's different understanding and interpreting of PCK? What kind of different knowledge view and teacher's knowledge development view could be reflected according to people's different understanding of PCK? Seeking answers to the above questions may provide empirical referential opinions and research information for the EFL course development and construction, the EFL teacher educator's reflection on teacher's knowledge view.The discussing framework of this study mainly derives from the analysis and induction of related literature about"knowledge","teacher's knowledge","course","course content","teacher education course content"studied by experts and scholars in and out of China. This framework covers three dimensions including"course content and knowledge","teacher education course content and teacher's knowledge","EFL course content and English teacher's knowledge". The details of each dimension rank from the lowest level to the highest one and they are interblended with each other, which work together to give basic thinking of the study.In order to have a deep insight into the course content, this study has mainly adopted qualitative research approach, analyzed different texts, discussed and described the difference between two course content in knowledge structure,knowledge focus,intellectual properties, and tries to explore the different course goals, various teacher's knowledge views,teacher's knowledge development views, and different teacher educator's own understanding of PCK. Due to the limitation of the study pattern, this study has lacked of in-depth investigation on course implementation process, so the research fruits can only partly reflect the essence and characteristics of PCK.The study has got the following major findings: first, the two course goals are different: BNU course pays more attention to the integrity and systematicity of PCK, and emphasizes the importance of cultivating student teachers' understanding and memory of the knowledge, so that student teachers can"master certain teaching theories and teaching methods"; HNU course underlines student teachers' own teaching understanding, and makes introduction of PCK, meanwhile, introduces teaching case, so that student teachers can learn how to describe the main events in the class with their own language and understand teaching through class events gradually. Second, the two kinds of knowledge view are dissimilar: BNU course highlights the objectivity and certainty of knowledge, it regards PCK as a kind of knowledge that can be accepted through receiving information and memory; HNU course stresses the subjectivity and particularity of teachers'own knowledge, and it tries to help student teachers understand English teaching and learning better through description,design,demonstration and reflection. Third, above difference show that different teacher educator has different understanding of teacher's knowledge: one emphasizes applied science of teacher's knowledge; the other stresses practice & reflection of teacher's knowledge.According to the intersection & decision-making of PCK, this study has drawn the following conclusions: first, practice and reflection is the basic way for teachers to understand teaching, so related knowledge should become important parts of teacher education curriculum content; second, according to the learning theory of social constructivism and the characteristics of English teaching knowledge, groups culture construction and "spiral" course content structure and presentation may be more suitable for the student teacher's construction of PCK.However, how to combine the theoretical teaching knowledge which the BNU course emphasizes and the practice & reflection which the HNU course stresses is worth studying further.