Constructing EFL Teacher Knowledge Base: A case study of the fourth year EFL pre-service teachers

Abstract

—Pre-service teacher education plays an imperative role in constructing the knowledge base of EFL teachers. The objectives of the study are to draw an initial classification of the elements of teachers’ knowledge base based on the types of knowledge and the kind of resources that the pre-service teachers have obtained to develop it and why such sources were employed. The data were collected through interviews addressed to five pre service teachers who were in the beginning of their fourth year of the study. The interviews reveal that they recognize pedagogical knowledge in designing lesson but they do not acknowledge the other knowledge domains. In addition, the teachers employed pedagogical courses, their personal experience, and internet as the resource to obtain their knowledge because these resources provide practical benefits for the teaching. Considering the partial representation of EFL teacher knowledge base and the unclear contribution of the teacher education courses in developing the knowledge base, it is suggested that different types of knowledge and skills are designed to provide the benefits for the pre-service teachers and emerge as influential resource for developing the teacher knowledge base.