English Pre-Service Teachers’ Impressions in Relation to Their Teaching Practice: The Case of “Aleksander Moisiu” University

Teaching practice, also known as practicum, is a very important step in the formation of future teachers. It is the stage when pre-service teachers become aware of their potentials, increase their knowledge, acquire new skills, become more practical in respect to applying various techniques and approaches, gain expertise in teaching, in other words, they view the class from a different perspective; not from that of the student anymore. Successful teacher training leads towards warm and welcoming learning environments and this leads to pupils who are keen to come to school and to learn English. It is a path which every pre-service teacher experiences in various ways and allows him or her to create one’s own impressions on the way things really work within the classroom context. These impressions are very important because they give a hint on what goes well and what needs to be remedied in the future. In this context, the study in question aims to shed light on English pre-service teachers’ general impressions of practicum as well as to investigate on their impressions in relation to teachers and students’ motivation, without leaving behind the difficulties encountered in class along with the management problems that have been noticed. More specifically, this study is conducted with English language students, at the end of their third semester of teaching practice. The data is collected by means of focus groups and is analysed by using the qualitative method. The results have indicated that the participants have a positive attitude towards the teaching practice. They pay attention to students’ motivation and are aware of its importance in students’ progress. Furthermore, they pointed out various challenges they faced in class and the way teachers usually solved them. Received: 19 February 2024 / Accepted: 16 March 2024 / Published: 23 March 2024