Innovation in Language Learning

Teaching practicum has been considered crucial to improve pre-service teachers’ pedagogical skills. Thus, it is viewed as the most effective preparation for teaching. As an indispensable part of teacher education curriculum, teaching practicum has been the focus of considerable research. In this regard, this research mainly aims to determine the experiences of a group of teacher trainees of English during their teaching practicum in a state school throughout a semester.  The participants of the study were 10 student teachers who were selected on a voluntary basis. The data were collected via a questionnaire consisting of open ended questions. Qualitative data analysis techniques were used to analyze the data and their experiences were analyzed under three headings; namely: the teaching practicum process, the mentor teacher and the faculty supervisor. Their experiences in cooperating with the mentor teachers in host classrooms were analyzed in terms of benefits they had and constraints they faced during their practicum. Besides, their experiences with the faculty member who supervised them were also dealt with.  The results indicated that the school experience mostly satisfied the general expectations of the student teachers in terms of the above mentioned three aspects. Some suggestions for a better practicum course were also recommended upon the findings of the research.