Learning by design: Enhancing online collaboration in developing pre‐service TESOL teachers' TPACK for teaching with corpus technology
Authors: Ma Qing , Lee Hiu Tung Hubert , Gao Xuesong (Andy) , Chai Ching‐sing 
Published: April 2024

In this study, we integrated corpus technology in pre‐service TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) development in corpus technology, termed corpus‐based language pedagogy (CBLP), and highlighted the collaborative effort for knowledge building among participants for TPACK development. The study examined the role of online collaboration in facilitating how pre‐service TESOL teachers developed their CBLP (TPACK in corpus technology) using a learning‐by‐design approach, enacted it in co‐designing lessons, revised their lessons and reflected on their collective knowledge building processes. Using a case study approach involving 33 participants, the study focused on both intra‐ and inter‐group interactions to understand the pre‐service teachers' learning dynamics/changes and unpack the interaction mechanism involved in online collaborative learning. To these ends, we collected data including CBLP group lesson designs, intra‐group data (interviews) and inter‐group peer critical comments and analysed them based on the two stages (comprehension and transformation) of Shulman's pedagogical reasoning. The results suggest that engaging in online collaboration, facilitated by the learning‐by‐design approach, is instrumental in enabling pre‐service teachers to learn corpus technology and expand their repertoire of teaching strategies. Our findings imply that both intra‐ and inter‐group collaboration modes are important to help pre‐service TESOL teachers holistically develop TPACK for language teaching. Similar implications may be applied to other subject‐specific TPACK training.

Practitioner notes

What is already known about this topic

Teacher preparation programmes play a crucial role in developing pre‐service teachers' technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK)

TPACK integration into pedagogical practice and subject‐specific professional development opportunities are important for effective teaching, but there is a lack of research on subject‐specific TPACK development (eg, TPACK in language teaching)

Online collaborative learning can support TPACK development, but most studies focused on intra‐group interactions with little attention to inter‐group interactions

What this paper adds

Introduces a new corpus‐based language pedagogy (CBLP) for TESOL teachers to help them develop TPACK in language teaching

Presents an innovative two‐step training framework for developing TESOL teachers' TPACK in corpus technology

Examines the role of online collaboration in developing pre‐service TESOL teachers' TPACK for teaching with corpus technology through learning by design

Provides in‐depth qualitative data analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively to investigate the specific roles that intra‐group and inter‐group interactions play in shaping pre‐service TESOL teachers' CBLP development

Develops an analytical framework comprising nine categories (under the comprehension and transformation stages of Shulman's pedagogical reasoning model) to code pre‐service TESOL teachers' TPACK development in corpus technology

Finds that intra‐group interactions facilitate both comprehension and transformation stages, while inter‐group interactions predominantly facilitate the transformation stage of CBLP

Implications for practice

Emphasises hands‐on corpus‐searching skills and guidance on browsing corpora when designing CBLP lessons

Encourages both within‐group and between‐group interactions in online collaborative learning to foster TPACK development for using corpus technology in teaching language subjects

Considers incorporating similar approaches for developing other subject‐specific TPACK for other teaching subjects