In the present investigation, the preservice ESL student teachers were taught
innovative pedagogical principles and practices such as task-based language
teaching during the BEdEL programme. The English language curriculum
promulgated by the government’s Department of Education also highlights the
importance of task-based learning in schools. It was thus not surprising that an
adherence to task-based language teaching was epitomized in the student teachers’
planning of lessons and designing of instructional activities. But many of them
soon realized that implementing task-based teaching was by no means an easy job.
As shown by the data, the stressful nature of designing and preparing ‘tasks” for
class as well as the pressure of covering the prescribed amount and type of teaching
contents during class appeared to be the important reasons why some student
teachers abandoned their ideal pedagogical techniques. Echoing the observation in
the literature, the data also reveal that some student teachers’ supporting teachers
seemed conservative and discouraged them from experimenting with innovative
teaching techniques. These realistic and contextual factors appeared to overwhelm
the student teachers to the point that they were only able to try their best to make
their lesson look like task-based teaching when their university supervisor was
present in their class for lesson observation. At other times, they relied more on the
teacher-centred, book-based or exam-oriented teaching strategies they themselves
had been exposed to as students in primary and secondary schools. The findings of
this study thus suggest a gap between the pedagogical principles and practices the
preservice student teachers were taught on the BEdEL programme and Hong Kong
classroom cultural traditions, which are characterized by a heavy emphasis on
textbooks and examination preparation. Consequently, a question that teacher
educators involved in the current teacher preparation programme must address is
how they can ensure that the pedagogical principles (e.g., task-based teaching)
taught in the programme can be carried over into the practicum and sustained in the
face of challenges and other influences.