| Compared with theoretical knowledge,the practical knowledge of teachers is a dynamic knowledge system that teachers use in the process of reflective teaching practice under the common influence of subjective and objective factors.The mind of teachers may be equipped with theoretical knowledge,while their behaviors in certain cases are conducted by practical knowledge.The process of teaching is also a kind of practice,which requires the teachers to possess both theoretical and practical knowledge at the same time.Usually,theoretical knowledge can not be applied into the real teaching procedure directly,and studies related also find that theories acquired by the teachers in training process are so different from the actual teaching experience of senior teachers that novices would easily encounter "reality shock" when applying the theories into teaching practice.Considering this,it is not difficult to say that it is the practical knowledge as the fusion of personal teaching belief,values and experience from life and the teaching process that conduct the teachers in practice.Besides,not only does it,influence the teachers' understanding towards theories,but it also exerts effect on the applying process of them.By conducting the daily teaching behaviors of the teachers,this kind of knowledge also helps them to judge professionally in specific occasions,making it possible for the teachers to resolve various problems effectively.Therefore,it is the indispensable guarantee for normal teaching.Ever after being aware of the significant role of practical knowledge,focuses of studies related to knowledge system of teachers have been transferring from the so-called "stimuli-reaction" emphasizing behaviorism,a kind of outside teaching process,to self-cognition inside the teachers since 1970s.In 1980s,the transformation from emphasizing explicit theoretical knowledge regarding to teaching process to stressing implicit practical theories was completed.Nowadays,it is generally agreed that practical knowledge is the foundation for the professional development of teachers,the dominant driving force behind teaching behaviors and the primary grounds for teaching-related decisions,which is irreplaceable in the working process of teachers and playing a crucial role in the progress of teaching-related practice and the thriving of the whole pedagogy.Based on the post-method educational theory,combined with various researching methods,such as stimulated recall,concept map,in-depth interviews and so on,this paper is focused on the common features,periodical features,inner sources and external sources of practical knowledge of teachers who teach Chinese as a second language(TCSL),and comes up with the dynamic developing mechanism of the practical knowledge in these teachers.Topics discussed in this paper are as follows:common and periodical features of the practical knowledge of teachers from different career phases,the differences and similarities of the knowledge structure,and the source of the practical knowledge and its developing mechanism.Specific contents of the 7 chapters in this thesis are as follows.Chapter One,introduction,mainly talks about the background and significance of the theme presented in this paper.Based on the strict distinction of core research concepts,literature review both domestic and abroad are extracted.Chapter Two,which concentrates on the main researching focuses and techniques and design for the research,introduces in detail the designing processes and methods involved in this paper:stimulated recall,concept map,in-depth interviews,educational narrative research and so on.Chapter Three is concerned at the universality of the contents of practical knowledge of TCSL teachers.Based on the standard of classification proposed by Abdelhafez in 2014,8 representative teachers from different career phases were studied in this chapter.In a complete teaching cycle,one semester,48 hours of classroom observation and 24 times of stimulated recall-up to 45 hours,41 minutes and 56 seconds—were carried out,during which period 170 thousand words were recorded and revised scientifically as the original data related to practical knowledge of TCSL teachers.Validity of all data was examined and ensured by a series of test methods,such as guidance from the experts and examinations both from the third party and the members.By separating,assorting and coding all the original data mentioned above,1943 knowledge units are acquired,and 51 native concepts related to practical knowledge of TCSL teachers are extracted,among which there are 29 advanced codes related to the teachers' commonality and 22 advanced codes related to the differences.Then,by taking the conclusion of generic analysis of Abdelhafez as the framework,the advanced codes related to the teachers' commonality are categorized into six kinds of practical knowledge characterized by teachers,students,courses,teaching strategies,teaching media and teaching environment.Combined with contents of the stimulated recall of specimen teachers and the post-method educational theory,the commonalities of practical knowledge of TCSL teachers are interpreted specifically and analyzed in depth.Chapter Four talks about the periodical features of practical knowledge of the TCSL teachers.This chapter is based on the contents of the stimulated recall,different career phases of the teachers,and concept maps of practical knowledge which are obtained with the 8 representative teachers mentioned above as samples.In this part,the collective features of practical knowledge of teachers from different career phases are analyzed in two aspects-the contents and the structure of the knowledge.The main theme of Chapter Five is the source of practical knowledge of the TCSL teachers.Semi-structural in-depth interviews with 8 teachers were carried out respectively and the total recording took 5 hours,31 minutes and 4 seconds,which was transcribed into a document with about 51 thousand words.And based on these above,9 sources of practical knowledge of teachers analyzed in this part are classified as inner sources or external sources.Besides,the relationship between these two classifications is also discussed.Chapter Six focuses on the forming mechanism of practical knowledge of teachers.In this part,the narrative research was carried out on 1 representative teacher.In this process,18 educational narrations written by this teacher which cover 10 years was studied.Words from these essays were cloud analyzed and the forming process of the teacher's practical knowledge was described dynamically,by which the forming mechanism of practical knowledge is talked about.Chapter Seven concludes the main discoveries,comes up with the innovation and inspiration of this research and discusses the limitation of the current research,as well as the future direction.The main conclusions are as fol ows.First,there are common features in the contents and structure of practical knowledge of the TCSL teachers.As to the knowledge related to the teachers,the teachers possess motivation for their career,their personalities,mentality and experiences are crucial for their current teaching,so the richness of life,accumulation of lingual knowledge and intercultural skills are necessary professional qualities for the teachers.As to the knowledge concerning students,the teachers should show respect to the identities of students from different countries,strengthen the observation on the studying features and learning state of the students and try to construct a comfortable relationship between the students and themselves.For the knowledge presented in class,the teachers can grasp the goals and focuses of Chinese teaching of all levels accurately and pay attention the relations between different courses.Ensuring the main features of different courses,the teacher should also train the comprehensive linguistic skills of the students.Speaking of the knowledge related to teaching strategies,syntax,semanteme and application should be the focuses when words and grammar are taught,and other linguistic elements like pronunciation and characters should be mentioned as well.The teacher should classify the teaching contents and pay attention the practicability,gradualness and reproducibility,making sure that the whole teaching process is complete and stable with suitable pace.Heuristic teaching is recommended so that the students can study relatively freely.When it comes to the knowledge concerning teaching media,the teachers usually emphasize the use and supplement of textbooks.They would not only select the teaching resources strictly,but also present the linguistic knowledge both by writing on the black board and multi-media equipments.Furthermore,the teachers also think that objective surrounding may exert influences on the teaching process and possess some coping strategies for the unexpected occasions.They would connect their lessons with the real social life in China and introduce some Chinese culture in their teaching.Second,the concept "reasonable flexible space" is introduced to summarize the differences of contents of the practical knowledge acquired by teachers from different career phases.This concept points out that the main differences can be reflected in the following four aspects:the perceptual capacity and the space for neglect,the target-setting capacity and the space for progress,the integration capacity and the space for extension,and the presenting capacity and the space for self-control.As to the structure of knowledge,with the development of the teachers' career,not only do the number of concept nodes increases,but the professionalism and accuracy of presentation of the nodes also improve.In addition,the inner structure and gradation of isolated knowledge become more complicated and optimized,and obvious connections among different categories of knowledge appear gradually.Third,the practical knowledge of teacher can be obtained from both the inner part and the outside.These two sources interact with each other,while the inner part plays a decisive role.On one hand,former experiences are the stablest source of practical knowledge,and the daily experience can represent the accumulation of teaching material.Teachers' personalities can be the identity of their classes,and the spontaneous introspection is the impetus for the updating and development of the practical knowledge.On the other hand,partners,observations and training can promote the development of practical knowledge.In fact,scientific researching,teaching resources and both the professional and national policies are the sources that are referred to the least.Fourth,the accumulation of practical knowledge is a dynamic cycle consisted of observation and experience,externalization and absorption,practice and introspection,and formation and consolidation.The process doesn't stop after the cognition and initial construction,but enters a new cycle for the forming and diffusion of new knowledge.The innovative points in this paper can be as follows.First,the common features of the contents of practical knowledge possessed by the TCSL teachers are described systematically,based on the scientific standard for knowledge classification,combined with the initial data acquired by the stimulated recall carried out in different teachers who teach different Chinese courses.And the comprehensive understanding for the practical knowledge is achieved.Second,the concept "reasonable flexible space" is used to summarize the features of contents of practical knowledge possessed by teachers from different career phases.And the structure of practical knowledge is analyzed stereoscopically on the basis of the concept maps drawn by the sample teachers creatively.Third,the special inner sources and external sources of practical knowledge possessed by the TCSL teachers are presented comprehensively.And the forming mechanism of practical knowledge is come up with by analyzing the forming process of knowledge dynamically,which contributes to the studies related to the foundation of teachers'knowledge.The main significance of this paper is as follows.The study boundary of practical knowledge of teachers is extended,and the scholarly study in this field deepens as well.As the first attempt to combine the post-method educational theory with the practical knowledge of the TCSL teachers,this paper not only expands the application of the post-method educational theory,but also provides theoretical support to the better understanding and explanation for the practical knowledge of the TCSL teachers.In fact,if the conclusion and share of teachers' practical knowledge are realized,it would be beneficial for the professional development of the TCSL teachers and the public understanding towards them.Besides,it is believed that the researching methods utilized in this paper may provide reference to the advancement of the mode by which the TCSL teachers are trained. |
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