TLA and teachers' subject-matter cognitions

Abstract

Introduction This chapter and the next return to issues initially raised in Chapter 2. In that chapter, I outlined a model of TLA (Figure 1), which underpins the discussion in the rest of the book. The selection of the terminology used in that model and defined in Chapter 2 was intended to make some specific points, as, for example, in the use of the phrase ‘subject-matter cognitions’ instead of just ‘subject-matter knowledge’. In Chapter 2, the use of ‘cognitions’ in preference to ‘knowledge’ was explained as an attempt to convey the closeness of the relationship between teacher knowledge and teacher beliefs. In other words, while subject-matter knowledge may constitute the core of TLA, any teacher's knowledge is inevitably bound up with beliefs about that subject matter and, for example, how it should or can be taught and learned in a given context. The present chapter focuses on L2 teachers' subject-matter cognitions, and in particular their feelings, beliefs and understandings about subject matter. It begins by examining teacher cognitions, and the relationship between knowledge and beliefs. This is followed by a brief review of research on L2 teacher cognitions. The discussion then moves on to consider the relationship between teachers' subject-matter cognitions and their pedagogical practice. Finally, in what constitutes the major part of the chapter, the nature of such associations is explored further via a case study of a particular group of teachers, their content-related beliefs, feelings and understandings with specific reference to grammar, and the evolution of their subject-matter cognitions.