The Influence of the Practicum Course on EFL Student Teachers (Published)
The purpose of this study is to identify through the practicum course the desirable characteristics of the effective student teacher who is going to teach English as a foreign language as perceived by English language teacher trainer (the researcher), fellow student teachers, and the practicum supervisor. It involved a total of 103 female student teachers divided to 48 student teachers in fall semester and 55 in spring semester. Data was collected through observation and filling out a questionnaire, class log, evaluation performance and interviews. Although these student teachers taught at least twenty hours a week on average and often took on additional responsibilities which shows a giving rise to anxiety among some participants, it has led to greater self-awareness and increased confidence in participants’ own ability and expertise, and an endorsement of their teaching style and practice. Furthermore, the challenges that these teachers faced were teaching methods, high-stakes testing, their language proficiency and ways to motivate their students to learn English.
Keywords: Practicum, mediation between practice and theory, peer- observation, student teacher