A Qualitative Case Study of EFL Student Teachers' Teaching Practice during Practicum
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14456/bej.2023.3Keywords:
pedagogical practices, practicum, reflection, supervisionAbstract
This study explores the teaching practice of English as Foreign Language (EFL) student teachers during a practicum course. It examines the student teachers’ pedagogical practices, received supervisory support, and their reflective practice experience when they were first placed at local public schools to practice teaching English. The qualitative research design using a multiple case study approach was adopted. The data were collected through documents, classroom observations and semi-structured interviews with four purposively selected EFL tertiary student teachers and their supervisors during their teaching practice in Yemen. A computer-aided qualitative data analysis software, Atlas ti, was used to organize and manage the analysis process. The findings reveal some pedagogical practice issues particularly in three areas: lesson planning, teaching strategies and classroom management. The results show that the student teachers’ insufficient pedagogical knowledge negatively influenced their pedagogical practices. Furthermore, the findings of study unveil a limited supervisory support and guidance received by the student teachers which consequently decreased their opportunities to interact with supervisors and get feedback on their teaching practices. Additionally, the findings indicated that the student teachers attempted to experience reflective practice through following some steps to increase self-awareness of their pedagogical practices and enhance their professional development. Thus, it can be concluded that the EFL professional teaching practice should entail the integration of three elements: pedagogical knowledge, supervisory support and reflective practice. Some practical and pedagogical implications for better teaching practice are drawn and directed to the EFL teacher education programme administrators and developers. The study also offers some suggestions which might benefit ESL/EFL researchers.
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