Exploring Iranian EAP Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Their Professional Identity

Along with the fast-moving shifts in technology, education, and communication, the field of teacher education is also experiencing paradigm shifts (Hawkins, 2004). Once teaching was viewed as a “technical endeavor” and teachers were encouraged to acquire and apply particular skills and practices. Then, teaching was regarded as a “cognitive process”, with a focus on analyzing teachers’ mental processes. More recently, the shift of focus has been toward “critical teacher education”, viewing teachers as “transformative agents” who can develop proper attitudes and ways of thinking to reflect not only on "what they know" (i.e. their knowledge), but also on "who they are" (i.e. their identities) (Hawkins, 2004, pp.4-5). Despite this paradigm shift which brings teachers into a critical era of pedagogical transformation, it seems that particular contexts such as English for Academic Purposes are yet afflicted by pedagogical chaos due largely to the mismatches between ELT and content teachers” cognitions and practices. On account of such inconsistencies, the present study locates the gap in the research line to shed more light on the issue of teacher cognition with regard to two professional facets of knowledge and identity.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Significance of Research on Teacher Knowledge

From the mid-1980s onwards, Shulman's work on the role of subject matter knowledge made a significant contribution to the field of teacher cognition, particularly to the research on teacher knowledge by proposing various knowledge types. Pedagogical Content Knowledge, among other categories of teacher knowledge, is assumed to have the greatest impact on teachers' cognitions (Borg, 2006). As a unique realm of teacher knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge is "that special amalgam of content and pedagogy that is uniquely the province of teachers, their own special form of professional understanding" (Shulman, 1987; cited in Verloop, Van Driel, & Meijer, 2001).

The importance of research on pedagogical content knowledge lies in the critical role this knowledge plays not only in teachers' success but also in students' motivation, understanding, and their learning outcomes (Johnston & Ahtee, 2006). Although the value of PCK has been accentuated since the late 1980s (Akkoç & Yeşildere, 2010; Johnston & Ahtee, 2006), evaluation of this knowledge in specific contexts such as EAP has not received due attention. On the other hand, not much is known about the interaction of this knowledge with other professional characteristics, namely teachers' professional identity (Beijaard, Verloop, & Vermunt, 2000). These gaps, hence, necessitate carrying out further research with a new perspective on teachers' professional identity in the EAP context.

Teacher Professional Identity

Teachers' professional identity emerged as a separate research area during the period of 1988- 2000 (Beijaard, Meijer, & Verloop, 2004). There are multiple interpretations of the concept of “professional identity”. Gee (2000; cited in Sutherland, Howard, & Markauskaite, 2010) considers it as "a person narrativization of what consists of his or her (always potentially changing) core identity as a teacher" (p. 455). Timoštšuk and Ugaste (2010, p. 1564) define teacher's professional identity as "the person's self-knowledge in teaching-related situations and relationships that manifest themselves in practical professional activities…."

The various descriptions of professional identity (PI) show the lack of an agreed-upon definition of this concept. This gap has led some researchers, in recent years, to identify the major components of PI in order to shed more light on the nature of teachers' identity. Kelchtermans (1993), for example, listed different interrelated aspects of PI such as elf-image, self-esteem, job-motivation, task perception and future perspective. Or Hong (2010) mentioned the six factors of “value, self-efficacy, commitment, emotions, knowledge and beliefs, and micropolitics” as constituting elements of professional identity (p. 1531). In addition to the factors cited above, evidence shows that certain features, namely teachers' teaching contexts, their experiences, and demographic variables also affect teachers' perceptions of their PI (Flores & Day, 2006). Thus, it can be concluded that professional identity is a multidimensional construct which is influenced by a range of sociological, psychological, cultural, and even historical factors (Cooper & Olson, 1996).

Research on Teacher Professional Identity

It sounds that researchers have conceptualized PI differently by investigating varying topics within its framework (Beijaard et al., 2004). In a longitudinal study, Flores and Day (2006) explored the ways in which the professional identities of new teachers were shaped and reshaped in their first two years of teaching. In another longitudinal research, Jephcote and Salisbury (2009) studied the formation of further education teachers' professional identities. Drawing on a variety of data it was revealed that the teachers conceived of their PI primarily in terms of establishing friendly and supportive relationships with their learners (pedagogical expertise), rather than in terms simply of transmitting a body of knowledge.

Some studies deal with relevant issues to teachers' perceptions of their identity. One of these issues, i.e. reflective talk, was explored by Cohen (2010). In her qualitative research on teachers' negotiation of PI through talk with colleagues, Cohen found that teachers used reflective talk as a discourse strategy to negotiate their PI. In another study, student teachers' perceptions of their PI, through a semi-structured interview, were investigated. The results showed that personal experiences of classroom instruction, relations with pupils and supervisors, and positive and negative emotions were among the core factors affecting the teachers' understanding of their PI (Timoštšuk & Ugaste, 2010). Another related issue to teachers' understanding of their identity, i.e. teacher attrition, was studied in an exploration of different perceptions of pre-service and beginning teachers' PI. Considering professional identity as a combination of six factors of value, efficacy, commitment, emotions, knowledge and beliefs, and micropolitics, the findings indicated that pre-service teachers had idealistic and naive perceptions, and that dropout instructors showed more emotional burnout, low commitment, weak efficacy belief, low value, and negative perception of power relations (Hong, 2010).

EAP

With the growth of English in academic communications and increasing demand of university students to engage with disciplinary knowledge through English and later to be able to function effectively in employment, English for Academic Purposes (EAP), has established itself as one of the two main branches of ESP and expanded rapidly over the past twenty years or so (Hyland, 2006). Grounded in a variety of theories and being centralized around the issues of needs analysis, syllabus design, materials development, and discipline-specific communication skills, EAP is now at the cutting edge of language education (Hyland, 2006).

The controversial issue of specificity which affects the ways EAP is perceived and practiced has encouraged EAP specialists to make a distinction between English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP) and English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP) (Hyland, 2006). While the former refers to the teaching of general academic language and the skills which are shared by all disciplines, the latter is mainly concerned with discipline-specific features. Indeed, ESAP adapts the skills of EGAP to be used for specific subject tasks (Hyland, 2006). Those who advocate the first division (e.g. Hutchinson & Waters, 1987) argue that instead of focusing on target texts and practices, learners and learning should be prioritized. They believe that EAP teachers should provide students with EGAP because the learners, themselves, can learn ESAP via individualized project work (Hyland, 2006). However, some scholars such as Jordan (1997) claim that students' main reason for attending EAP courses is not general purposes but to acquire specific skills related to their academic subjects.

To put it in a nutshell, different views on specificity have a significant influence on how EAP is taught and practiced. In practice, specificity brings EAP practitioners into a collaborative atmosphere with subject specialists to cater for students' needs in a more comprehensive manner. According to Morgan and Clarke (2011), teacher identity is an important conceptual lens through which teachers' cognitions and theories underlying their practices could be unraveled. Using this conceptual framework (i.e. teacher identity), the present study aims to probe into EAP teachers' cognitions and attitudes about the constituents of their professional identity and the different aspects of their pedagogical content knowledge.

EAP in Iran

English for Academic Purposes is an increasingly developing component of the ELT curriculum at Iranian universities (Atai, 2002a; Mazdayasna & Tahririan, 2008). The main objective of the EAP programs, as Atai and Tahririan (2003) point out, is to bridge the gap between the students' general English knowledge and their ability to read discipline-based sources. However, Atai (2002a) argues that the incoherent EAP curriculum development in Iran and the ambitious goals the policy makers have set make the realization of the objective of these courses rather unmanageable. On the other hand, EAP teacher education in Iran has not received due attention. Whether ELT practitioners or content instructors are the right persons to offer EAP courses has remained an issue of great controversy. According to Atai (2006), EAP programs in Iran are offered mainly by content specialists and the lack of collaboration between the two parties has led to an incoherent implementation of these programs.

To fill the gap and to provide an effective model for EAP teacher education and practice, some empirical studies have been carried out. Atai (2002b) explored the actual practice of EAP courses in Iran to see whether they are implemented consistently across academic disciplines and to probe any possible differences in classroom implementation of EAP courses as taught by language teachers or subject-matter instructors. It was found that Iranian EAP programs were implemented rather heterogeneously across academic disciplines. Also, some patterns of differentiation appeared between the EAP teachers' methodologies. It was deduced that EAP teachers are not fully aware of their roles and of the principles and practice of ESP methodology, and that Grammar-Translation Method dominates EAP teaching in Iran and the course objectives as well as the learners' expectations are not fully realized. More recently, Atai and Fatahi-Majd (2014) studied Iranian EAP teachers' cognitions and practices with regard to teaching reading-comprehension and vocabulary. The results indicated major discrepancies between language teachers and content instructors, with the latter being more divergent in their practices.

While studies on teachers' cognitions and practices in the EAP context have been mainly concerned with  teachers' own perspectives (Ferguson, 1997; Sullivan & Girginer, 2002; Wu & Badger, 2009), an integrated approach that involves both teachers' and learners' viewpoints is needed to deeply delve into teachers' professional life. In the modern world, teachers are expected to continuously enhance their teaching and their professional knowledge. In other words, they need to boost their professional characteristics (Beijaard, Meijer, Morine-Dershimer, & Tillema, 2005; Beijaard et al., 2000) and in so doing, much emphasis should be placed on improving the quality of teacher cognition, including their knowledge and beliefs. While teachers' knowledge is partially shaped by their beliefs (Borg, 2006) which are intrinsically intertwined with their teaching identity, both these characteristics (i.e. knowledge and identity) need to be taken into consideration in redefining teacher professionalism. The present study, hence, is an attempt to shed more light on EAP teachers' professionalism through unraveling their cognitions about their knowledge and professional identity.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The present study aimed at bringing the issues of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and professional identity (PI) to the foreground through investigating the practices and cognitions of two pairs of ELT and content teachers in Iran. According to the literature, studies on teacher knowledge in the EAP context have been limited to a large extent to either ELT teachers' perspectives or content teachers' viewpoints (Ferguson, 1997; Sullivan & Girginer, 2002; Wu & Badger, 2009); thus, an integrated evaluation of teacher knowledge from the standpoint of both parties and investigation of the interplay between EAP teachers' knowledge and their various professional traits (e.g. professional identity) are among the highly significant issues which have not been explored extensively so far. This study, hence, addressed the following research questions:

1. What are the distinctive practices and cognitions of Iranian ELT teachers regarding their pedagogical content knowledge in EAP courses?

2.  What are the distinctive practices and cognitions of Iranian content instructors regarding their pedagogical content knowledge in EAP courses?

3.  How do Iranian ELT teachers and content instructors conceptualize their professional identity?

METHOD

Participants

The participants in this study were two ELT and two content instructors teaching EAP courses to undergraduates at a university in Tehran. Because of the nature of the current study, the sampling method lent itself to that of "criterion-based" selection. Since a major focus of this study is teachers' knowledge and regarding the fact that one of the main sources of teachers' knowledge is their professional experience (Gholami & Husu, 2010), experienced teachers with at least 5 years of EAP teaching were selected as the main source of data. As displayed in Table 1, all the teachers were teaching EAP for sub-branches of engineering, including computer science and mechanical engineering (taught by the two ELT teachers) and metallurgy and computer engineering (taught by the content instructors). For ethical considerations, the participants' consent was sought and the teachers, who were all Iranian, were reassured about the anonymity of their names. Thus, abbreviations such as "TA" (i.e. Teacher A) are used alternatively.

Table 1: Teachers' demographic information

Instrumentation

Regarding the instruments of the study, qualitative approach including non-participant observations, semi-structured interviews and conversations with teachers was adopted to provide a vivid picture of the EAP teachers' conceptualization of their PCK and their professional identity. Since many aspects of teacher knowledge are not detectable through mere observation, interview techniques offer tools for bringing these hidden angles to the surface. According to Amos Hatch (2002), "when interviews are used in conjunction with observation, they provide ways to explore more deeply participants' perspectives on actions observed by researchers" (p. 91).

Data Collection Procedure

At the outset, we tried to win the teachers' confidence so that their reluctance to articulate their cognitions about two delicate aspects of their profession could diminish. To this end, the researchers emphasized that the teachers were not to be evaluated by the interviews or observations but to be asked about what conceptualizations they have about their pedagogical content knowledge and their professional identity.

Non-participant Observation

Several observations of the teachers' EAP classes, during a whole semester, were undertaken by the second researcher who attended the classes from the very first session but not regularly in order to minimize observer paradox effect. Each teacher, hence, was observed for eight full sessions. In addition to note-taking, the observer researcher provided a detailed account of the observed classes immediately after each session since she was not permitted to audio record the teachers' classes. The observations provided the researchers with an opportunity to scrutinize the way the teachers put their pedagogical content knowledge into practice and how they identified themselves as EAP practitioners.

Semi-structured Interviews

Since teacher knowledge and professional identity are multifaceted concepts, the use of multiple data collection instruments is required, so that multi-method triangulation will enhance the internal validity of the research (Verloop et al., 2001) and will improve the "credibility and trustworthiness" of the results (John, 2002, p. 326). To this end, in addition to the observations, semi-structured interviews were conducted with both ELT teachers and content instructors.

To explore pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) from the EAP teachers' perspective, based on a questionnaire, developed by Jang et al. (2009) on college teachers' PCK, a set of questions was devised and classified under four categories. To ensure the accuracy and the relevance of the questions to the concept being studied, three experts in the area of EAP teacher education were asked to judge on the content and the accuracy of the devised questions by providing their comments and giving a rating on a four-point Likert scale ranging from 1= irrelevant to 4= extremely relevant. Those questions received 4 and 3 on the scale were kept to be used in the interview; accordingly, the interview comprised of a set of 17 questions.

On the other hand, to probe into EAP teachers' perceptions of their professional identity, based on Karrabi's (2010) study and on the basis of theories and models extracted from the literature on teacher professional identity (e.g. Flores & Day, 2006; Hong, 2010), a set of 25 questions was devised for conducting the second interview. To direct the interview in a way that both EAP and EGP factors could be accounted for, the questions were designed based on the ideas borrowed from Dudley-Evans and St John (1998), Hutchinson and Waters (1987), Robinson (1991), and Hyland (2006).The dimensions of professional identity the interview rested upon were such factors as: attitudes and emotions, commitment and job satisfaction, self-efficacy, efficacy doubts and reflection, knowledge, and experience. The interview questions were submitted to the same specialists to comment on the content relevancy of the item. They all agreed that the questions were relevant and clear.

After eight sessions of observation and before the end of the semester, the interviews, with a two-week interval in between, were conducted by the second researcher and lasted from 50 minutes to 1 hour and 15 minutes. The teachers were asked to provide as much information as required and their responses were audio taped and transcribed verbatim so that content analysis could be performed. The language of the interviews was Farsi as the teachers expressed their convenience in this language.

Data Analysis

After transcription of the interview responses, the data was analyzed qualitatively through the method of content analysis. The purpose of the analysis was to extract the EAP teachers' underlying cognitions about how they actualize the four dimensions of Pedagogical Content Knowledge in their EAP classes and to explore the main factors which shape and reshape the teachers' professional identity. To do so, first, the transcripts related to teachers' knowledge were coded deductively as the four dimensions of PCK were pre-specified according to the interview questions. Deductive coding helped the researchers find the main themes reflecting similarities and differences regarding teachers' cognitions of their pedagogical content knowledge. The same procedure (i.e. thematic analysis) was employed to extract teachers' cognitions of the main constituents of their professional identity.

RESULTS

Results Related to the First Research Question

Regarding the first research question which probed the cognitions and practices of ELT teachers with respect to four aspects of their pedagogical content knowledge, the study revealed the following results summarized in Table 2.

Table 2: ELT teachers' cognitions and practices regarding their pedagogical content knowledge

The results of the interview exhibited some similarities but noticeable differences within and between the two groups of EAP teachers. While the first ELT teacher (TA) had a vague understanding of the main objectives of an EAP course, his colleague (TB), who was less-experienced than him, was cognizant of the course primary goals. He assumed that EAP teachers should equip themselves with a good command of both language knowledge and content expertise. He believed that the EAP teacher should come to the field with an awareness of its teaching principles and methodologies, should adopt a “reflective approach” in teaching, and should provide supplementary materials and technological resources to better satisfy the students' learning requirements. In addition, he said that, "EAP practitioners need to be efficacious in handling crowded classes of heterogeneous students, be innovative in implementing a mixed methodology, and be flexible and welcoming to their students' critical comments".

On the contrary, the first ELT teacher ascribed no particular qualification to an EAP teacher. He assigned no role on the part of learner to decide for the materials or teaching methodology and determined his teaching approach based on his own intuition and the language center's imposed policies. Not only did he show little tendency for using computer in his EAP classes, but he also expressed negative attitudes towards computer-mediated teaching. In fact, students' pedagogical needs and wants were not catered for by this teacher. Nevertheless, as TB tried to be friendly in order to stimulate students' involvement in class activities, this teacher claimed that he had established a good rapport with the class. Another resemblance between these two ELT teachers was their attention to the role of pair work as well as group work in boosting students' performance.

Results Related to the Second Research Question

Regarding the second research question which probed the cognitions and practices of content instructors with respect to four aspects of their pedagogical content knowledge, the following results were obtained (Table 3).

Table 3: Content instructors' cognitions and practices regarding their pedagogical content knowledge

Unlike language teachers, content instructors were more convergent in their cognitions. The main objective of EAP courses, from their viewpoint, is to "facilitate students' understanding of specialized texts while equipping them with the necessary skills to comprehend spoken and written academic discourse". The first content instructor's practices, however, were mainly oriented toward the generalities of language rather than the specific features of the course. Both teachers agreed that EAP courses can best be taught by subject experts since ELT teachers do not have sufficient expertise in content areas. They accounted for the learners' requirements, highlighted their role in materials selection and evaluation, and welcomed their involvement in class procedures.

Results Related to the Third Research Question

To probe the third research question which addressed the ELT and the content teachers' conceptualization of their professional identity, on the basis of the six predetermined typologies of attitudes and emotions, commitment and job satisfaction, self-efficacy, efficacy doubts and reflection, knowledge, and experience (all extracted from the literature on teacher professional identity), the transcribed data of the teachers' interview were coded and set into six categories. Thus the content analysis lent itself to that of “typological analysis” (Amos Hatch, 2002). The main findings are summarized below.

Table 4: ELT teachers' cognitions of the underlying constituents of their professional identity

As indicated in Table 5, the two content teachers, who were specialist in computer engineering and metallurgy, were similar in their cognitions and understandings about the underlying factors contributing to the formation and development of their professional identity. The emerging themes contributing to the teachers’ professional identity were as follows: attitudes, commitment and job satisfaction, experience, knowledge, efficacy, autonomy, efficacy doubts and reflection, and interaction.

Table 5: Content teachers' cognitions of the underlying constituents of their professional identity

The results, depicted in Tables 4 and 5, not only confirmed the six elements, but also revealed autonomy and interaction as other constituents of the EAP teachers' professional identity. Among these factors, attitudes and emotions, self-efficacy, efficacy doubts and reflection, knowledge, and experience were the common attributes of both ELT teachers and content instructors, whereas the three remaining elements (i.e. autonomy, interaction, and commitment and job satisfaction), which were attributed to the content instructors' professional identity, distinguished the EAP teachers in their identity recognition.

It was revealed that the ELT teachers' cognitions of their professional identity (PI) were more coherent in comparison to their cognitions of their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Except for efficacy doubts and reflection that the second teacher (TB) referred to, the two ELT experts mentioned the same factors of attitudes and emotions, efficacy, knowledge, and experience as the fundamental components of their PI. On the other hand, the two content instructors, who had similar cognitions of their PCK, bore a close resemblance with regard to conceptualizations of their professional identity, too. While some commonalities appeared between ELT teachers and content instructors, the latter enumerated almost all the eight factors as the underlying constituents of their PI. Finally, the results of content analysis indicated that different types of knowledge, including pedagogical content knowledge are closely related to EAP teachers' sense of identity. From the teachers' perspective, knowledge is an inherent aspect of teacher identity, and PCK which encompasses various knowledge types can have a great impact on EAP practitioners' self-understanding and their professional development.

DISCUSSION

EAP Teachers' Cognitions Regarding Their PCK

The results of the current study revealed some commonalities but major differences within and between the two camps of ELT teachers and content instructors concerning their theories and practices about their pedagogical content knowledge. Unlike their ELT counterparts who adhered strictly to the language center's restrictions, the content instructors were not constrained by educational regulations and had enough authority to make some changes in the curriculum and their own syllabus. They adopted a flexible approach towards their teaching materials and were not obliged to use any particular textbook.

ELT teachers, however, neither showed much flexibility in their teaching methods and materials, nor articulated their willingness to release themselves of the imposed pedagogical limitations. Another sharp distinction between teachers of the two camps was the extent of consistency between their cognitions and their actual performance. While the ELT teachers' practices contradicted some of their stated beliefs, the content instructors showed little mismatches in their cognitions and practices. For example, both content teachers insisted on teacher and learner reflection and as they were observed several times, they practiced what they preached, but ELT teachers, especially the second one who firmly believed in reflective practice, did not show any trace of this conviction in their routine practices. This contrasts with Atai and Fatahi-Majd's (2014) finding that showed language teachers were more reflective of their practices than their content counterparts.

 Regarding teaching methodology, a serious gap was felt among all the teachers. While the dominant method in ELT teachers' classes was 'Silent Reading' and in content instructors' classes was 'Grammar-Translation', other skills, especially writing and listening were left behind. To fill the gap, EAP practitioners are expected to include oral and writing skills as an integrated part of class activities rather than a set of distinct skills (Hyland, 2006).

It can, hence, be concluded that the content instructors seemed to stick to the principles of "transformative" education (Kumaravadivelu, 2003) by reflecting on their practices, fostering critical thinking in students, attending to their learners' needs, showing flexibility to the learners' criticisms, involving them in materials selection, and by using creativity and innovation in their teaching strategies.

The ELT teachers, on the other hand, kept to the same "traditional" education in which all the educational plans are pre-determined and decisions are made by policy makers, giving teachers no room for maneuver (Flores & Day, 2006). Under this condition, teachers cannot exert authority to choose their own materials or to revise the existing ones. Nor the learners can have a voice in determining the materials of their interest. However, the issue of specificity which challenges EAP teachers in selecting and evaluating the appropriate materials (Hyland, 2006; Jordan, 1997) urges them to call for the students' contribution to the class procedures to the extent that the learners' offered materials could even serve as a more satisfactory teaching resource. This implies that EAP teachers should foster a 'participatory' feeling in the students and attribute 'extra' roles to them (Karrabi, 2010).

EAP Teachers' Cognitions Regarding Their PI

The results of the second interview which addressed the ELT and the content teachers' perceptions of their professional identity constituents, uncovered the following 8 elements as the main contributory factors to the EAP practitioners' professional identity construction and development: (1) attitudes and emotions, (2)commitment and job satisfaction, (3) experience, (4) efficacy beliefs, (5) interaction, (6) knowledge, (7) autonomy, (8) efficacy doubts and reflection. This finding is in accord with earlier research which showed the above factors, among other factors, as the constituting elements of teachers' professional identity (Flores & Day, 2006; Hong, 2010).

According to the previous studies (e.g. Sutherland et al., 2010; Timoštšuk & Ugaste, 2010), teachers' attitudes, emotions, and their self-images determine the way they develop as teachers. This was indicated in the present research, too. All the EAP teachers believed that part of their professional identity had been shaped and affected by their attitudes and beliefs, however, their attitudes were not alike. Specially, there was a sharp distinction between the first ELT teacher's attitudes and those of others. His PI was bombarded by his negative attitudes about the status of EAP and the prestige of EAP teachers in Iran so much that he regarded himself as an EGP teacher, not an EAP teacher. In addition to attitudes, the two ELT experts attributed their positive and negative emotions to their identity recognition, but their content counterparts had a neutral stance in this regard.

Commitment and job satisfaction came out as one of the distinguishing features of the content teachers' professional identity. This finding is verified by Timoštšuk & Ugaste's (2010) study. It was also shown that experience, which was claimed by all the teachers, is an indispensable aspect of EAP teachers' professional identity formation and development. This is in line with Timoštšuk & Ugaste's (2010) findings.

Regarding efficacy beliefs, there were similarities as well as differences between teachers of the two camps. They all agreed that their professional self-understanding (or professional identity) was influenced by their capabilities and that their beliefs about their strengths and weaknesses overshadowed their perception of 'self' as an EAP teacher. While they claimed to be efficacious in managing the class, in conveying their knowledge to the students, in adapting their teaching methods and materials, and in using facilities, they differed in their beliefs about other aspects of efficacy. ELT teachers, for example, seemed not to be concerned about students' affect. The first ELT teacher directly asserted that this is not the teacher's duty to solve students' out-of-class problems. Though the second teacher (TB) showed some concern about his students' non-learning difficulties and accepted the role of problem-solver for EAP teachers, he was not far from his colleague in practice. Content instructors, on the other hand, were more consistent in theory and practice. As their EAP classes were observed, they displayed their efficacy in deploying technology and in providing materials and tasks of diverse types to foster students' motivation as well as their learning opportunities.

Following the literature, identity, including professional identity, is not a fixed characteristic but a relational phenomenon that develops through social interactions (Beijaard et al., 2004; Urzúa & Vásquez, 2008). In fact, through negotiation with their colleagues, teachers would come to a sound understanding of themselves (Cohen, 2010; Williams, 2010). This view is supported by the results of the current study which revealed that collaboration with experts, coworkers, and students and interaction with them led to a better recognition of the content teachers' professional identity.

While teachers of the two camps (i.e. language and content) tried to accumulate and add to their knowledge via different sources such as books, journal articles, and the Internet, only content instructors mentioned 'learners' as a source of their knowledge. The study also revealed that the content teachers and the second ELT teacher were consistent in their cognition about the role of different types of knowledge, namely knowledge of English language, subject matter knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge in the construction of their identity. However, the first ELT instructor merely pointed to the significance of general knowledge of English. Therefore, it can be concluded from the results that, knowledge, including pedagogical content knowledge is closely related to teachers' recognition of their professional identity, inasmuch as it appeared, in this study, to be an underlying factor in the process of EAP teachers' identity formation and development. This finding supports Beijaard et al.'s (2005) claim that teachers' identity is deeply related to their professional knowledge and is in accord with the results of Pietsch and Williamson's (2005) study which showed knowledge and identity as interrelated features of teachers.

Autonomy, which refers to teachers' sense of control over different aspects of their teaching and their freedom to make decisions relevant to their educational milieu (Bogler & Somech, 2004), came out to be another unique feature of the content teachers' professional identity development. This lends support to Šteh & Marentič Požarnik's (2005) view that teacher autonomy is an essential condition for teachers' professional growth.

Except for the first ELT teacher, the other EAP teachers mentioned uncertainty and reflection as an important aspect of their professional identity development. This finding is in line with previous studies which indicated that teachers develop an image of themselves as professionals by reflecting on their teaching practices (Maclean & White, 2005; Sutherland et al., 2010). According to Wheatley (2002), teachers' negative attitudes toward their profession make them downgrade their sense of efficacy and attach little significance to their efficacy doubts as well; that is because the first ELT teacher (TA) did not cast doubt or reflect on his teaching. However, an optimal level of uncertainty is conducive to teachers' professional progress (Wheatley, 2002) since it invokes reflective thinking and these reflections in turn set the scene for educational modifications and reform in the common practice of teaching.

With respect to the findings of the present study which highlight the role of knowledge and identity in EAP teachers' professional development, the role of teacher education programs in teachers' professional journey comes to the fore. According to Niess (2005), teacher education programs can help teachers develop both a depth and breadth in their knowledge, in general, and their pedagogical content knowledge, in particular. In addition, Bullough (1997; cited in Hong, 2010), refers to the critical role of teacher education programs in teachers' identity (trans)formation. Thus, teacher educators are to familiarize teachers, especially prospective ones with reflective teaching and encourage them to throw their knowledge and teaching practices into question the result of which is a better awareness of their professional knowledge and identity (Farrell, 2011; Zanting et al., 2001). Not only reflective education brings about awareness raising, but also has a pivotal role in teachers' professional growth (Calderhead & Gates, 2004) and due to the dynamic nature of professional development, teacher education should be an ongoing process throughout teachers' professional life (Kumaravadivelu, 2003).

Regarding the role of technology in improving the quality of teaching and learning (Niess, 2005; Towndrow, 2004), providing teachers with opportunities to obtain the knowledge and experience needed to integrate technology in their classes is of note in teacher education programs. On the other hand, with respect to the role of 'language awareness' in arousing teachers' sensitivity to students' linguistic difficulties (Wright, 2002), EAP teacher education should pay specific attention to the issue of language awareness, particularly among content instructors who usually come to the EAP profession without a rich background in English language. Thus, such awareness not only benefits their learners, but also enhances EAP teachers' pedagogical practices since it is a prerequisite of their job (Andrews & McNeill, 2005).

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS

Comparing the ELT and the content teachers' cognitions, this study comes to the conclusion that the latter had more consistent conceptualizations about their pedagogical content knowledge and their professional identity. Their effectiveness in adopting teaching materials of different types, their autonomy in managing EAP classes, their efficacy in familiarizing students with technology though it was not extensive, and their strong dedication to the profession of EAP teaching were salient in their cognitions and tangible in their practices. As the results unraveled, their conceptualizations of their professional 'self', in comparison with their ELT counterparts, were more sophisticated, inasmuch as they associated a variety of factors, which were not attended to by ELT teachers, to their professional identity formation and development.

Regarding the last concern of the study, i.e. the interplay between EAP teachers' pedagogical content knowledge and their professional identity, it can be concluded that knowledge, particularly pedagogical content knowledge and professional identity are interrelated attributes of EAP teachers, having mutual impact on each other. Thus, teachers' recognition of the various aspects of their PCK gives rise to a better understanding of their professional 'self' and a well-shaped picture of who they are as teachers makes them aware of their strengths and weaknesses which in turn set the scene for their knowledge upgrading.

  As for the implications of the study, syllabus designers should pay further attention to pedagogical requirements of EAP students by developing a flexible syllabus that allows for more involvement on the part of learners to decide on the materials and class activities. Such a flexible syllabus should also foster the teachers' autonomy to bring educational facilities, including technological equipment to teaching/learning context. On the other hand, evaluation of teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), especially in the area of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) gives them a more profound insight into their teaching, makes them reflect on their prior and current practices and can, hence, exert a positive influence on their professional effectiveness. Meanwhile, students' target needs and their expectations can be better dealt with when, in addition to teachers' reflections, learners' perceptions of their EAP practitioners' PCK are also taken into consideration (Huang et al., 2006; Kirschner & Wexler, 2002).

Regarding the pivotal role of knowledge and identity in teachers' professional growth, what should not be disregarded is the significance of collaboration in enhancing the quality of such growth. In the context of EAP, this implies the necessity of team-teaching whereby ELT teachers' and content instructors' joint effort will not only promote teacher reflection and autonomy (Goker, 2006) but improve the quality of EAP teaching as well (Evans & Green, 2007).

Unraveling EAP practitioners' cognition with regard to their professional characteristics of knowledge and identity bears witness to exploring teachers' cognition in other contexts within ELT domain. Follow up research might also include longitudinal studies of teachers' PCK development in relation to factors such as their gender and experience. On the other hand, the relationship between identity and other attributes of teachers such as their sense of efficacy and autonomy can form another research orientation. Finally, in a comparative study, novice and experienced English teachers' conceptualization of their professional identity can be probed in order to extract the underlying factors of their identity formation.