Abstract

This talk explores two important frameworks for pre-service teachers’ (PST) professional development (PD) in response to increasing technology integration in language education, focusing on developing PST agency through Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and the Synthesis of Qualitative Data (SQD) frameworks. PST training methodologies, such as design-based learning and active learning, are structurally informed by SQD, which emphasizes a series of strategies such as modeling, collaboration, reflection, and digital identity to address challenges from VR/AR to AI. From the technological viewpoint, teacher agency is critically associated with ICT affordances from online tools, AI and GenAI tools, and GenAI-based robotics. While GenAI offers diverse pedagogical roles (content curation, feedback, and conversation partner), its fundamentally value-laden nature demands an expansion of the traditional model to Critical TPACK for GenAI, explicitly including critical thinking to manage biases. In this environment, PST agency is demonstrated by actively orchestrating GenAI affordances while drawing on PK and CK to critically select, supplement, and revise outputs. Thus, effective PD must promote critical GenAI literacy and reflective practice through hands-on design activities to ensure that future educators can apply informed pedagogical reasoning to manage ethical constraints of AI-embedded tools.

Bio

Seongyong Lee is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China and will join the Institute of Education, University College London in 2026. His research focuses on AI and robotics in L2 (teacher) education, inclusive CALL, and Global Englishes. His work has appeared in international journals, including Computers & Education, Computer Assisted Language Learning, Applied Linguistics, TESOL Quarterly, Education and Information Technologies, Interactive Learning Environments, Educational Technology & Society, Language Learning & Technology, ELT Journal, and System.