Abstract: The practical knowledge of college foreign language teachers generates from a complex and non-linear system. It is enriched through the dynamic and open meta-representation and is in continuous development in contradiction and self-adaptability. On the basis of activity theory and complexity theory, we can find that research on college foreign language teachers can analyze and explain the meta-representation of practical knowledge which is of different connotations and unnecessarily comprehensive. To know macroscopically the practical knowledge of college foreign language teachers, to understand the uniqueness of foreign languages, and to highlight the identities of college foreign teachers, can provide new research methods and significant reference for teachers to do with practical knowledge.

Key words: college foreign language teachers, practical knowledge, metarepresentation, complexity theory, activity theory