İkinci Dil Olarak Türkçe Öğreticileri ve Yabancı Dil Olarak İngilizce Öğreticilerinin Dijital Yeterlilikleri

Abstract

Digital competency is the ability to learn the use of digital technologies, create a system that works functionally and use it effectively and efficiently. Especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, the use of digital environments and tools became mandatory and this had a great impact on language teaching in terms of being able to use and manage them effectively in teaching processes. Today, the development of the four main skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing, cannot be evaluated independently of digital tools and environments in the process of teaching a foreign language. For this reason, this thesis study aims to compare the digital competency levels of Turkish teachers as the second language and English teachers as the foreign language through quantitative and qualitative data. The factors affecting the digital competency levels of teachers and the effects of the Covid-19 period and motivation have been described. Data were collected in accordance with the complementary principle of the mixed method by collecting qualitative and quantitative data simultaneously and equally. There are 51 participants from Turkish and foreign language teaching centers and 53 participants from foreign language schools of universities in Turkey. They are experienced teachers, between the ages of 31- 40 who have been using digital tools intensively for teaching purposes for at least 4 years. At the semester of data collection 25% of the participants gave lessons remotely due to the change of the rules after the pandemic. However, some participants do not have experience in distance education. Quantitative data obtained from the scale adapted from the European Union Digital Competence Framework for Educators showed that Turkish instructors’ digital competency level are generally at the B1-Integrator and that of English teachers’ at the B1-Integrator and B2-Expert levels. In addition, there was no significant difference in the digital competency levels of teachers according to the Turkish and English areas of expertise. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 educators at the Turkish language teaching centers and foreign language schools at Hatay Mustafa Kemal University and Hacettepe University. The quantitative data were analyzed through the codes created using MAXQDA under the themes of Covid-19 period and instructor’s motivation in addition to the six areas of digital competency. It has been revealed that the motivation sources of teachers are mostly student-based and the digital competency acquired especially during the Covid-19 period is not sustainable in the teaching process after the pandemic restrictions were lifted. The qualitative and quantitative data were collected simultaneously and the results were examined separately. There was no significant difference in the digital competency areas according to the participants’ areas of expertise as Turkish and English. Qualitative data showed that teaching Turkish as a second language being a newer field than teaching English as a foreign language, the teaching materials, institutional resources, technological infrastructure and in-service trainings are very limited. Hence, participants who are Turkish language instructors create their own digital materials, tools and solutions from scratch. On the contrary, English teachers as a foreign language have systematic trainings, digital tools, environments, and resources available which are used and improved for years. Thus, participants from English language schools have a guiding role in improving the digital competency of their students. This comprehensive and diverse mixed method study in the context of a second and foreign language has made a descriptive contribution to the digital competency of teachers in Turkey. Recommendations on improving the institutional, individual, as well as student-oriented digital competencies of teachers have been given for both areas of expertise.