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 that the knowledge derived from this
investigation will be incorporated into the teacher training courses so that
preservice ESL student teachers can become more aware of the realities of the
teaching contexts they are about to enter.