AI Insight
This mixed-methods study examined technology integration self-efficacy beliefs in 202 pre-service Chinese language teachers using the TPACK framework. The research found uneven self-perceived competence across dimensions, with Technological Knowledge scoring lowest and Technological Content Knowledge highest, driven by immediate online teaching demands. Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge showed the strongest correlations with overall TPACK, while teaching practice and technology training experience—but not gender or academic level—were significant factors.
Why it matters
The findings suggest that pre-service teacher preparation programs should prioritize pedagogical integration of technology rather than standalone technical skills training. This is particularly relevant for foreign language teaching contexts where digital education creates specific psychological pressures, including employment concerns and cross-cultural online teaching challenges.
Understand the Science
IntroductionDigital education places distinctive psychological pressure on pre-service Teachers of Chinese as a Foreign Language (TCFL). This study reinterprets the seven-dimensional Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) scale as a measure of self-perceived TPACK competence, read as an indicator of technology-integration self-efficacy beliefs.MethodsAn explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was used. A total of 202 pre-service TCFL teachers completed questionnaires; eight were interviewed, and six lessons were video-coded (inter-coder κ = 0.83).ResultsSelf-perceived competence was unevenly distributed: Technological Knowledge was lowest (M = 3.68), and Technological Content Knowledge was highest (M = 3.83), the latter associated with short-term extrinsic online-teaching demands. Pedagogical Content Knowledge (r = 0.784) and Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (r = 0.835) showed the strongest associations with overall TPACK. Teaching practice, technology training, and competition experience each showed distinct associations, whereas gender and academic level did not. Interviews further surfaced two exploratory themes: employment pressure and cross-cultural online-teaching stress.DiscussionSelf-Determination Theory is used only as an interpretive lens; basic psychological needs were not measured, so no claim about need satisfaction is tested. The findings point to pedagogical integration, rather than isolated technical training, as the priority for pre-service TCFL preparation.
Source: Mapping TPACK self-efficacy beliefs in pre-service Chinese language teachers: a mixed-methods study