A survey of native language teachers' technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) in Taiwan

Abstract

An increasing amount of research has focused on the exploration of English as a Foreign Language teachers' technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK). However, in the field of native language teaching, such as Taiwanese, Hakka, Aboriginal languages in Taiwan, few studies have paid attention to understanding the teachers' perceptions of TPACK. A survey was therefore conducted to examine 172 in-service Hakka language teachers' perceptions of TPACK in Taiwan. The survey framework includes seven constructs: content knowledge (CK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), technological knowledge (TK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK), technological content knowledge (TCK), and TPACK. According to the results, although the native language teachers were satisfied with their TPACK on average, they had relatively low confidence in CK, TK, and TPK. While the older male teachers tended to be more confident in their CK, the older female teachers were inclined to have less confidence in their TK. Teaching experience was positively related to the teachers' perceived CK, PK, and PCK. Particularly, the importance of the teachers' TCK, PK, and TK in their synthesized TPACK was identified. This study also provides suggestions for native language teacher training program design in the future.