An Investigation On Current Situation Of English Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge In Rural Primary Schools Of Tongliao Area

Since Pedagogical Content Knowledge（PCK）was proposed in 1986,it has become an important part of teachers’ professional knowledge.Until now,domestic and foreign scholars have got abundant theoretical and empirical research results in the research area of Pedagogical Content Knowledge（PCK）.However,most of which focus on science subjects and relatively few studies involving English subjects,and even fewer studies on English subjects in ethnic areas.Therefore,this research hopes to study the development of PCK among rural elementary school English teachers in Tongliao area,in order to find suitable ways to enhance the professionalism of local English teachers and thus improve the situation of basic English education in rural elementary schools to some extent.This paper focuses on the following two research questions: 1.What is the current situation of English teachers’ PCK in rural elementary schools? 2.What are the differences in their PCK among rural elementary school English teachers with different years of teaching experiences and educational background?The subjects of this research were 145 rural primary school English teachers in Tongliao area.Questionnaire and interview methods were used to investigate the current situation of rural elementary school English teachers’ PCK,and 10 teachers were randomly selected for interviews.Finally,the collected data were analyzed using SPSS23.0 data statistical analysis software and the conclusions were drawn.The results of the study show that: first,the overall level of rural elementary school English teachers’ PCK in Tongliao area is at an above-medium level.Among the five dimensions,the knowledge of teaching context is mastered best by English teachers,followed by knowledge of self-reflection,knowledge of learners,knowledge of content organization,and the knowledge of teaching purpose;moreover,analysis of the data on teachers’ educational backgrounds revealed that there are significant differences in the level of PCK among teachers with different majors（English or others;educational major or others）,but teachers’ teaching years and academic degrees have little influence on rural English teachers’ PCK.Based on the findings of the analysis of rural elementary school English teachers’ PCK,and taking into account the local educational reality,this research proposed corresponding strategies and suggestions.However,there are limitations in this research due to the lack of time,resources and personal capacity.Therefore,suggestions for further research were presented at the end of the research.