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
