It is a challenge for beginning native teachers to use pedagogically powerful way to teach Chinese as a second/foreign language in a foreign context, Australia in this paper. Shulman's concept of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) offers a theoretic-practical framework for enabling teachers to engage in quality learning with students. However, previous studies indicate that PCK has only been subjected to investigation of experienced teachers in science, mathematics and chemistry. This paper reports an exploratory case study of a beginning teacher's development of PCK during her teaching of Chinese in public schools in Australia. Data were collected from the teacher's self-reflection diary and her mentor's lesson feedback. Content analysis was chosen to analyse each category of knowledge that the teacher has developed. Knowledge of purpose for teaching a subject matter, knowledge of subject matter, knowledge of instructions of strategies and presentations, knowledge of students, and knowledge of pedagogy were the five main components of PCK that the teacher has constructed and developed. The study reveals that several implications. First, PCK shows the nature of different stage levels in beginning teacher's professional development. It is also a distinguishing between experienced and novice teachers. Second, beginner teachers focus on different knowledge in different teaching stages. Third, the paper addresses the role of mentor and self-reflection in developing beginning teachers' PCK.
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