The impact of students' English proficiency level and teacher education on L2 teachers' pedagogical knowledge: A mixed-methods study

This article explores the impact of students' proficiency level (i.e., beginning vs. advanced) and formal teacher education judged by academic credentials (i.e., BA vs. MA holders) on second/foreign language (L2) teachers' pedagogical knowledge base (PKB). To this end, eight L2 teachers teaching general English courses at four private language institutes in Iran participated in the study. Adopting an exploratory mixed-methods approach, data were collected through stimulated recall and analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative procedures. The type and frequency of L2 teachers' emerged PK categories were used to compare the repertoire of resources the L2 teachers had accumulated as knowledge across different groups. The results indicated no significant differences between the total PKB of L2 teachers teaching beginning L2 students and those teaching advanced L2 students. Regarding the PK categories, nevertheless, there were some slight differences in the rankings and significant differences in the frequency. On the other hand, no measurable difference was detected between L2 teachers holding a BA and those holding an MA. The results are interpreted based on the students' proficiency level and the formal teacher education to which the participants were exposed. Suggestions are provided for designing proficiency level-specific teacher education programs and integrating university-based teacher education with clinical experience.