TECNICO DE GESTIÓN:

This section provides definitions of the seven TPACK constructs. The definitions are drawn mostly from the work of Mishra and Koehler (2006), from the work of Shulman (1986, 1987) and from relevant work in the area of EFL teaching. These definitions are used for the purpose of developing data collecting instruments in this study.

Content Knowledge (CK)

Content Knowledge (CK) is defined by Mishra and Koehler (2006, p. 1026) as

“knowledge about the subject matter that is to be learnt or taught”. In order to be able to teach effectively, a teacher should have knowledge of “central facts, concepts, theories

43 and procedures” of the subject matter (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1026), and “rules of evidence and proof” (Shulman, 1986, cited in Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1026). In Mishra and Koehler’s (2006) view, CK is very different for different subjects such as Maths or English. This has particular bearing on this study involving EFL teachers. According to Brandley-Dias and Ertmer (2013, p. 114) “the potential of TPACK to facilitate technology-enabled subject-specific teaching … has yet to be fully explored and/or reported”. There have been recent efforts to map the specific content knowledge in some disciplines, as illustrated on the wiki site produced by Harris and Hofer (see

http://activitytypes.wmwikis.net/), but to date there has been little research relating to EFL teachers.

Thus, in this study I also draw on the research by Kang, Ni and Li (2010), who suggest that the CK of an EFL teacher includes:

…language skills: vocabulary usage, conversation function, and using language to solve problems, linguistic components: pronunciation, phonetics and styles of speech, and cultural understanding: comparing the similarities and differences between English-speaking countries and non-English-speaking countries (p. 3877). Pedagogical Knowledge (PK)

In Mishra and Koehler’s definition (2006, p. 1026), Pedagogical Knowledge (PK) encompasses “generic form of knowledge that is involved in all issues of student learning, classroom management, lesson plan development and use and student

evaluation”. Cox and Graham (2009) similarly define it as the general knowledge about teaching pedagogies that any teacher should know, and which may be independent of CK. Therefore in this study, the PK of an EFL teacher encompasses those elements discussed above.

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK)

44 …. the most regularly taught topics in one’s subject, the most useful forms of

representation of those ideas, the most powerful analogies, illustrations, examples, explanations and demonstrations … including an understanding of what makes the learning of specific concepts easy or difficult: the concepts and preconceptions that students of different ages and backgrounds bring with them to the learning (p. 9). Mishra and Koehler (2006, p. 1027), drawing on Shulman (1986), argue that a teacher’s PCK should include “knowing what teaching approaches fit the content, and likewise, knowing how elements of the content can be arranged for better teaching”. Mishra and Koehler (2006) emphasise that this type of knowledge also includes knowledge about learners and learners’ characteristics.

In this study, I also draw on the research by Murray and Christinson (2010) as it specifically involves the PCK of EFL teachers. They suggest a number of elements including: 1) teacher knowledge about the “target language [English] input and how to modify this input” (Murray & Christinson, 2010, p. 172) to suit different learners, and 2) teacher knowledge about “learners’ interaction” (Murray & Christinson, 2010, p. 173) and the ways they use the target language to negotiate meaning (Murray & Christinson, 2010), and 3) teachers’ knowledge to select effective teaching strategies to guide

students’ learning in the EFL context (whether the teaching strategies follow behaviourist or communicative language teaching methods (Bax, 2003), as long as these strategies suit learners’ characteristics).

Technological Knowledge (TK)

Mishra and Koehler (2006, pp. 1027-1028) define TK as “skills to operate technologies such as installing or removing devices/software programs, or creating and archiving documents” and includes the “abilities to learn and adapt to new technology” (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1028). With Schmidt et al. (2009, p. 145), they suggest that TK also involves being able “to solve technical problems, to learn technology easily, to keep up

45 with important technology, to play around with technology, to know a lot of technologies, to have technical skills and to have opportunities to work with different technologies.” As a result, in this study, the TK of EFL teachers involves teachers knowing how to use common technological applications, to troubleshoot basic technical problems, and to keep up-to-date with new technologies.

Technological Content Knowledge (TCK)

Technological Content Knowledge (TCK) is knowledge about “the manner in which technology and content are reciprocally related” (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1028). By defining this knowledge domain in this way, Mishra and Koehler (2006) are suggesting that technology could be used to change the delivery of the subject matter.

For the purposes of this study, TCK includes the following:

1) Teachers’ knowledge about ICT applications for teaching English language skills; 2) Teachers’ knowledge about ICT applications for teaching English linguistic knowledge;

3) Teachers’ knowledge about ICT applications for teaching English culture. Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK)

Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK), according to Mishra and Koehler (2006, p. 1028), is knowledge of “the existence, components and capabilities of various

technologies as they are used in teaching and learning settings, and knowing how teaching might change as the result of using particular technologies”. Basically, this means that a teacher needs to know which pedagogy is used with each technology in their instruction.

This study considers TPK as:

46 2) Teachers’ knowledge about using ICT to cater for different learning styles;

3) Teachers’ knowledge about using ICT to manage the class; 4) Teachers’ knowledge about using ICT to prepare lessons; 5) Teachers’ knowledge to assess student learning with ICT. Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)

Finally, Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) is the type of knowledge that requires an

…understanding of the representation of concepts using technologies, pedagogical techniques that utilise technologies in constructive ways to teach content; knowledge of what makes concepts difficult or easy to learn and how technology can help redress some of the problems that students face; knowledge of students’ prior knowledge and theories of epistemology, and knowledge of how technologies can be utilised to build on existing knowledge and to develop new epistemologies or strengthen old

ones…(Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 1029).

In their perspective, TPACK is a complex type of knowledge that involves the interplay of the three knowledge components.

In light of Mishra and Koehler’s (2006) definition, this study defines TPACK as: 1) Teacher knowledge about theoretical foundation of technology-based EFL instruction, which include “communicative competence of learners … and learner interactions [in using technology to learn]…” (Chapelle, 2009, p. 750),

2) Teacher ability “to design real-life tasks for students to learn English” with technologies (Kang, Ni, & Li, 2010, p. 3877),

3) Teacher ability to evaluate ICT applications, “tasks and [students’] performance” (Compton, 2009, p. 85) in a technologically-rich class.

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