Pre-service English Teachers’ Perceptions of an Overseas Field Experience Programme

Oct 15, 2026

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This paper examines the perceptions of pre-service English teachers toward an overseas field experience programme jointly organised by a university in Canada and a teacher trainer institute in Hong Kong. Seven Canadian Year 3 and 4 B.Ed. TESL students participated in an eight-week placement in Hong Kong. A purely qualitative design used semi-structured interviews and fieldwork logs. Findings indicate strong positivity because participants deepened their understanding of Chinese ESL students through teaching experience in Hong Kong.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Overseas field experience and teacher education

Global and cross-cultural knowledge

Literature review of benefits

Prior research on international field experience

Australian Journal of Teacher Education | Volume 36 | Issue 3 | Article 5 | | --- | --- | | 2011
Pre-service English Teachers’ Perceptions ofan Overseas Field Experience Programme
Chi Cheung R. Yang
The HongKong Institute of Education, HongKong, [rccyang@ied.edu.hk](rccyang@ied.edu.hk) | | Recommended Citation Yang, Chi Cheung R. (2011) "Pre-service English Teachers’ Perceptions ofan Overseas Field Experience Programme,"Australian Journal of Teacher Education: Vol. 36: Iss. 3, Article 5. Available at: [http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol36/iss3/5](http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol36/iss3/5) This Journal Article is posted at Research Online. [http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol36/iss3/5](http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol36/iss3/5) Australian Journal of Teacher Education Pre-service English Teachers’Perceptions of an Overseas Field Experience Programme Chi Cheung Ruby Yang The Hong Kong Institute of Education Hong Kong [rccyang@ied.edu.hk](rccyang@ied.edu.hk) Abstract: This paper aims to present a small group ofpre-service English teachers’ perceptions towards the overseas field experience programme jointly organised by a university in Canada and the teacher trainer institute in Hong Kong. The study involved seven Canadian Year 3 and 4 B.Ed. TESL students who participated in the investigated eight-week overseas field experience programme to Hong Kong. A purely qualitative method was adopted in which a semi structured interview was conducted and the participants were asked to keep fieldwork logs to obtain their views of the programme. The results of the study show that the participants were highly positive about this overseas field experience because they could understand more about the nature of Chinese ESL students through their teaching experience in HongKong. The paper concludes by suggesting that an effective collaboration and communication among the partnership universities and the linking schools is particularly important because it can make the participants benefit most from the programme. Introduction Field experience or teaching internship is an “indispensable part” of a teacher education programme (Posner, 2005, p. 3) and overseas field experience is important for English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers, especially for pre-service teachers who do not have any or enough teaching experience. It usually involves the collaboration of placement schools and universities (Stachowski & Mahan, 1998) and provides future teachers with the “real world”of classrooms to improve their teaching skills (Willhite, Mclntyre, & Willhite, 2008, p. 329) . One important argument for including field experience in the teacher education programme is to provide student teachers with opportunities to integrate theory learnt into practice in a meaningful way (Wiseman, Knight, & Cooner, 2005). Ribich (1995) strongly believes that field experience in teacher education programmes helps students grow and develop as Vol 36, 2, March 2011 92 Australian Journal of Teacher Education teachers. It also assesses students ’“readiness for entering the teaching profession”(Jaquith, 1995, p. 20). Regarding overseas field experience, Brindley et al. (2009, p. 532) suggest that a study abroad internship program can “act as a catalyst” for pre-service teachers ’professional development. Pre-service English teachers in the modern era need to have global or cross-cultural knowledge. In an age of globalization in the twenty-first century, there is a great demand for teachers to have increased knowledge about the world and a need for them to experience cross-cultural learning (Merryfield, 1995; Mahon & Cushner, 2002) and possess actual international knowledge (Merryfield, 1995) . Overseas student teaching is “a way to expand cross-cultural knowledge” of student teachers (Cushner & Mahon, 2002, p. 56; Mahon & Cusher, 2002, p. 7) . It is a crucial element which allows pre-service teachers to gain meaningful

FAQs

What is the purpose of the study?

The study aims to present a small group of pre-service English teachers’ perceptions of the overseas field experience programme organised by partner institutions in Canada and Hong Kong.

Who participated and what was the programme duration?

Seven Canadian Year 3 and 4 B.Ed. TESL students participated in an eight-week overseas field experience placement in Hong Kong.

How was the data collected and analyzed?

The study used a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews and required participants to keep fieldwork logs to capture their views of the programme.

Oct 15, 2026

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