Research Article
Gonzalo Camacho-Vásquez, Juana María Ortega-Tudela, Elena María Díaz-Pareja
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 17, Issue 4, Article No: ep612
ABSTRACT
Digital competency is becoming a priority in teachers’ professional development. This article assessed the efficacy of a web-based methodology on English teachers’ digital competence through a 200-hour course. This didactic methodology consists of eight learning moments that alternate between online and offline instruction and are based on solid theoretical foundations. The results of the six areas and 22 competencies of the DigCompEdu framework are compared between an entry and exit test in a group of 47 English teachers who were part of the web-based didactic design implementation. Data analysis was conducted using the statistical software R version 4.2.2. The Likert package version 1.3.5 and the ggplot2 package version 3.4.0 were used to generate graphs and descriptive statistics. The Stats package version 4.2.2 was used to perform the Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon comparison tests. This analysis demonstrated that the effects of the designed methodology on teachers’ digital competence development are highly significant. Teacher-learners advanced in areas of the DigCompEdu related to students’ digital competence. The areas with fewer improvements were where teacher-learners scored higher in the pre-test. “Self-regulated learning,” “accessibility and inclusion,” and “communication and collaboration” competencies reached the highest difference when comparing the pre- and post-tests. Teachers struggle more with learning during offline moments. The Web-based methodology becomes an innovative proposal for training English teachers to incorporate technology to develop language skills.
Keywords: information and communication technology, English language teaching, teacher digital competence, teachers’ professional development
Research Article
Omaymah E. AlSuwaihel
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 16, Issue 4, Article No: ep534
ABSTRACT
Background: Augmented reality is among the emerging technologies that hold greater potential in the context of foreign language learning. No research has been done to date to investigate pre-service teachers’ competencies in augmented reality and their association with quality of teaching English and technological and pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) model components in the state of Kuwait.
Aim: This study aimed to assess the utility of using augmented reality competencies and English as a foreign language (EFL) TPACK model components to predict the quality of English language teaching of pre-service undergraduates.
Method: A total of 317 students enrolled in college of education at Kuwait university were recruited and responded to three online questionnaires measuring EFL TPACK, teachers’ augmented reality competencies, and quality of teaching English skills (QELT).
Results: Results indicated a significant positive association among all variables at 0.01 level. Teacher’s augmented reality competencies (TARC), TPACK, technological knowledge (TK), and technological content knowledge (TCK) were significant predictors of QELT. One-way ANOVA revealed that there was no significant effect of gender on the TARC, TPACK, TK, TCK, and QELT. The cut-off-criteria of the mean scores indicated that all participants strongly believe that they acquire the essential competencies of augmented reality in EFL classrooms and possess a high level of proficiency in TPACK. Descriptive statistics showed that more than (70%) of pre-service teachers selected “strongly agree” and “agree”, 13% or less selected “strongly disagree” and “disagree” while 26% or less selected “neutral” response. Linear regression analysis revealed that TARC, TPACK, TK, and TCK were significant predictors of QELT.
Keywords: augmented reality, quality of English language teaching, TPACK model, Kuwaiti students, pre-service teachers
Research Article
Cristina A. Huertas-Abril, Francisco Javier Palacios-Hidalgo
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 14, Issue 4, Article No: ep390
ABSTRACT
This study examines the perceptions of pre-service English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers of their skills to face emergency remote language teaching (ERLT) situations, and to determine whether these vary according to gender, age, university, or course. A cross-sectional survey model was used with 332 pre-service EFL teachers studying in two Spanish universities, an onsite institution, and a distance university. After analyzing the results, it can be said that participants’ ERLT skills are moderate, and they vary significantly according to age, course, and type of university, but no statistically significant differences are found regarding gender. The results can guide teacher trainers and researchers, as they reveal the needs of pre-service EFL teachers to teach effectively in ERLT situations.
Keywords: distance university, English language teaching, teacher education, teacher perceptions
Research Article
Ahmet Basal, Selahattin Yilmaz, Asli Tanriverdi, Lutfiye Sari
CONT ED TECHNOLOGY, Volume 7, Issue 1, pp. 47-59
ABSTRACT
Smartphones are increasingly becoming an ordinary part of our daily lives. With their remarkable capacity, applications used in these devices are extremely varied. In terms of language teaching, the use of these applications has opened new windows of opportunity, innovatively shaping the way instructors teach and students learn. This 4 week-long study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a mobile application on teaching 40 figurative idioms from the Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English (MICASE) corpus compared to traditional activities. Quasi-experimental research design with pretest and posttest was employed to determine the differences between the scores of the control (n=25) and the experimental group (n=25) formed with convenience sampling. Results indicate that participants in the experimental group performed significantly better in the posttest, demonstrating the effectiveness of the mobile application used in this study on learning idioms. The study also provides recommendations towards the use of mobile applications in teaching vocabulary.
Keywords: English language teaching, Figurative idioms, Mobile learning, Mobile applications, Vocabulary teaching