Internal and external forces: Technology uses among English language teacher educators in South Korea

Abstract

Surprisingly little has been written about the technology-related roles and practices of teacher educators. Even less is known about the adoption of technologies by teacher educators in the field of teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL), even in the technology-rich nation of South Korea. The purpose of the present in-depth instrumental multiple case study was to explore internal and external forces in the integration of digital technologies into the pedagogical practices of TESOL teacher educators at a university in South Korea. Data collected over 20 weeks included four rounds of semi-structured interviews and two sets of classroom observations for each of the five focal participants, interviews with an administrator, written reflections, field notes, photographs, and document review. Five key forces were identified that worked in tension with voluntary use of technologies to mediate their extensive use in the teacher educators' practice. This study contributes to research gaps on the roles and technology-related practices of TESOL teacher educators. TESOL program administrators and teacher educators will particularly benefit from the light shed on teacher educator cognitions and praxis in this study.

TESOL teacher educators in higher education: A review of studies from 2010 to 2020

“…There is thus a need to explore such dimensions of language teacher educators’ work in future research, whose results can in turn inform the preparation and development of language teacher educators particularly at the novice stage. Meanwhile, while the current literature has provided an in-depth analysis of language teacher educators’ classroom teaching, practicum supervision, and research, some questions remain: In the process of providing knowledge input (e.g., via modelling) and engaging student teachers in dialogic mediation in university classrooms or field schools, how can language teacher educators enhance their own knowledge and skills in technology-integrated teacher education and maximize the power of technology to stimulate and deepen teacher learning (Habibi et al, 2019; Rubadeau, 2018)? Considering the socio-political dimension of language teaching deeply entangled with complex issues of power differentials as well as learner diversity and equity, how can language teacher educators bring such issues to the forefront of their classrooms? For example, how can language teacher educators engage themselves in a critical thinking process to challenge the dominant ideologies and social order to promote critical and equity-oriented LTE (De Costa et al, 2021; Veliz & Veliz-Campos, 2019)? In the face of the ‘publishing game’ (Lee, 2014; Li & De Costa, 2021) dominant in the academia, how do language teacher educators in peripheral EFL contexts navigate the potential bias against their research topics and contexts (Yuan, 2017a)?…”

“…In the process of providing knowledge input (e.g., via modelling) and engaging student teachers in dialogic mediation in university classrooms or field schools, how can language teacher educators enhance their own knowledge and skills in technology-integrated teacher education and maximize the power of technology to stimulate and deepen teacher learning (Habibi et al, 2019; Rubadeau, 2018)?…”

“…• In the process of providing knowledge input (e.g., via modelling) and engaging student teachers in dialogic mediation in university classrooms or field schools, how can language teacher educators enhance their own knowledge and skills in technology-integrated teacher education and maximize the power of technology to stimulate and deepen teacher learning (Habibi et al, 2019;Rubadeau, 2018)? • Considering the socio-political dimension of language teaching deeply entangled with complex issues of power differentials as well as learner diversity and equity, how can language teacher educators bring such issues to the forefront of their classrooms?…”

“…With the advancement of educational technology and situated in the era of post COVID-19 pandemic, it has become imperative for language teacher educators to plan, organize, and deliver teacher education courses in a virtual environment. Several studies (Rubadeau, 2018; Solihati & Mulyono, 2017) have been identified with a direct focus on language teacher educators’ engagement with educational technology in educating teachers. Based on the qualitative data from classroom observations, interviews, and reflections, their results show that the language teacher educators displayed a willingness to learn about new technologies and actively apply them in classroom teaching.…”

From knowledge to inclusion: Culturally responsive TPACK (TPACCK)

“…In English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts, teachers and students rarely share the same cultural attributes, yet they are required to use the same technology. This can result in classroom tension, such as in scenarios wherein teachers and students are required to use technology developed for users with different linguistic and cultural attributes (Lai et al, 2016;Rubadeau, 2018). Further, while sociocultural norms and values shape education (Alexander, 2001;Tobin et al, 2009;Yoshimoto et al, 2007), students and teachers with different cultural backgrounds can have incongruent experiences, values, expectations, and assumptions about education.…”