Malaysian pre-service english language teachers’ perceived challenges in their digital puppetry module training experience

Abstract

This study investigates the perceived challenges faced by Malaysian pre-service English language teachers during their training in the Digital Puppetry Module, designed to equip them with the skills to create multimodal English language teaching (ELT) materials. The module was developed using the ADDIE framework, with a focus on fostering the pre-service teachers' ability to create contextually relevant, locally tailored teaching resources through digital puppetry. The study is situated within the context of Malaysia's ongoing efforts to improve English language teaching (ELT) by adopting the Teaching English as an International Language (TEIL) paradigm, which promotes localized content over the use of globalized, Western-centric ELT materials. The research employs a qualitative approach, with data collected through post-module interviews, written reflections, and videos of final group presentations from a purposive sample of 64 pre-service teachers enrolled in the "Drama in Action" course at a public university in Selangor. The findings highlight several challenges encountered by the participants, including limited prior experience in ELT material development, lack of familiarity with digital puppetry tools, and time constraints. Despite these obstacles, the teachers expressed a strong willingness to engage in materials development and proposed suggestions for tackling these challenges. For example, by providing additional training on digital tools, offering more hands-on practice, and integrating collaborative learning. These results underscore the importance of training pre-service teachers to become proactive material developers and suggest that digital puppetry could be a valuable tool in creating locally relevant, engaging, and culturally responsive ELT materials. This studies also implies that pre-service teachers’ digital knowledge gap in creating engaging ELT needs to be tackled accordingly in order to prepare them for their future modern classrooms.