content knowledge and instructional practice

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ontent Knowledge and Instructional PracticeIn Second Language Teacher ducationJack Richards

This paper seeks to examine approaches to second language teacher education (SLTE) byconsidering two issues: content knowledge, and instructional practice. The status of both thesedomainswithin the field ofSLTEwill first be examined and then implications for the design of SLTEprogams will be considered. While the training and preparation of second language teachers awell established activitywithin the field of language teaching, with a wide variety of courses, degreeprograms, and professional diplomas and certificates being offered world wide, the recognition ofsecond language teacher education as an emerging generic field, is relatively new. This paperconsiders the extent to which SLTE has developed a coherent theoretical foundation and. evolveda specific body of educational practices.In planning SLTE programs, the basic decisions which have to be considered are the same as thoseinvolved in planning any kind of instructional program - namely, what do we teach, and how do weteach it? Decisions of the first kind have to do with what can be termed Peda202ical ContentKnowled2e, and the lat ter with Instructional Practice. For example, a decision that prospectivelanguage teachers should study something about cross cultural communication is part of the domainof Pedagogical ontent Knowledge. f decision that they should acquire this information byattending a workshop in which they take part in simulation-activities designed to raise issuesconcerning cultural differences in communicative styles, is a question of Instructional Practice.Issues raised in making decisions in both of these domains form the focus for the rest of this paper.

Pedagogical ontent KnowledgeIn the present context, Pedagogical ontent Knowledge is defined as the core set of theories,concepts and practices regarding second language learning and teaching which form the contentofSecondLanguageTeacherEducation.Marks (1990,p. 9) definesPedagogicalontentKnowledgeas:

a class knowledge that central to teacher s work and that would not typically be held bynonteaching subject matter experts or by teachers who know little ihat subject matter

In order to determine the Pedagogical ontent Knowledge of the field of SLTE, it necessary toidentify the sources of this knowledge. t least four sources are available in SLTE: expert opinion,task analysis, teacher-perceived needs, and current practice or tradition. Expert opinion refersto the views of subject matter specialists and other experts as to what it is that prospective secondlanguage teachers need to know. Task analysis refers to deriving pedagogical content knowledgefrom an analysis of the situations in which teachers work, the tasks they typically perform on thejob, and the kinds of skills they need for performing those tasks. Teacher-perceived needs refersto teachers expressions ofneed for professional development. urrent practice refers towhatSLTEprograms currently offer to teachers in training. These four sources can provide guidance in settingup new programs and in evaluating how well the profession is meeting its aims.


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Expert KnowledgeA long accepted practice in determining curriculum content is to ask experts what they think theclients need to know. In a field such as SL T which draws on a n umb er of source disciplines, itis not always clear who the relevant experts are. This has not always >een t he case. Forty yearsago, linguists regarded themselves as experts in second language teaching and had a considerableinfluence on both the content and process of second language teacher training programs Richards Rodgers, 1986). Fewwould expect linguists to have a major input to the design of SLT programstoday, but there is no consensus as to what the m ost appropriate expertise is. could come fromsuch fields as General Education, Instructional Design, Curriculum Development, Teacher Education,Second Language Acquisition, or Applied Linguistics, depending on one s persuasion.Views oflanguage teaching specialists as to what constitutes the core body of theory, concepts, skills,and practices in the field are most readily seen in what they write about the field. C om parison ofthe content of introductorytextbooks in the field reveals a reasonable base of current expert opinion.Rivers 1981) Teachina: Foreiw Lanlrnaa:e Skins, for example, covers the following areas:1 Objectives of Language Teaching2 Language Teaching Methods3 Theories of Language and Language Learning4 Structured Practice5 Teaching Sounds6 Listening Comprehension7 The Speaking Skill: Learning the Fundamentals8 The Speaking Skill: Expressing Personal Meaning9 The Reading Skill10 The Writing Skill11 Cultural Understanding12 Testing: Principles and Techniques13 Technology and Language Learning CentersOmaggio s Teachina: Lanlrnaa:e in Context 1986), another comprehensive introduction to languageteaching, covers the following:1 First Principles2 Methodology in Transition3 The Role of Context in Comprehension and Learning4 A Proficiency-Oriented Approach to Listening and Reading5 Developing Oral Proficiency6 Becoming Proficient in Writing7 The Accuracy Issue8 Classroom Testing8 Teaching for Cultural Understanding9 Planning Instruction for the Proficiency-Oriented ClassroomA book representing the British approach in T ES OL , A bbott and Wingard s The Teachina: ofEna:lish as an International Lanpaa e 1981) treats these topics:

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1 Approaches to English Teaching2 Pronunciation - perception and production3 Comprehension and listening4 Comprehension and reading5 Oral fluency6 Writing7 Assessment8 Error analysis9 Remedial work1 Planning your teaching11 The teacher and the class12 Putting things in perspectiveAnother British text, Harmer s The Practice of Ena:lish LanKUaa:e Teachina: 1983), includes:1: Why do people learn languages2 What a native speaker knows3 What a language student should learn4 Language learning and language teaching5 Teaching the productive skills6 Introducing new language7 Practice8 Communicative activities9 Receptive skills1 Class management11 PlanningThese books share some common themes. They reflect a skills-oriented approach, rather than onewhich attributes a primary role to the teaching of grammar or literature. They include considerationofsuch issues as theories of language, second language learning, and learner errors. They do notadvocate a specific method of teaching such as the Audiolingual Methodor The NaturalApproach.)They differ in the extent to which they deal with cultural issues, classroom management, andassessment.How did an earlier generation of experts define the core content of the field? Brooks LanK\laa:eand anpaa e teamina 1960) - a classic in the days of Audiolingualism - includes chapters onthe following issues:1 Theory of Language2 Language and Talk3 Mother Tongue and Second Language4 Language Learning5 Language Teaching6 Language and Culture7 Language and Literature8 Objectives of the Language Course9 Continuity for the Leamer1 Methods and Materials11 The Language Laboratory

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12. Tests and Meaurements13. Building a ProfessionBright and McGregor's Teachin En lish as a Second Lan Ua e (1970), another influential bookin the seventies which represents the British approach to T FL at that time, has chapters on thefollowing topics:1. Generalisations2. Vocabulary3. Reading4. Writing5. Speech6. Drama7. Poetry8. GrammarIn comparing an earlier generation of books with more recent texts, we see that most of the issuesidentified by Brooks thirty years ago are still considered central to the field. More recent books,however, acknowledge the last twenty years of research and theorizing in such areas as secondlanguage acquisition, language comprehension, language transfer, and interlanguage. Likewise, theskills plus grammar and literature focus seen in books such as Bright and McGregor havenowbeen supplemented by treatment of syllabus design and testing and a more sophisticated linguisticbase, drawing from disciplines such as stciolinguistics and psycholinguistics. However, both recentand earlier texts typically present a view of language content which consists of subject matterknowledge (Le., language and language related matters) and skills (Le., presenting new materials,practice techniques, and classroom management).Task AnalysisAnother source for determining the content of SLT programs is through identifying the kinds ofthings that teachers do on the job, and deriving components for a teacher education program fromthe information obtained. s Connell (1985, p. 69) states, Teachers areworkers, teaching is workand the school is a workplace. In order to identify priorities to be addressed in a teacher educationprogram, Smith (cited in Fanselow Light 1977, p. 5) suggests is necessary to:

analyze the jo of teaching into the tasks that must be performedb specify the abilities required for the performance of these tasksc. describe the skills or techniques through which the abilities are expressedd work out training situations nd exercises for the development of each skill

Information on the task base of teachingwas obtained from a survey of expatriateT SOL teachersn Japan (Richards Hino, 1983). Respondents (N=116) indicated that the ten tasks they mostfrequently had to undertake were:1. teach speaking2. teach listening3. prepare materials4. use audiovisual aids

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5 design curriculum/syllabuses6 prepare tests7 teach writing8 teach reading9 interpret test scores1 do administrative workThesame subjects indicated that the methods they most frequently employed in the classroomwere: combination of methods2 direct method3 notional/functional4 audiolingual5 Total Physical ResponseIn a recent study of Hong Hong English teachers, (Richards, Tung, Ng, 1990) a number ofdimensions of teachers work were identified in a questionnaire study. n response to a questionon the kinds of teaching activities and techniques teachers employed, the tenmost frequently citedactivities were N=137): doing reading/writing exercises in the textbook2 written grammar exercises 3 composition4 pair/group work5 reading aloud6 dictation7 oral grammar exercises8 . pronunciation drills9 role-play1 gamesThe differences between the teaching practices of teachers in the Japanese and Hong Kong studyreflect the conversational focus of many English language programs in Japan, and the exambasedteaching seen in many HongKong schools. The teaching approaches and methods the Hong Kongteachers identified as using most frequently were: grammar-based approach: studying the structures of the language2 a functional approach: using language for communicative purposes3 a situational approach: learning language used in particular contexts4 a reading approach: learning language through reading5 an eclectic approach geared to meeting the requirements of the examinationsAs with most areas of SLTE, information on the tasks teachers actually carry out as par t of theirprofessional life is generally umeported, though information on the roles and practices of teachersin particular programs is available (e.g., Shaw Dowsett, 1986; Nunan, 1987).

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Attempts to derive educational goals and content from analysis of the tasks that teachers performin their work has been identified with a reconstructionist approach to educational planning, Le.onewhich emphasizes the importance of planning, efficiency and rationality andwhich stresses thepractical aspects of education. In second language teaching this approachemphasizes the promotionof practical skills, makes use of objectives, and advocates a systematic approach to needs analysis,program development, and syllabus design (Clark, 1987). is typically identified with a trainingapproach to teacher education, that is one which sees the teacher as a skilled craftsperson ortechnician, who is concerned primarily with the successful accomplishment of ends decided byothers (Zeichner Liston, 1987, p. 27).Teacher-Perceived NeedsIn the case of inserviceprogram design, teachers can also be consulted directly about the kind ofprofessional development and training they think they need. In the Japanese study cited above(Richards Hino, 1984), when asked what issues theywould like to study more about if they wereto pursue a Master's degree in TESOL, experienced expatriate English teachers in Japan withoutgraduate TESOL qualifications indicated preferences for the following topics/areas (N=75): teaching of listening2. teaching of speaking3. second language acquisition 4. materials writing, selection and adaptation5. curriculum and syllabus design6. use of audiovisual aids7. psycholinguistics8. sociolinguistics9. teaching of writing10. teaching of readingThis prioritizing of needs reflects the kinds ofwork which expatriate English teachers in Japan aretypically engaged in teaching speaking and listening skills in conversation programs. Usingteachers as a sourceof informationaboutprogramcontentraises the tricky question of o teachersreally know what they need to know? The difference between what teachers think they need toknow and what experts think teachers need to know is often striking. Many teachers disavow anyinterest in the theoretical issues which occupy an important place in graduate TESOL programs.For example, comments such as the following were typical in the Japan study cited above:

would not be interested in any theoretic l courses am only interested in things that could beused tomorrow

would have little interest in theory n rese rch per seCompare these views with an expert's opinion of what teachers' need:The professional teacher of English as a Second Language needs pedagogical training to be ateacher, and academic training in English language and linguistics to be a professional in our field.But of the two, there is a certain priority for English language and linguistics, for a decision on the

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nature of language and on the psycholinguistic mechanisms of language acquisitionwill determineto a large extent our decision on the principles and methods of teaching. Diller, cited in Richards Hino, 1984.Current PracticeAnother source for the content of SLTE programs is information about what is typically offeredin current programs. What kinds of courses and learning experiences are typically provided insecondlanguage teacher educationprograms around theworld? Informationof this kind is availablefrom various sources, including directories of programs as well as surveys of aspects of differentprograms e.g., Richards Crookes, 1988). In the Japanese survey, teachers with M TESOLdegreeswere asked to indicate the subjects they studied as part of their graduate training. The datawas collected in 1982and the average number ofyears sincegraduationwas7N=41).The followingcourses had been taken:Rank Subject/Area1 phonology/phonetics2 transformational grammar3 structural linguistics4 second language acquisition5 first language acquisition6 contrastive analysis7 teaching of speaking8 teaching of writing9 teaching of listening1 teaching of reading11 sociolinguistics12 method analysis13 psycholinguistics14 practice teaching15 traditional grammar16 error analysis17 semantics18 materials writing, selection, and adaptation19 language testing2 history of language teaching21 curriculum/syllabus design22 use of audiovisual aids23 pedagogical grammar24 varieties of English25 classroom management26 discourse analysis27 statistics and research28 bilingual education

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who took course work in this area979592888584797976767573737270686663585857565247464645


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It can be seen that theory courses predominated in the graduate courses taken by most of theseteachers. A useful source of information about the content of graduate TESOL programs is theDirectoO of Professional Preparation Proarrams in TESOL in the United States 989 99(Kornblum, 1989). The directory lists all graduate programs available in the US, and also containsinformation about the required courses in such programs.The content of the courses listed varies widely, since US programs are directed at different kindsofstudents: the focus maybe research oriented, oriented towards teaching skills, or directed towardsthe requirements of state school systems. Thus the required courses in the program offered atCalifornia State University, Domingues Hills, are:

PhonologyMorphologySyntaxPsycholinguisticsContrastive analysisLinguistic theoryTeaching methods (2 courses)English literature

By contrast theprogram offered at Eastern MichiganUniversity has the following required courses:Observation and analyses of ESL programsTheoretical foundations of second language pedagogyA pedagogical grammar and phonology of ESLMethods of T SOL (Reading, Writing, Grammar)ESL materials: review, adaptation and development(Reading, Writing, Grammar)Methods of T SOL (Listening, Speaking, Pronunciation)SL materials: review, adaptation, development(Listening, Speaking, Pronunciation)Foreign language testing and evaluationT SOL practicumT SOL seminar

n examination of the course requirements in a sample of 50 MATESOL programs listed theTESOL directory reveals the following required courses:

CourseT SOL methods and materialsEnglish grammar/syntaxlinguisticspractice teachingphonologysecond language acquisition

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Number of programs requiring47

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syllabus/curriculum designtestingresearch in TESOLlanguage and cultureteaching readingcontrastive/ error analysissociolinguisticsbilingual educationteaching writinghistory of Englishpsycholinguistics

2424612

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iscussionedagogical content knowledge in SLTE programs typically consists of courses selected from twoain areas: subject matter knowledge (language theory, English grammar, phonology, secondnguage learning, etc.) and teachingskills (methodology, classroommanagement, presentation andactice techniques, etc.).aditionally, language-based courses have been given a major emphasis, and this is partly aeflection of the history of the TESOL profession. In a survey of M TESOL programs in 1977,esonnoted: The lackofconcernwith sucheducationalmatters as competency and performance

n the classroom is partly explicable byhe fact that only about ten of America s 50 TESOLpartments appeared to be affiliated to schools, departments, or colleges of education. Themaining 40 were attached to departments of linguistics, English, foreign languages, speech, orher aminstrative units in the academic institutions. Furthermore inmany cases, it is surmised thathe preparation of teacher educators in the TESOL teacher preparation programs has beenxclusively in linguistics, rather than in education and or the teachin2 of ESOL. (Acheson, 1977,

e currentDirectoryofProfessionalPrograms inTESOL in the UnitedStates (TESOL 1989) givessomewhat similar picture of where M TESOL programs are currently located:Home departmentEnglishEducation/CurriculumlinguisticsForeign languagesESL TESOLOther

Number of programs4642569

me28 ofprograms are now located in departments of education, comparedwith the 20 foundAcheson s survey. The lack of consensus as to what the core disciplines underlying SLTE are isen in the widely different components of programs as well as in the fact that they are located inuch a spectrum of different university departments. This supports Freeman s observation:

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Languageteachereducation has become increasingly fragmented and unfocused Basedona kaleidoscope elements from many different disciplines, efforts to educate individuals as language teachers often lacka coherent, commonlyacceptedfoundation In itsplace teachereducatorsand teachereducationprogramssubstitute theirown individual rationales, based on pedagogical assumptions or research, orfunction ina vacuum assuming -- yet never articulating -- the bases from which they work. Freeman, 1989, p. 27

This kind of problem is not unfamilar in other areas of teacher education. Students preparing toenter the general teaching profession, for example, are generally required to take courses in thepsychology of education , but increasingly both student teachers and educators have begun to askwhy such a subject should be required, what such a field is supposed to include, what relevance thas to classroom practice, and how it should be taught d the entry on Teacher Traininl: in Harreand Lamb 1986).Freeman 1989) argues that SLTE is confused about its pedagogical content base because theprofession has failed to appreciate the distinction between language teaching and the areas ofinquiry on which it is based linguistics, applied linguistics, methodology, SLA, etc.). He points outthat applied linguistics and methodology should not be confused with teaching itself, and shouldnot be the primary subject matter of language teacher education 1989, p. 29). In a paper with asimilar focus Richards 1987, p. 205) noted that there has been little systematic study of secondlanguage teaching processes that could provide a theoretical basis for deriving practices in secondlanguage teacher education . It was argued that pedagogical content knowledge in SLTE shouldbe derived from a theory of teaching, that is, a statement of the general principles that account foreffective teaching, including a specification of the key variables in language teaching and how theyare interrelated. This would focus on examining the concepts and thinking processes that guide theeffective second language teacher. Freeman 1989, p. 31) sees this as a focus on language teachingas a decision-making process based on four constituents: knowledge, skills, attitude, and awareness.Such a reorientation of the content of SLT programmes would entail a reexamination of theteaching approaches used in such programmes. It is to this dimension of SLTE that we now turn.Instructional Practice in SLITHow is the content of SLT programs typically taught andwhat instructional options are available?Unfortunately, there is no data avilable on this issue, though observation of and participation na number of such programs suggests that most often information transmission is the major modeof instruction. The assumption is that by providing teachers with information about language,language learning, and methodology, teachers themselves will be able to apply such informationto their own classroom practices. There is a considerable irony here. or years, language teachingspecialists have argued teach them the language, not a 2mtlthe language. But in SLT programs,the focus is often on giving information, rather than on exploring the process of teaching itself. an attempt is made to link theorywith practice, it is generally through the practicum or teachingpractice experience. In a survey of the practicum course in US graduate programs Richards Crookes, 1988,) it was found that the second most frequently cited objective for the practicum w sto apply instruction from theory courses . Oftenhowever, this application is left entirely to chance,and the practicum is run as a self-contained and independent component of the student teacher steacher education program.

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What alternatives are available if we are interested in developing second language teachereducation programs which move beyond subject matter knowledge and teaching techniques andwhich focus in a substantialway on theprocess of teaching itself? A startingpoint is the developmentofgoalswhich acknowledge teaching and the study oflanguage teaching as the fundamental contentofthe field ofsecond language teachereducation. The following are examplesofgoalswhich identifythe teaching process itself as the subject matter of SLTE:

to develop a high level of competence in language teaching and its related activities;to develop a personal theory of teaching and a reflective approach to one s own teaching;to become aware of the contexts of teaching (settings, participants, curriculum, materials) andthe effects of these on teaching and learning;to recognize the theories and beliefs underlying one s own teaching practices;to understand the roles of teachers and learners in the classroom and the different levels ofinteraction they take part in;to develop awareness of different options available in language teaching and the consequencesof selecting different options;to acquire skills needed for classroom based inquiry;to recognize the kinds of decision-making teaching involves and to utilize decision-makingeffectively in one s own teaching;to be able to analyze and evaluate one s own teaching practice;to be able to redirect goals and s rategies in teaching;to know how to initiate change in one s own classroom and how to monitor the effects of suchchanges.

In developing teacher education programs, activities are then needed which enable these kinds ofgoals to be realized. While lectures, seminars, and discussions will continue to provide one modeofinput to program implementation, more experientially based approaches are needed to address.the kinds of goals identified above. Activities of this kind include the following: Observing teaching in different settings

a. Observation of experienced teachersb. eer observationc. Study of video protocols of lessons

Experiencing teaching in different settingsa. Microteachingb. Practice teachingc eam teachingd Internships.pa

3 Investigating teaching and learninga Case studiesb. Investigative projectsc Analysis of lesson protocols

4 Reflecting critically on teaching/learning experiencesa. Diariesb. Language learning experiences


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c Reflective teachingd. Self-monitoring

5 Focusing on critical events in teacha. Problem-solvingb. Role plays and simulations

6 Carrying out project-worka. Action researchb. Curriculum and materials projects

Let us now consider how some of these activities canbe used in pre-service and inservice programsin teacher education. Examples are drawn largely from programs currently being taught ordeveloped at the CityPolytechnic ofHongKong an in-service degree for teachers of English, anda pre-service Hons) degree in TESL.Observing Teaching in Different SettingsObservation of teaching is a standard component ofmost teacher educationprograms. In both preand in-service courses it canserve to help develop concepts that can be used to describe and analyzethe nature of classroom events. In pre-service programs, observation both of live teachers and ofvideotaped lessons) can be used to help teachers develop a terminology to describe and discussteaching, and to provide datawithwhich to examine central concepts in their own teaching. In ourwork with in-service teachers, teachers are first taught techniques of ethnographic observation in

rder to disassociate observation from the notion of evaluation, to develop the ability to focus onthe objective description of classroom events, and to develop a language to describe classroomprocesses. In the pre-service program, observation has a related focus. Since the participants in thisprogram have no teaching experience, observations of different kinds ofESL classes are intendedto orient studentteachers to the nature of the second language classroom, itsorganization, practices,and norms, and to enable student teachers to develop an awareness of the kinds and levels ofinteraction that happen in language classrooms.Experiencing Teaching in Different SettingsIn our pre-service degree we are exploring a number of alternatives to depending solely on theteaching practicum as a source for practical experience of teaching. One avenue we are exploringinvolves a re-examination of micro-teaching.Microteaching is traditionally associated with a training-based view of teaching. This view is builton the assumption that teaching can be broken down into individual skills that can be isolated andpracticed individually, such as drilling, correcting errors, and presenting new vocabulary orgrammar. While this skills-based view of teaching has been criticized as offering a limited viewof teaching, microteaching activities can be used to provide different kinds of teaching experiences,which can then be used as a basis for reflection and analysis.The emphasis is placed not on mastering a specific isolated skill, for example, but on identifyingand reacting to the total teaching act. The task given to the students is accordingly more holisticand the expectations from the feedback sessions are both broader and less precise. Kornblueth Schoenberg, 1990,p. 17)


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Cruickshank et a1., 1981) have developed n approach which has the following features: student teachers are divided into small groups of four to six;2 each are given an identical lesson to teach and have a few days to prepare for teaching to the

small group;3 content is not drawn from their academic subject Le., future English teachers might present

a geography lesson: this is intended to encourage focus on the process of teaching rather thanon the content);4 lessons are taught within a 5 minute time frame;5 a reflection process follows, within each group and then with the class as a whole.Modifications of this approach are used in the pre-service program.Investigating Teaching nd LearningA primary goal in inservice programs is to provide teachers with ways of looking t their ownclassrooms from a different perspective. Activities which promote self-inquiry and critical thinkingare central for continued professional growth, and are designed to help teachers move from a levelwhere their classroom actions are guided by routine to a level where their practices are guided byreflection and critical thinking.One course in the in-service program, for example, focuses on exploring classroom processes. Eachweek one aspect of classroom life is examined. Topics covered include structuring, learner rolesand strategies, teacher roles, teacher decision-making, tasks, grouping, teacher-student interaction,and classroom language. Initially in seminar sessions, video protocols of actual lessons are used toidentify different dimensions of classroom behaviour. Each week the teachers audiotape one of theirown lessons and then write a reflective response to it, focusing on the topic under discussion that. week. n assignment during a week n which the topic of teacher decision-making was beingdiscussed consists of the following activity: Planning decisions: As you p la n a lesson for the coming week, make notes of the planning

decisions you made: What alternatives did you consider?2 How did your belief system influence your decisions?3 What final decisions did you make? Why?B Interactive decisions: Audio-record the lesson you planned. Later th t day, review the lesson

by listening to the recording nd comparingthe actual lesson to your plan. Write a commentaryon your lesson focusing on the interactive decisions th t you made during the lesson:

What happened during the lesson that you didn t plan for?2 What kinds of interactive decisions did you make? Why?3 n reflection, do you think n alternative decision would have been better? Why?Investigation of different aspects of language teaching, language learning, and language use, is astrand running through many of the courses in both the pre-service and in-service programs. In acourse on pedagogicgrammar, for example, as part of a unit on aspect and tense in English, students

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might build up a data base of native-speaker usage based on occurences in newspapers or othersources) as well as of learner us ag e b as ed on a wr it ten corpus either collected by teachersthemselves or provided by the course instructor). This is then u s ~ to test out particular theoriesof tense and aspect or of second language acquisition. Or in a course on second language acquisition,teachers might administer a language attitude questionnaire to their students, to compare publishedfindings on language attitudes with data from the ir own s tude nts. W ith s tu de nts in pre-serviceprograms, small scale investigative projects help develop an awareness of the significance of issuesthey study in their theory courses, as well as give them a familiarity with collecting and analyzingdifferent kindsoflanguage data. This is also true at the in-service level, but here such activities helpteachers develop a research orientation to their own classrooms and to appreciate their potentialroles as classroom researchers.Reflecting Critically on Teaching/Learning ExperiencesActivities which involve critical reflection focus on conscious recall and examination of experiencesas a basis for e va lu atio n and decision making and as a s ource for p la nn in g and action. Reflectionis seen as a process which can facilitate both learning and understanding, and plays a central rolein several recent models of teacher development. Zeichner and Liston 1986, p. 4) suggest that ateacher education program which seeks to develop a reflective view of teaching seeks to developstudent teachers who:

are willingn able to reflect on the origins n consequences oftheiractions as well asthematerialandideologicalconstraints and encouragements embedded in the classroom s h o o ~ and societal contexts which they live These goals are directed towards enablingteachers to developpedagogicalhabits andskillsnecessaryfor self directedgrowth and towards preparing them individuallyand collectively to participateas full partners in their making of educational policies

Many different approaches are available to engage teachers and student teachers in criticalreflection. entral toany approach h owev er is a three part process which involves: The Event Itself

The startingpoint is an actual teachingor learningepisode, such as a lesson in a foreign language for pre-service students,where a goa l m ig ht be the study of language learning strategies) ora lesson taught by a student teacher or a practicing teacher. While the focus of critical reflectionisusuallythe student s ownlearningor teaching, reflectioncan also be stimulat ed by observationof another person s teaching, hence both peer observation and team teaching can also beemployed.

2. Recollection of the EventThe next s tag e is to produce an account of what happened, without adding explanation orevaluation. This might be through the written description of an event, through the use of a videoor audio recording, or through the us e of checklists or other procedures.

3 Review and Response to the EventThe student or teacher now returns to the event and reviews and questions it. The goal hereis to process the event at a deeper level. Procedures used in programs at City Polytechnic ofHong Kong include:

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a) Autobiographies. Groups o up to 10 studentsmeet regularlywith the teacher. Throughout thecourse eachpersoncreates awritten accountofexperiences and observations n teaching.Theseare read aloud and discussed during the weekly sessions.

b) Reaction sheets. These are shorts responses written after particular learning activities havebeen completed. The students are encouraged to stand back from what they had been doingand think about what it meant for their own learning and what entailed for their work asteachers o others (Powell, 1985 p. 46). In a teaching practicum, for example, students workin pairs with a co-operating teacher, and take turns teaching lessons. One serves as observerwhile the other teaches, and both complete a reflection sheet after each lesson. They thencompare their responses in a follow-up session.

c Journals. Journals or diaries are another experience hich can help develop a reflectiveorientation towards teaching. With the journal experience, the student or teacher regularlyenters information about lessons he or she taught (or learning activities o other kinds), andregularly reviews these, with the help o classmates (if journals are shared with peers) or theteacher. Journal writing experiences provide a record of significant learning experiences, helptheparticipantsunderstand their ownself-developmentprocess, and foster a creative interactionbetween the student and other classmates or the instructor.

Focusing on Critical Events in Teachingn imporant dimension o teaching is interactive decision-making, that is the ability to analyze aclassroom problem, determine what ra1lge of options is available, and decide on the best courseof action. Decision-making for some educationists is the most crucial demension o the teacher swork. In teacher education, decision-making can be approached in a number of different waysincluding through the use of problem solving and role play.Pennington (1990) gives examples o problem-solving activities which involve a sequence ofactivities beginningwith individualor small group discussion o a problemand thenmovingtowholeclass discussion. or example:STUDENT CASE

ouare a teacher in a large second language program whose administration includes a director courses or department chair several student advisors n a clerical assistant n speakinginformally with you a student from your class suddenly states that she is very much dissatisfiedwith her situation in the United States so much so that she wishes to return immediately to herhome country

Questions: What is the immediate problem?2. What might be the direct and indirect causes o the immediate problem?3. What other potential or actual problems do you see?4. What else do you need to know (e.g. about the student or about the situation relating

to the problem)?5. How do you obtain the information that you need?6. What should you say or do (a) when meetingwith the student and (b) after meeting with

the student?

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7 What other people (if any) need to become involved?8 What are some ofthe things towatch out for or tobe particularlysensitive to? (Pennington,1990, p. 145)

Pennington points out that such an activity can easily lead to a discussion of such things as:a) the difficulty of determining the source of student problems;b) the appropriate role of the teacher;c) the extent to which teachers should become involved in students personal problems.

Role play is another useful activitywhich can help develop n awareness of the kinds ofbeliefs andvalues implicit in teaching and how these can lead to different kinds of decisions and classroomactions. Pennington (1990) illustrates how role play activities canbe used in conjunction with videoviewing to explore different perspectives on the same classroom event. In the example she givesstudent teachers or teachers in-service first view a short video segment of a class several timescompleting viewing tasks from three different perspectives. n first viewing, n objective viewpointis taken, and details about the lesson are recorded. n second viewing, the viewpoint of someonewho has a positive view of the teacherjlesson is taken, and positive behaviors are noted. On thethird viewing, a negative viewpoint is taken and negative aspects of the lesson are noted. Thefollowing role play activity is then enacted:

s a follow-up to the video thatyou just observed two or more role plays will take place You will takethe role o eithertheperson just observedorthe teacher s newsupervisor Both positiveandnegative roles

are provided so that you ytry out different combinations o these Assume that you are having aconference soon afterthe observation has taken place as part o the normal teaching evaluation processThe aim o the meeting is to review performance in the class observed and to reach agreement on twopotentialareasforprofessionalgrowth/improvementandto develop concrete action steps that bothpartiescan agree on to accomplish the goals

Teacher: Positive roleYou have basic confidence in yourself and your teaching, yet you realize that there is always roomfor growth and improvement. In the conference, your primary objective is to establish a goodworkingrelationshipwithyour new supervisor. Secondarily, youwould like to get some constructiveadvice about your classes from the supervisor, whom you know to have considerable experienceand expertise in language teaching.Teacher: Negative roleYou lack basic confidence in yourself and your teaching, and you are not comfortable acceptingfeedback on your teaching unless it is 100 positive. Because of negative experiences with aprevious supervisor, you feel threatened by this conference. Your primary objective is to convinceyour new supervisor that you are doing a good job and that no one needs to worry about youSecondarily, you want to establish the fact that you have job security and do not have to listen toany advice.

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onclusionsIn a recent summary of trends in second language teacher education, Richards and Nunan 1990suggest that for SLTE to move forward there should be:

a movement away from a training perspective to an education perspective and recognitionthat effective teaching involves higher-levelcognitiveprocesses,which cannot be taught directly;the need for teachers and student teachers to adopt a research orientation to their ownclassrooms and their own teaching;less emphasis on prescriptions and top-down directives and more emphasis onan inquiry-basedand discovery-oriented approach to learning (bottom-up);a focus on devising experiences that require the student teacher to generate theories andhypotheses and to reflect critically on teaching;less dependence on linguistics and language theory as a source discipline for second languageteacher education, and more ofan attempt to integrate sound, educationally based approaches;use of procedures that involve teachers in gathering and analyzing data about teaching.(Richards Nunan 1990, p. xii)

In order for this to happen, this survey has suggested that practitioners of SLTE need to reachconsensus as to what the fundamental nature of the field is and how its pedagogical contentknowledge should be defined. In many sjtuations, SLTE still reflects the history of its developmentas a branch of applied linguistics. A consistent approach or philosophy of second language teachereducation has not yet emerged to serve as a basis for sound instructional practice. the movementaway from language-based approaches to more teaching-based ones gains momentum in the futurehowever, both pedagogical content knowledge and accompanying instructional practices will needto be evaluated to ensure that teaching assumes a more prominentrole within the field of secondlanguage teacher education.eferencesAcheson, P. (1977). English for speakers of other languages: A survey of teacher preparation

programs in American and British colleges and universities. In F. Fanselow R. L. Light(Eds.), Bilingual ESOL and foreign language teacher preparation: Models practices issuesWashington, DC: TESOL.

Abbott, G. P. Wingard. (1981). The teaching English as an: intemationallanguage Glasgow:William Collins.

Bright, J A McGregor, G. P. (1970). TeachingEnglish as a second language London: Longman.Brookes, (1960). Language and language learning: Theory n practice New York: Harcourt, Brace

World.Clark, J. L. (1987). Curriculum renewal inschoolforeign language learning Oxford: OxfordUniversity

Press.Connell, R. W. (1985). Teachers work Sydney: George Allen Unwin.Cruikshank, D.T., Holton,J., Fay.D., Williams,J.,Myers,B., Hough,J. (1981).Reflective teaching

Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa.Kornblum, H., (1989).Directory professionalPreparation programs in TESOL in the United States:

1989-1991. Alexandria, Virginia: TESOL

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Fanselow, J. F., Light, R. L. Eds.). 1977). Bilingual SO n foreign language teacherpreparation: Models practices issues. Washington, DC: TESOL.

Freeman, D. 1989).Teacher training, development, and decisionmaking: a model of teaching andrelated strategies for teacher education. T SO Quarterly 23 1), 27-46

Harmer, J. 1983). The practice ofEnglish language teaching. London: Longman.Harre, R. Lamb, R. Eds.) 1986). The dictionary of developmental n educational psychology.Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Komblueth. I Schoenberg, S 1990). Through the looking glass: Reflexive methods in teacher

training. T SO Newsletter 24 5), 17-18.Marks, R. 1990). Pedagogical content knowledge: rom a mathematical case to a modifed

conception. Journal of Teacher Education. May-June, 3-12.Nunan, D. 1987). The teacher as curriculum developer. Adelaide: National Curriculum Resource

Centre.Omaggio, C. 1986). Teaching Language In Context. Boston: Heinle and Heinle.Pennington, M. C. 1990). A professional development focus for the language teaching practicum.

In J. Richards andD. Nunan Eds). SecondLanguage TeacherEducation pp. 132-152). NewYork: Cambridge University Press.

Powell, J. P. 1985). Autobiographical learning. In D. Boud,R Keogh, D. Walker Eds). Reflection: Turning experience into learning. London: Kogan Page.Richards, J. C., N. Hino. 1983). Tfaining SOL teachers: The need for needs assessment.

Georgetown University Roundtable on Languages n Linguistics pp. 312-326). Washington,DC: Georgetown University Press.

Richards, J. C. Rodgers, T. 1986). Approaches and methods in language teaching. New York:Cambridge University Press

Richards, J. C. 1987). The dilemma of teacher education in TESOL. T SO Quarterly 21,209226.Richards, J. C. Crookes G. 1988). The practicum in TESOL. T SO Quarterly 22 1), 9-26.Richards, J. C., Tung, P. Ng, P. 1990). The culture of the language teacher. City Polytechnic

of Hong Kong. Unpublished. IDS.Rivers, W M 1981). Teaching foreign language skills. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Shaw J. M Dowsett G. W 1986). The evaluationprocess in the adult migrant educationprogram.

Adelaide: National Curriculum Resource Centre.Zeichner, K ListonD. 1987). Teaching student teachers to reflect.Harvard Educational Review

57 1), 23-48.

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