Indonesian ESP Teachers’ Perceived TPACK: An Analysis of Competence Levels, Challenges, and Coping Strategies

Abstract

This study investigates Indonesian English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) to understand their perceived competencies and the challenges they encounter in integrating technology into ESP instruction, along with their coping strategies. Employing a mixed-methods design, data were gathered from 50 ESP teachers across Indonesian universities through a 35-item TPACK questionnaire and 6 selected participants, i.e., three with the lowest TPACK scores and three with the highest, through structured interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS, while qualitative data were examined using NVivo. The findings indicate a clear imbalance in teachers’ perceived knowledge domains: while ESP teachers expressed strong confidence in content and pedagogical areas, they reported considerably lower confidence in technology-related domains, particularly in achieving coherent integration of technology, pedagogy, and ESP content. The interview data further reveal that teachers encounter recurring challenges such as adapting to rapid technological change, providing technology-mediated feedback, contextualizing ESP instruction for professional practice, and designing multimedia and differentiated digital tasks. Although teachers demonstrate agency by adopting individual coping strategies, such as professional learning, experimentation with tools, and reflective practices, these efforts remain largely fragmented and dependent on personal initiative. This study contributes to the ESP–TPACK literature by providing a context-sensitive, mixed-method account of both competence patterns and integration struggles among in-service ESP teachers in Indonesia, highlighting the need for sustained, scaffolded professional development models that explicitly connect technology use with pedagogical reasoning and ESP-specific instructional goals.