Comparative Study on Pedagogical Reasoning in University Level ESL Practitioners
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Date
2020
Journal Title
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Publisher
Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka
Abstract
Teacher cognition or the pedagogical reasoning plays a vital role in ESL (English as a
Second Language) teaching as it represents the self-reflections, beliefs, knowledge about
teaching students, content, and awareness of problem-solving strategies related to
classroom teaching. Teachers not only need to develop a knowledge base for teaching but
also should be able to make reasoned decisions on classroom teaching. Therefore, it has
been identified that pedagogical reasoning as an important skill which should be
developed among the present-day ESL practitioners. The data for the study was collected
from six (06) University level ESL practitioners employing classroom observations
focused on lesson stages, activities, and interviews. Moreover, to develop a multiperspectival account of the construct of pedagogical reasoning a qualitative approach was
used. The findings of the research revealed that the skill of pedagogical reasoning
developed with the experience. The more experienced practitioners tend to transform
content knowledge in a pedagogically strong and powerful way which facilitates the
understanding of the learners while less experienced practitioners struggle to put the
theory into practice. On the other hand, practitioners with more experience tend to make
decisions based on traditional ELT approaches while practitioners with less experience
follow the process of informed decision making. Furthermore, it can be stated that the
curricula of the universities facilitate the teacher autonomy and the pedagogical reasoning
of the university level ESL practitioners as it allowed them to select and design the
content. The study suggests that the ESL practitioners must be given opportunities to
update the knowledge of pedagogical reasoning and some teacher training courses should
be implemented to address the issues related to the skill of pedagogic reasoning among
ESL practitioners.
Keywords: ESL practitioners, Pedagogical reasoning, Teacher cognition
Description
Keywords
Education, Higher Education, English, Second Language