The pedagogical content knowledge of primary teachers in Chinese teaching: A comparison of experienced and novice

In Chinese teaching, a thorough understanding of the subject matter is an prerequisite for an effective Chinese language teacher, but the teacher’s pedagogical content knowledge is more important to represent and formulate the subject matter knowledge to make it comprehensible to students. In Shulman’s view (1986,1987), teaching involves transforming knowledge and skills into a form that students can understand. Based on his theory, the subject matter of a subject, general methodology and other related factors should be merged. By Comparing the pedagogical content knowledge between novice and experienced Chinese teachers, the significant factors of an effective Chinese teaching will be explored, thus helping new teachers to become effective teachers and enhancing students to learn more effectively in the classrooms. In this study, two Chinese teachers, novice and experienced, will be observed during their teaching. The teachers will also be interviewed before teaching about their instructional planing, and their reflections after teaching. In analyzing the development of pedagogical content knowledge of Chinese teachers, it is hoped that this study will contribute greatly to the discussion on Chinese teaching.