Teacher cognition has been an important agenda of language teacher education in recent
decades, and it has advanced the field’s understanding of L2 teachers’ work. Thus far, language
teacher cognition has been understood from different epistemological perspectives and
researched with different methodological approaches. Given that ...
Teacher cognition has been an important agenda of language teacher education in recent
decades, and it has advanced the field’s understanding of L2 teachers’ work. Thus far, language
teacher cognition has been understood from different epistemological perspectives and
researched with different methodological approaches. Given that teacher cognition is social
and situational, more research is needed from an emic perspective to understand how teachers
develop and renew their cognitions in their professional context. This paper adopts a discursive
psychological perspective on teacher cognition, investigating novice teacher cognition using
applied conversation analysis. As part of a more extensive study, the study offers an in-depth
analysis of novice Chinese EFL teachers’ thinking, knowing, understanding, conceptualising,
and stance-taking regarding language teaching. The teachers were recruited through a
combination of convenience and snowball sampling strategies. The dataset includes 330
minutes of classroom teaching, 217 minutes of interviews, and 605 minutes of video-based
guided reflection on teaching. The data revealed the key theme in teachers’ understanding of
1) focusing on linguistic knowledge, 2) establishing teacher authority, and 3) developing
practical pedagogical knowledge. The findings reveal teachers’ moment-by-moment
cognition-in-interaction and multiple roles in facilitating learning. Substantial implications are
put forward for teacher learning and teacher education.
