Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)

This chapter addresses the theories underlying the construct TPACK. The chapter begins with reviewing the history and then the rationale of teacher knowledge base in the form of a multi-dimensional model taken from published literature. It also discusses how TPACK framework has developed and evolved in the last decade. Some seminal works whose authors have contributed greatly to the development of TPACK model are reviewed. Based on the theoretical frameworks and the findings of the empirical studies, a comprehensive list of the definitions of TPACK and critical issues regarding this framework are discussed. The chapter comes to its end by introducing the evolved model of TPACK, TPACK in-Action, in detail.

EFL Teacher Knowledge Base

This chapter aims at pinpointing EFL teachers' knowledge base and its components. First, knowledge and its nature in general and teacher knowledge in particular are discussed. The theoretical frameworks of teacher knowledge base in general and the knowledge base of EFL teachers in particular are defined and elaborated meticulously. This includes the seminal work of Shulman and its three main categories of teacher knowledge—content knowledge, general pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge—and the work of language educationists to define the tripartite model of EFL teacher knowledge base. In the following, the need to re-conceptualize EFL teachers' knowledge base, the importance of investigating EFL teachers' knowledge base in CALL-based teaching/learning environments, and the way teachers should be empowered in technology era are addressed.

EFL TPACK

This chapter focuses on EFL teachers' TPACK. First, the types of knowledge that are important in pedagogy and how these categories of knowledge and their related frameworks can differentiate models of teacher education are discussed. In the following, some models of teacher education, their characteristics, and their differences and similarities are introduced. Then the rationale of developing EFL TPACK to subsume standard TPACK is discussed and the need to EFL TPACK is addressed. The rationale includes two important characteristics of EFL teachers that can impact the use and adaptation of technology in the process of teaching: computer attitudes and ICT literacy. How these two constructs are important in empowering a teacher to use ICT in instruction and how they can hinder technology-based teaching and learning are discussed. Some related models and constructs associated with these two attributes are described as well. In the last part, the construct EFL TPACK is comprehensively introduced and each component is described in detail and support/evidence from the literature is provided.

EFL TPACK

This chapter lists studies done on EFL TPACK in the last decade. The empirical studies on the prototypical model of TPACK seem to boom in the second decade of the twenty-first century, specifically from 2012. As a new and still-evolving construct, some studies have focused on teachers' (both in-service and pre-service) understanding of the construct itself and its relationship with other variables (e.g., demographic, psychological, technological). Another group of studies have emphasized the importance of the way TPACK should be operationally defined. A few measures of EFL TPACK have thus been developed by some researchers. They are discussed in the current chapter and their samples are provided in the Appendix of the book for further reference.

The Role of Teachers in CALL

The main aim of this chapter is introducing and discussing the role of teachers in CALL. First the role of teachers in EFL classes along with the timeline of language teaching methodology (from grammar translation method to CLT approach) as well as post-method era are discussed. Then the benefits of using CALL for language teachers is addressed, and the concept of teacher role in CALL is defined and specified. The importance of EFL teachers' cognition in successful ICT integration is discussed in the closing section of the chapter. This is specifically related to discussions about theory of diffusion of innovation and how it can be related to CALL history and integration in language classes.

A Short History of Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)

This chapter discusses a brief history of computer-assisted language learning (CALL). First CALL and its key concepts are defined then a comprehensive but brief account of the history of CALL from the 1950s till the present is presented. The characteristics of each phase of CALL, the corresponding linguistic/psychological frameworks, technologies, activities and merits/demerits, and the role of the computer in instruction are elaborated. CALL research scope and its future perspective are portrayed and possible fields of research are introduced. In the end, a quick and brief guideline is provided on how to use CALL in teaching macro and micro language skills.

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)

This chapter gives a brief review of literature of TPACK and the variables researchers have focused on during the past decade. The review of literature is divided into four parts: the research done on the emergence of the model and the educationists' works on the theoretical aspects of TPACK; how certain researchers have tried to validate the TPACK model and the contradictions they revealed in the process; the assessment of the model in the context of teaching and the way TPACK can be related to other attributes of teachers and their context of teaching; and finally the measures of TPACK including both subjective and performance measures.