Practicum is an essential and meaningful form of teacher training but due to the great diversity of educational programs worldwide, their nature and quality depend too much on each particular situation. For this reason, an Interactive Digital Notepad (IDN) prototype, based on Kanban and powered up by Trello, is presented as a solution to the…

Immigrant adults in the United States often have limited opportunities to learn English. To address this issue and to strengthen the preparation of future English language teachers, a practicum course offered in a Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MA TESOL) program in California was modified to engage student…

This article introduces the structure and content of an online learning platform called "SMART Teacher Lab" (STL, henceforth) implemented at the authors' university since 2014. "STL" is an online platform specifically built for the professional development of pre- and in-service English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers,…

The grammar microteachings carried out by trainees in teacher education is a critical issue due to the fact that the teaching of grammar has always been a controversial issue throughout the foreign language teaching (FLT) acculturation. There is always some negative reaction to isolated teaching of grammar in communicative language teaching…

The teaching practicum is a pivotal event for pre-service teachers to experience the transition from being students to being teachers. This paper examines the emergence of "unruly pupils" as a central concern for pre-service English language teachers in their teaching practicum. The inquiry relates the pre-service teachers' perceived…

In this reflective essay, I share my experiences as a US-based professor leading graduate students on a 2-month teaching practicum in northern Thailand. I describe the process of arranging the practicum in coordination with the host university and the challenges of teaching 2 teacher-education courses while also mentoring novice teachers and…

This forum article describes a postgraduate certificate teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) program with a strong linguistics orientation and argues that such a program provides novice language teachers with knowledge and skills superior to those of programs which focus more on methodology and practicum experience and less on…

A new program for core French teacher candidates called FLAGS (French Language and Global Studies) was established at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 2007. The program is intended for those who are keen to teach core French and possess rudimentary proficiency in the language but may not necessarily have the same proficiency or prior…

As English tends to be regarded as a component of basic education, most European countries, Spain amongst them, are issuing legislation to establish the content and language integrated learning (CLIL) approach in educational settings. The article presents instances of the implementation of CLIL in the area of teacher training which stem from a…

The reflective experience of novice and experienced teachers involved in a Teaching English as a Second or Other Language (TESOL) practicum is described. Data gathered during the process illustrate the nature of each person's thoughts, judgments, and decisions while watching themselves teach. Ways for practicum supervisors to integrate this…

The practical teaching course, also known as the "practicum", is an essential component in graduate TESOL programs in the United States. The rationale behind this course is to allow preservice teachers the opportunity "to acquire the practical skills and knowledge needed to function as effective language teacher[s]".…

Examines the initial training of the foreign language teachers in Great Britain and outlines a course for certification in foreign language teaching in the light of changes in the educational service, society at large, and government policy following the establishment in 1984 of the Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education. (Author/SED)

The Supervision of Assistants Program (SOAP) at Louisiana State University provides pre-teaching, ongoing, and post-teaching supervision for 20 teaching assistants assigned to 800-1000 undergraduate students of French at the beginning and intermediate levels. Almost all new teaching assistants are assigned a section of introductory French,…

Data from student journals in an English-as-a-Second-Language writing practicum are used to trace the process by which practice of and reflection on specific activities change awareness of and attitudes toward writing and the teaching of writing. The paper demonstrates the necessity of integrating training and development in teacher education.…

An adaptation of the dialog journal technique, used for teacher training purposes, is described. The journals were used as medium of communication between novice teachers of English as a second language and their supervisors in a field practicum course. Journals were studied to quantify the types of student comments made, and to track the changes…