Investigation On The Technology-Supported Instructional Activity Conducted By Junior High School English Teachers Under The TPACK Framework

In 2018,the Ministry of Education issued Education Informatization2.0 Action Plan,releasing educational innovation strategies from the national level to promote educational and technological teaching innovation.The English Curriculum Standards for General Senior High Schools(2017edition 2020 revision)also emphasizes the application of technology to enrich English curriculum resources.Large-scale online teaching during the epidemic period has provided in-service teachers with opportunities to further learn and use information technology.It is supposed that teachers’ technological awareness and ability have an imperceptible impact on students’ information literacy.Composed by Content knowledge(CK),Pedagogical knowledge(PK)and Technological knowledge(TK),Technological pedagogical and content knowledge(TPACK)provides a new perspective for measuring teachers’ information literacy.Referring to the literature,it is found that most of the existing studies are based on teaching and learning theories,using TPACK questionnaire and interview to explore teachers’ teaching activities and information literacy.Few studies,combined with TPACK framework,use qualitative methods to analyze English teachers’ technology-supported instructional activities(TSIA)and the underlying reasons.Based on the perspective of self-renewal theory of teachers’ professional development,the present study explores the following research questions:(1)In what teaching stages do English teachers usually conduct technology-supported instructional activities?(2)Based on TPACK framework,what are the characteristics of English teachers’ technology-supported instructional activities?(3)Why do English teachers conduct technology-supported instructional activities? Interview and classroom observation were used as the main research methods.With the help of qualitative analysis software Nvivo 12 Plus,the interviews were analyzed through frequency and content analysis.Based on the coding rules of TPACK,the class observation video was repeatedly watched and coded.Finally,Excel software was used to chart the research data.The results show that: 1.English teachers usually conduct TSIA in two teaching stages: designing and preparing for lessons and teaching lessons,but less frequently in assessment and communication.2.Teachers often use interactive whiteboards,PPT,video and audio technological knowledge(TK);listening and grammar content knowledge(CK);and situational teaching method,audio-lingual method and pair discussion method(PK)to conduct TSIA.Analyzed from the above three dimensions,TSIA shows the characteristics of diversity and convergence.The analysis of classroom observation reveals that higher frequency and time duration of PK and pedagogical content knowledge(PCK),while CK and TK account less.The other composite knowledge in TPACK,though appear less in frequency,would take longer time when measuring time duration which reflects the current situation and characteristics of knowledge integration in TSIA.3.From the perspective of teachers’ teaching,the main reasons for conducting TSIA are to ‘attract students’ attention’,‘stimulate their interest’,and then‘the presentation of knowledge’.From the perspective of students’ learning,‘increase learning interest’,‘clear and explicit’ and ‘assist learning and practice’ are most valued and frequently mentioned by teachers.From above research results,this study puts forward relevant suggestions from English teaching and teacher professional development perspectives.First of all,teachers should encourage and create opportunities for students to contact with technological resources,so as to improve students’ information literacy.Second,English teachers are encouraged to achieve professional development through self-reflection and learning community.Based on the self-renewal theory,the present study uses qualitative research methods to explore the technology-supported instructional activities and the reasons behind them.It expands the breadth and depth of relevant research from both theoretical and research methods perspective,and therefore provides a considering direction for future research.