The function and integration of components of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in classroom teaching: a case study of business English teachers

Abstract

ABSTRACTWhile pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has been studied across a wide range of research areas, including science, language teaching and mathematics, there is limited research on the role of PCK in business English (BE) teaching, an important teaching area of English for Specific Purposes. Informed by the conceptual framework of the PCK model for BE teaching, this study examined how four BE teachers integrated the PCK components in their actual classroom teaching in the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context in China. The analysis of multiple sources of data including classroom observation, semi-structured interviews and teaching materials, identified the different patterns and ways in which the four PCK components (i.e. knowledge of the purposes of BE teaching, knowledge of instructional strategies for BE teaching, knowledge of students’ understanding of BE, and knowledge of the BE curriculum) functioned and were integrated in BE teaching. Implications for BE teaching practice and suggestions for future research on PCK in BE teaching are presented in the paper.