UNDERSTANDING ENGLISH TEACHERS' TPACK COMPETENCE IN THE ERA OF DIGITAL LEARNING: EVIDENCE FROM PAPUA, INDONESIA

Abstract

The swift progression of digital technology has revolutionized English language instruction and heightened the necessity for teachers capable of seamlessly incorporating technology, pedagogy, and topic expertise into their teaching methods. This research sought to evaluate the TPACK competency of junior high school English teachers in Jayapura in relation to the requirements of digital learning. A descriptive quantitative survey design was employed involving 37 English teachers determined via stratified random sampling. Data were gathered with a TPACK instrument tailored to the Papua context, comprising 28 items distributed over seven TPACK domains. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings confirmed that the participants' overall TPACK proficiency was classified as satisfactory (M = 83.50). Within the seven domains, Content Knowledge (CK) and Technology Knowledge (TK) achieved the highest average scores, signifying that teachers demonstrated robust topic expertise and competence in technology. However, the TPACK domain attained a comparatively lower rating, indicating that enhanced assistance is necessary to bolster teachers' capacity to concurrently integrate technology, pedagogy, and content. Despite geographical and infrastructural challenges, teachers demonstrated adaptive use of accessible technologies and contextualized English instruction to local learning environments. These findings underscore the significance of ongoing professional development centered on integrated TPACK competencies and provide empirical evidence about English teachers' digital preparedness in the underrepresented educational setting of Papua.