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Chapter One Introduction

Teacher cognition, the nature of teacher knowledge, and teachers' process of thinking, has gainedincreasing attention since the mid-1970s (Freeman, 2002). Considerable studies have explored the PCKwithin each subject area since Shulman (1987) initiated the concept of pedagogical content knowledge(PCK) in what he called “the knowledge base for teaching” which is made up of seven categories. However,studies in the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) seem relatively scare. The present studyattempts to fill the gap and enrich EFL teacher's PCK, centering, especially, on one of the essentialelements of language skill--reading. The following section mainly introduce the research background,which covers teacher Education study in general education and in language education. This is followed bythe significance of the present study. Finally ,the layout of study is described.

1.1 Research Background
In recent decades, studies on teachers and teachers' education have been the hot issue researchersconcerned. The basic reasons perhaps consist in the following points. Firstly, teachers are considered asbackbone of any education system in that they give an impetus in the progress of educational program(Kok-Aun, T, etal. 2006). Secondly, the new round of curriculum reform makes it essential for the teachersto transform their roles. Hu Zhuanglin (2004) held that the teachers' cognition was more concerned with thecurrent education reform. Especially there is a must to transform teachers’ belief and teacher base. Thirdly,teachers’ professional development accelerates the development of teacher education (Liu, 2005). Teachers'cognition is a relatively new research direction, which needs a long time to develop by painstaking efforts.Under the paradigm of teaching, it has been researched from an outside observer's perspective in terms ofquantifiable behaviors and activities that are connected with learning outcomes (Shulman, 1987). Thisprocess-product teaching has stressed learners' opinions and called on teachers and teacher educators to payattention to mechanical skills learning. (Shulman, 1986). The process-product view is of use but it is fairlypartial and incomplete. To gain a clear understanding, Freeman (2002) provided an account of thedevelopment of research into mainstream teachers' cognition. Research into mainstream teachers' cognitionstarted in mid-1970s, which tested how teachers' thinking influenced and shaped the way thought. The timein 1980 and 1990 witnessed radical changes in how teacher cognition conceptualized and researched,emerging the notions that we are familiar, such as decision-maker, the role of beliefs, attitudes, and theoryin teaching, the apprenticeship of observation, and PCK, etc. The time period in1990 and 2000 is whatcalled by Freeman the 'decade of consolidation', featured by further understanding of teachers' cognition.Teacher base, one element of scholarship in general education, has its origin from the new focus on teachercognition. As the impact of the trend, the journal 'Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the NewReform' by Lee Shulman came out in Harvard Educational Review in 1987, in which he coined the conceptof pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), as one of seven categories. Then it attracted a good many studiesin China since then. The domestic research began to focus on the conceptions and development of teachers’knowledge composition. Then