Investigating the Relationship Between Teaching Experience and Pedagogical Content Knowledge Among Iranian EFL Teachers

Research on teacher effectiveness now focuses on Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) because English foreign language teaching requires this specific knowledge base. Research has studied multiple factors that influence PCK development, but Iranian EFL teachers' teaching experience remains an understudied aspect. The research investigates how many years of teaching experience Iranian EFL teachers need to develop their self-assessed Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). The research involved ۹۰ English teachers from public schools and private language institutes who completed an online survey containing a validated PCK scale that measured content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge and learner understanding and instructional methods and assessment techniques. The research used descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and hierarchical regression analyses to study how teaching experience affects PCK development while researchers controlled for academic degree, institutional type, and teacher training background. The study found that teaching experience had a substantial yet limited impact on total PCK scores but produced stronger relationships between experience and classroom management and instructional choice and student need adaptation. The research findings indicate that teaching experience does not determine teachers' assessment comprehension or their technological application skills in classroom instruction. The research demonstrates that teachers need specific professional development programs that combine with their teaching experience to build complete PCK competencies. The research results offer direction for Iranian teacher education programs and educational policy creation.

کلیدواژه ها:

pedagogical content knowledge ، teaching experience ، Iranian EFL teachers ، instructional strategies ، teacher development ، assessment literacy