Exploring Saudi EFL Student-Teachers’ Perceptions of their Teaching Practicum

T his qualitative study aims to explore the perceptions of Saudi EFL female student-teachers of the main components of their teaching practicum namely; cooperating teachers, university supervisors, host schools and the teaching practicum itself. A total of 44 Saudi female student-teachers voluntarily participated in the study after completing their field training of their teaching practicum in government schools in Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, KSA, the academic year 2017-2018. Data were collected by means of a 60-item Likert-type questionnaire, divided into 4 categories namely; cooperating teachers, university supervisors, host schools & the teaching practicum itself. Each category included 15 items. The results showed that the student-teachers had positive perceptions of all the components of their teaching practicum. In addition, the participants expressed their appreciation and satisfaction to the whole teaching practicum program in general. Besides, results indicate that cooperating teachers and university supervisors had positive roles in guiding the student teachers toward developing their teaching skills, performance and understanding of their practicum. Finally, it was found out that the constructive feedback provided by university supervisors & cooperating teachers has a positive impact on the student-teachers’ teaching performance.