Knowledge, beliefs, and feelings are dimensions of teachers' cognition that can influence their teaching practices, both in terms of pedagogy, content,
and technology. Like the
English teachers for young learners who need to adapt their teaching methods
to the current digital era.
Therefore, teachers need a holistic theoretical framework called TPACK (technological,
pedagogical, and content
knowledge) for ICT integration. The purpose of this study was to find
out teachers' cognitions about the integration of
ICT in teaching English to young
learners and
how teachers practice their ICT-TPAK in teaching English to young learners. In addition, the
researcher also analyzes the reasons teachers integrate ICT and how young learners are assisted in
learning English
by teachers who integrate ICT-TPACK in their teaching practices. Seven
teachers from five elementary schools in East Java, Indonesia, were involved as participants
in this study. The researcher
also used five students from each teacher
as
class representatives to gather
information from the
students' side. This study used a
qualitative method with multiple
case study designs because there were several research participants with the same case. In collecting data, researcher
used interviews
and
in-depth observations of teachers and students in the process
of teaching English in the classroom.
The results of this study indicate that not all
teachers have holistic cognition about ICT integration in their TPC
(technological, pedagogical, and content) instruction, such as breadth and depth knowledge, strength belief, and happiness feeling. Even other cognitions were also
found in this study during the observation process carried out by researcher, namely positive
and negative emotions
as a
physical reaction from a feeling.
Then, open and closed attitude as
the impact of other cognitions, which
ultimately form
a hope in a teacher. The findings of this study revealed that five
participants (P1, P2, P3, P4, P7) had holistic
cognition, which was in
line with their good ICT-TPC practices. One participant (P5) during the interview was found not
to have holistic cognition, but instead, when the researcher made observations, it turned out
that she was able to
apply his ICT-TPC well, which means she actually had holistic cognition but
was not aware of
it.
Meanwhile, one
participant (P6) at the beginning of the interview did
not have holistic cognition, and this was in line with his ICT-TPC practice, which was also not optimal. The cognition of the teachers who participated in the study certainly had an impact on
elementary school students learning English
in class. Students
taught by teachers who have holistic cognition and good ICT-TPC implementation tend to be more active and responsive in class
compared to students taught
by teachers with non-holistic cognition regarding
their ICT- TPC integration.
Although not all participants have holistic cognition about technology pedagogical
content knowledge for ICT (Information and
Communication
Technology) Integration
and
its practice in TEYL, they all agree that ICT integration in teaching practice provide benefits such as: 1) sharing
teaching resources; 2) removing
obstacles
and
providing flexibility in teaching and learning activities; 3) increasing teacher
skills, confidence, and enthusiasm; 4) assisting
teachers in planning and compiling content; 5) increasing teacher power and authority in the
learning process; and 6) technology
enables various ways to make
teaching more fun and enjoyable. From the students' point
of view, they benefit greatly when teachers use ICT to assist them in learning English.
They prefer
their teachers to use
ICT
devices such as laptops,
LCD screens, YouTube videos, and applications such as Quizizz, Presentation
Plus, Word Wall, and PowerPoint. The interview findings also show that students
can actively participate in learning English with teachers who use ICT. They
can even complete assignments given by the teacher using
ICT tools. However, because students
are still young, they need assistance from parents
or teachers during the process.