PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE IN TEACHING ENGLISH IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

Comprising research results on what makes a teacher to be a good teacher, the topic of pedagogical content knowledge is very important and interesting within the strategy of directing learners' activities. Pedagogical content knowledge is based on works by L. Shulmana who proved that it is not only the acquiring the pedagogical (didactic) knowledge but numerous other factors which make influence on the process of teaching/learning, including the content knowledge, teaching methods in general, presentation of the learning content, methods and ways of transferring knowledge, ability to distinguish the importance of single parts of the content, and last but not least, teachers'knowledge of learners' needs, abilities, strengths and weaknesses, and other personal characteristics. Forming the pedagogical content knowledge belongs to crucial parts of pre-service teacher preparation. However, this competency is also developed during their professional career later on. Reflecting this theoretical background, the research study was conducted to discover whether the level and application of pedagogical content knowledge in teaching English language at the lower secondary schools (ISCED2) is influenced by teachers' professional qualification and experience in teaching. Totally 23 intentionally selected respondents - Czech teachers of English language having professional qualification of different levels and experience in teaching of different length - participated in the research. An observation was conducted in two lessons of each teacher. The activity of both the teachers and learners in lessons was monitored in 15-second intervals and registered in intentionally designed observation sheets. The frequency of single activities was evaluated and compared within observed groups of teachers at the significance level alpha = 0.05 by the chi-square test of independence and adjusted residuals analysis. The results proved significant differences in application of pedagogical content knowledge of English language teachers depending mainly on the length of professional teaching experience.