EFL Student Teachers' Reflections on Their Initial Teaching Practice

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate student teachers' reflections on their pre-service teaching practice. The research question is: What are student teachers' perceptions of their cognitive, behavioural and affective involvement in initial teaching practice? The participants in this study were 53 student teachers of English language and literature at a Croatian university. A questionnaire was administered to the student teachers upon the accomplishment of their school-based teaching practice. The questionnaire consisted of 18 items accompanied by a five-point Likert scale. Six items in the questionnaire referred to the student teachers' perception of their cognitive involvement when observing their mentors teach, six items referred to the student teachers' perceptions of their verbal and non-verbal behaviour when teaching their own lessons, and six items addressed student teachers' attitude towards the assignments they had during their teaching practice. Findings indicate high cognitive involvement of the student teachers during their observations of mentors’ lessons. The majority of the student teachers reported they had made an effort to understand the teaching process in terms of the principles and decisions that lay behind the procedures used by the teacher and the selection of a particular teaching strategy. The results show very high student teachers' involvement in some behavioural aspects of teaching, such as paying attention to learners' participation, and student teachers' most enjoyment in teaching their own lessons.