The Practicum and its Effects on the Development of Korean Pre-service English Teachers’ Perceptions of Teaching Speaking

There has been a gradual change in Korean English curricula and education systems over recent decades to enhance the ability to communicate in English confidently in an increasingly globalized society. The Korean government has been initiating new policies in English curricula to improve the quality of English education in state schools; accordingly, English teacher education has also been intensified, with more attention to teaching speaking. Therefore, there is a need to investigate the impact of teacher preparation on classroom practice through empirical research considering Korean educational contexts. This study explores pre-service English teachers’ learning through initial teaching practice in the area of teaching speaking in Korea, which has seen major policy changes in recent years but has had limited empirical investigation. Two pre-service English teachers’ perceptions and practices of teaching speaking are examined, from the perspectives of influences on, and changes in their cognition. Data include classroom observations, semi-structured interviews in sequence, documents, and qualitative questionnaires. The overall findings show limited impact of the practicum on their cognition development, and incongruence between their cognitions and practices of teaching speaking due to the gap between theory and practice. Implications for improvements are discussed, as well as suggestions for further study.