Preservice EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Student-teaching Experiences

Preservice EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Student-teaching Experiences

&nbsp;&nbsp;For many preservice EFL teachers in Korea, student-teaching is regarded as the most important and challenging component of their four-year Bachelor of Education coursework (McCormack, 1996); for most of them, it is their first opportunity to actually work with secondary school students. It is also their final preparatory activity before they take the responsibilities of a practicing teacher. Therefore, it represents a significant aspect of teacher preparation programs. The purpose of this paper is to report a study on <BR>preservice EFL teachers&quot; experiences of their four-week-long student-teaching. Qualitative research techniques were used to analyze individual interview transcripts and reflective journal entries to understand 43 preservice EFL teachers&quot; perceptions of their student-teaching experiences. The findings indicate that the preservice teachers have achieved successes in relating well to students and receiving students&quot; positive responses to their instruction. However, difficulties in classroom management, teaching large multilevel classes, time management, and unengaged cooperating teachers were found out as their challenges. Despite the challenges, the preservice teachers learned new things; their idealistic view on teaching shifted to more pragmatic one. A great number of the preservice teachers found teaching was the profession they wanted to pursue. They also learned a lot from their cooperating teachers&quot; feedback. The participants&quot; rating for their satisfaction with student-teaching was generally pleasing. Implications for EFL teacher education are drawn from the findings.