Exploring EFL Pre-Service Teachers’ Perception of Internship Programs: Lesson Learned From Thailand

Abstract

English language teaching internship is recognized as one of the most important aspects of the pre-service teachers’ education during their degree study. According to the Bachelor of Education, English major curriculum in Thailand especially the student teachers take the internship course to practice teaching for one academic year in school of their final year after they have gained experience of English language skills and pedagogy. This paper explored pre-service teachers’ perception of internship experience in terms of (1) lesson planning, (2) teaching and learning process, (3) language assessment, (4) action research, and (5) professional relations. Fourteen English major pre-service teachers, in their second semester of the final year internship in school, were selected by purposive sampling according to voluntary basis and interview (in-depth interview) of the aspects of internship experience above. This paper reflected the details of teaching practice experience of the EFL fourteen pre-service teachers with respect to challenges during the internship namely time allocation for English classes and research conduction. It was suggested that the pre-service teachers needed support from their cooperative teachers and their university supervisors who could work well with them according to styles and readiness