A Review of Research on Pre-Service Teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge for Teaching English Language

In this modern era, the knowledge of technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge (TPACK) is very crucial in preparing the pre-service teachers to become quality teachers in order for them to face the challenge of 21st century. This paper reviews literature of TPACK mastery among pre-service teachers. The objective of this study is to find out the level of TPACK mastery of pre-service teacher and at the same time identify the challenges faced by student teachers during their practicum especially challenges that are related to the use of technology tools. The researcher will use triangulation method which are classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis. The samples are four pre-service teachers who enroll in the Teaching English as Second Language (TESL) course from Faculty of Language and Communication (FBK), Sultan Idris Education University (UPSI). The pre-service teachers are in their final year (7th semester). They are mostly well verse with technology. However, there are reasons that they cannot implement the use of technology in their classroom such as time constraint and also inadequate space. Therefore, the result that the researcher expect is the pre-service teacher will be using very little technology tools and would be sticking to the traditional method which is ‘chalk and talk’. Unless, the pre-service teachers take the initiative to use the computer lab or ICT room in the school to conduct their lesson, then only they can implement the 21st century learning. Another option for the pre-service teachers is by bringing their own tools into the classroom which not many of them can afford it. In conclusion, the teachers in Malaysia are equipped with the soft skills in using technology tool but there are challenges for them to carry out activities using technologies and many schools also are not equipped with sufficient tools for all teachers in school.