Background/purpose: The significant role of mentor teachers during practicum studies necessitates training that specifically addresses mentoring expectations in the teaching context. Drawing on critical constructivist teacher education, this study aims to investigate the expectations of student teachers, mentor teachers, and university supervisors…

Metaphors are powerful windows to gain insight into EFL teachers' professional identity constructions. This study examined 33 Chinese EFL student teachers' (STs) self-generated metaphors about teaching before and after their student teaching. Before their teaching practicum experience, they were: (a) optimistic, but had naïve perceptions about…

Using activity theory, an offshoot of sociocultural theory, we examined how a group of preservice teachers (PSTs) of English in Chile learnt to design language teaching materials. Data from PSTs, teacher educators, and mentoring teachers shows how the conceptual tool of "teaching English as teaching the textbook" is appropriated by a…

This study aims to explore the stress factors of stakeholders in the practicum process of an English Language Teacher Education Program. The participants included 24 preservice teachers (PTs), 11 mentor teachers (MTs), 6 supervisors and 4 school administrators. As for the data collection, PTs and MTs wrote reflection reports, and supervisors and…

The current study probes into English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' conceptions of their professional development during practicum course. The study merits a mixed methods approach and has utilized both quantitative and qualitative data gathering and analysis. To gather quantitative data, 100 EFL teachers were asked to complete a…

Despite the growing interest in investigating the practice of mentoring during the practicum regardless of field focus, research is scarce in relation to how mentoring is seen and enacted in the area of English language teaching especially in primary schools. Drawing on interviews with fifteen student teachers and fourteen cooperating teachers,…

A critical incident is an unexpected event that occurs in the classroom. Teachers can uncover a new understanding of the teaching and learning process through reflecting on these critical incidents. This study explored the writing and discussion of critical incidents among six student teachers with their cooperating teachers in a practicum under…

The government of the Sultanate of Oman actively promotes the value of English as a global "lingua franca" to support modernization and national economic growth. This policy, however, creates difficulties for many teachers, who find themselves implementing certain practices that conflict with a vision of English language teaching (ELT)…

This study draws from a cultural-historical perspective to explore the experiences of two pre-­service ESL teachers in terms of their efforts to maximize the use of the target language during a school practicum. Both student teachers were fluent in English, had received training in maximizing target language use during their university studies,…

This study examined specific issues and concerns faced by Bachelor of Education student teachers majoring in Language and Literature during their 12-week teaching practicum experience. Specifically, three main areas of concerns were examined. They were: (1) specific issues and concerns related to the implementation of teaching practicum faced by…

The present study aims to investigate whether perceptions of 4th year student teachers enrolled in a distance English language teacher training program about mentor roles differ significantly according to some factors such as gender, the type of graduation school, the type of the cooperating school they are experiencing teaching practice at, and…

Responding to a gap in relevant literatures, this study explores cooperating teachers' perceptions of their roles and responsibilities as contributors to the practicum experiences of preservice teachers of English as a second language who were pursuing a master's degree. Research tools featured focus group and individual interviews with 11…

The English language teaching (ELT) practicum has come to be recognized as one of the most important aspects of a learner teacher's education during their language teacher training program. During the practicum, learner English language teachers need lots of support and cooperating teachers are seen as the main source of this support because they…

Over recent decades, there has been compelling evidence describing the powerful effects of teachers' sense of efficacy on their instructional activities as well as student outcomes. The present study explored the change of efficacy of prospective teachers over the student teaching period and the factors that might contribute to the change. Data…

This manual was written for cooperating teachers who plan to participate in the training of student teachers in foreign languages. It begins with a short questionnaire to be filled out by the cooperating teacher, designed to help the teacher decide how he or she actually feels about working with a student teacher. In the next section of the guide,…