Steven Feldmann, University of Siegen, Siegen, Germany

As a teacher candidate, I find courses covering disciplinary knowledge, such as general linguistics or English Literature somewhat unnecessary but courses that include the practical skills that we need in the classroom (knowledge-for-teaching) much more relevant and helpful. At present, I cannot decide if the knowledge that I currently possess is enough or not. On the one hand, I feel ready to dive into the classroom and answer all the questions my students have - thanks to my disciplinary knowledge - but on the other hand, I feel like I am not prepared enough when it comes to classroom skills, such as keeping the students engaged, for instance.

While English is indeed not my first language, I trust in my intuition because of my own knowledge of the language. During my internships at school, I was able to answer most questions that the students had without the help of an online search or any other resources. I was able to relate to their problems as an L2 learner and was therefore more aligned with their viewpoint when it came to some of the more common grammar problems. As a result of this success, I do question why it is important for me as a teacher of English to have so much disciplinary knowledge which I have never had occasion to use, nor has it actually helped me in my own classrooms.

In terms of grammar for instance, I don’t refer back to my knowledge of linguistics to verify answers or clarify uncertainties. In my studies, we have been advised to avoid online grammar sites, yet they offer a good foundation when it comes to the basics of English grammar - if you find a good, credible source. Moreover, they can be used to help to simplify grammar rules for learners who are at the beginning of their English learning experience. As a student, these sites offer me well-put and simple explanations that can be used as a quick reminder of the basics.

There are many other resources such as pedagogical grammars and corpora, but let’s not forget that intuition as well as the teacher’s management of the classroom and their communication skills are also important. If a teacher is constantly looking for the right answer when an answer seems wrong or uncommon, rather than open a discussion or exploration about this, it defeats the purpose of classroom communication and interaction between the teacher and students and may thus impact the learning environment. I understand that knowledge about all things English and language are obviously useful but may not be as important as portrayed in the literature on teacher education or in teacher education programs.

The interference of the first language for a teacher whose L1 is not English is a problem that will persist. We also must understand that teachers, especially of a specific language, are not meant to know everything about that language. There are those that believe that teachers whose first language is not English will never be as fluent as a native English speaker who teaches English. But, their education and training is not vastly different, so why do we not trust the intuition of English teachers - regardless of their first language - who have worked with the language and studied it for so long?

Of course, not everything that comes from the intuition of another person or rather, a teacher of English, must be correct. Sometimes a sentence is just grammatically wrong, but then, there is always room for improvement for the teacher and for the students. Having knowledge about the English language is good and needed. Having too much knowledge and maybe also unnecessary knowledge about English without any form of classroom skills just feels wrong. There are people who have so much knowledge about the English language but could never teach English because they simply do not have the skills to explain it to someone else other than themselves.

Having only disciplinary knowledge is not an indicator of whether the teacher is qualified or not. While disciplinary knowledge is indeed useful and needed, the question for me is whether the courses covering this type of knowledge, such as syntax, morphology, sociolinguistics and the like, should be as highly prioritized as in many traditional teacher education programs. My fear is that teachers will increasingly become a sort of dumpster for useless knowledge that they will never need in their life as teachers. Of course, the questions that come with this statement are obvious: What is useless knowledge and what is useful knowledge that will bring the teacher forward? I do not have the universal answer to that but can certainly say that not everything I have learned about and gained knowledge about will be useful later on in my profession.

I support class discussions about problems and journeying together with my students to learn more about the language I teach. As a teacher candidate, it feels like we have access to so much knowledge, which is not a bad thing entirely. At the same time this available knowledge raises questions such as how much knowledge we as teachers of English actually need. My answer to this as a student candidate is as follows. Some knowledge is definitely needed as it provides a solid foundation for a teacher to actually fulfill the role of a teacher. This knowledge should consist of a good mixture of different kinds of knowledge, procedural knowledge and declarative knowledge. There is nothing that can be considered the most important knowledge that you need to learn first in order to become a competent and versatile teacher. Your knowledge should be sufficient enough to help your learners understand certain aspects of the English language but should not limit itself to one certain part or aspect of the language. The focus should shift to having teachers that know everything to teachers that know a lot of things but know how to help themselves when necessary. There is a difference between knowing and understanding, and as Aristotle put it, those that understand, teach.