Delving into EFL teachers' digital literacy and professional identity in the pandemic era: Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework.

ABSTRACT

The recent decades have witnessed an accelerated pace of educational development due to the advancement of digital technology. The recent inclusive spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has influenced this development, resulting in the emergence of an educational revolution that extensively uses online courses. These changes entail figuring out how teachers' digital literacy has expanded along with this phenomenon. In addition, given the new technological advances in recent years, an upheaval has taken place in teachers' understanding of their dynamic roles, which is known as professional identity. Professional identity influences teaching practices with special consideration devoted to English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) is considered an effective framework whereby the incorporation of technology into different theoretical situations such as EFL classes is understood. This initiative was introduced as an academic structure to improve the knowledge base, which helps the teachers to efficiently teach using technology. This yields important insight for teachers, particularly, English teachers, who can use them to improve three aspects of education, namely, technology, pedagogy, and content knowledge. Along the same lines, this paper aims to consider the relevant literature on the contribution of teacher identity and literacy to teaching practices, using the TPACK framework. Accordingly, some implications are presented to educational stakeholders such as teachers, learners, and material developers.