U.S. Preservice Teachers Learning With Multilingual Learners in Korea Through Educational Technology: Bringing Heteroglossic and Global Approaches to TESOL Teacher Education

Abstract

This study aimed to explore how educational technology influenced a preparatory teacher education program using heteroglossic and global approaches. The researchers drew upon the theoretical framework of multilingual digital storytelling (MDST), which emphasizes the intercultural awareness attributes of multilingual learners (MLs) and takes a heteroglossic perspective in linguistic pedagogy. This qualitative case study examined the experiences of 11 U.S.-based preservice teachers (PSTs) and 12 MLs elementary students in Korea in the MDST project of a TESOL methods course. The findings showed that PSTs and MLs enhanced their appreciation for educational technology, multilingualism, and intercultural awareness. Although the project aimed to decenter English as a hegemonic language, both PSTs and MLs maintained traditional discourses that privileged English over MLs’ home language and targeted literacy correctness in written English only, moving away from the heterogeneous goals of the course project. PSTs and MLs also faced challenges in navigating technological tools, which negatively affected their perception of the project. This study contributes to heteroglossic approaches in preparatory TESOL teacher education programs and improves the understanding of challenges in educational technology use for global multilingual exchanges to promote global citizenship.