Learning to Teach English Language in the Practicum: What Challenges do Non-Native ESL Student Teachers Face?

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jasmine

This study investigates the challenges sixteen non-native preservice ESL teachers in a Bachelor of Education (English Language) programme from Hong Kong experienced during an eight-week teaching practicum. Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews and reflective journals to describe participants’ perceptions of their field-based experiences. Findings show a reality shock from difficulties applying pedagogical practices and limited sense of classroom control, with impacts beyond the practicum. English competence also shaped teaching performance and teacher-student relationships, informing ESL teacher preparation in non-native English contexts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Review of the Literature

Australian Journal of Teacher Education | Volume 38 | Issue 3 | Article 6 | | --- | --- | 2013 Learning to Teach English Language in the Practicum: What Challenges do Non-Native ESL Student Teachers Face? Zhengdong Gan The HongKong Institute of Education, zdgan@ied.edu.hk Recommended Citation Gan, Zhengdong (2013) "Learning to Teach English Language in the Practicum: What Challenges do Non-Native ESL Student Teachers Face?,"Australian Journal of Teacher Education: Vol. 38: Iss. 3, Article 6. Available at: [http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol38/iss3/6](http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol38/iss3/6) This Journal Article is posted at Research Online. [http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol38/iss3/6](http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol38/iss3/6) Australian Journal of Teacher Education Learning to Teach English Language in the Practicum: What Challenges do Non-Native ESL Student Teachers Face? Zhengdong Gan The Hong Kong Institute of Education Abstract: This study investigates the challenges sixteen non native preservice ESL teachers in a Bachelor of Education (English Language) (BEdEL) programme from Hong Kong experienced in an eight-week teaching practicum. Qualitative data from semi-structured interviews and reflective journals were collected from all 16 participants to obtain a detailed description of the participants’perceptions of their field-based practicum experiences. Results indicate that the preserviece teachers’ practicum was characterized by a reality shock due to difficulties in experimenting with pedagogical practices they were taught in the BEdEL programme, and a lack of sense of control in class. This reality shock could destabilize the already anxious student teachers and have adverse effects well beyond the eight-week teaching practicum. Inadequacy in English language competence also appeared to affect not only these student teachers’teaching performance but also how they established and maintained their teacher role and relationship with their students. Implications of the results for strengthening current ESL teacher preparation programmes in non-native English speaking contexts are discussed. Introduction Teaching practice has come to be recognized as one of the most important aspects of the teacher education program (Farrell. 2003) . Much evidence points to the value of preservice student teaching due to the realistic nature of the experience (Slick, 1998) . Research examining student teacher practicum reveals that the practicum component of a teacher training program has an important impact on their future careers (Myles, Cheng, & Wang, 2006; Rozelle & Wilson, 2012) . Although there has been a considerable amount of research on teacher learning in the general education field (e.g., Tang, 2002; Graham, 2006; Allen, 2009; O’Neill & Stephenson, 2012), in English language teaching there is a paucity of data on what exactly takes place during field experiences, particularly practicum experiences undertaken by non-native ESL teacher candidates (Farrell, 2003) . The purpose of this exploratory study is, in part, to address this gap in ESL teacher Vol 38, 3, March 2013 92 Australian Journal of Teacher Education education research. The study is designed to identify the major challenges non native preservice ESL student teachers may experience in teaching practice context. This paper outlines a case study of the perceptions of an 8-week teaching practicum experience in local schools of 16 non-native preservice ESL student teachers from a university in Hong Kong. What challenges these ESL student teachers experienced during the practicum is the focus of the study described here, which attempted to find answers to the following research questions: 1) What challenges did a group of non-native preservice ESL student teachers experience during the teaching practicum? 2) What might contribute to the challenges experienced by these nonnative ESL student teachers? The research is based on the premise t

FAQs

What challenges did non-native preservice ESL student teachers report during the eight-week practicum?

They reported a reality shock, difficulties experimenting with taught pedagogical practices, and a limited sense of control in the classroom, which could destabilize anxious student teachers.

How was the research conducted and what data sources were used?

The study used qualitative data from semi-structured interviews and reflective journals collected from all 16 participants to capture detailed perceptions of practicum experiences.

How did English language competence affect the student teachers beyond teaching performance?

English language competence influenced not only teaching performance but also how student teachers established and maintained their teacher role and relationships with students.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jasmine