Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
The 17th International Conference of the European Association for Japanese Studies (EAJS), Ghent, Belçika, 17 - 20 Ağustos 2023, ss.1
Technology-integrated courses that also improve the ability of individuals to produce knowledge in contemporary society have been becoming indispensable nowadays. In order to succeed an effective technology-integrated courses, not only technological equipment but also qualitatively equipped teachers are essentially required. In this sense, it is significant to explore whether teachers in a specific area have the required knowledge and background to deliver effective courses with instructional technology.
Japanese language teaching has also been transforming in terms of educational materials, teaching methodologies, evaluation processes, and content. Teachers are expected to be equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to catch up with changes and train students to keep up with the contemporary world. Hence, Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model developed by Koehler and Mishra (2005) was set out to assess whether teachers have the content, pedagogy, and technology knowledge to teach the content using appropriate pedagogical methods and technologies (Schmidt et al., 2009).
The aim of this paper is simply to answer two research questions:
RQ1: To what extent do Japanese language teachers in Turkiye have adequate technological and pedagogical knowledge to develop a Japanese language course?
RQ2: Are teachers are capable of determining and using proper technology-integrated teaching materials?
A qualitative research (interview) model with a stratified sampling method was adopted and implicated to provide detailed responses to those research questions. Eight Japanese language teachers were interviewed online between the November 8-27, 2022. The interviews were recorded and transcript afterward for content analysis.
The results indicate that, teachers' TPACK tended to have deficiencies in general. Additionally, experience and institutional capacity regarding technological infrastructure were important factors in determining and using proper technology-integrated teaching materials. Contrary to general assumption, experienced (relatively older) teachers had higher levels of technological and pedagogical knowledge than less experienced (relatively younger) teachers.
This study provides insights into Japanese language teachers' TPACK and their ability to use appropriate technology-integrated teaching materials. The findings let us consider the way to establish development programs specific to Japanese language teaching that should be implemented to enhance teachers' technological and pedagogical knowledge to ensure the effectiveness of technology-integrated courses.