`Here's the Book, Go Teach the Class'

The English language teaching (ELT) practicum has come to be recognized as one of the most important aspects of a learner teacher's education during their language teacher training program. During the practicum, learner English language teachers need lots of support and cooperating teachers are seen as the main source of this support because they are one of the most influential people in a learner teacher's time during teaching practice. However, within English language teaching (ELT) there is a paucity of research that specifically examines the perceptions and experiences of learner English language teachers concerning the role of support they expect, need and obtain during their practicum experiences. This paper presents one such study that explores the perceptions of 60 learner English language teachers' experiences in Singapore during the period of their school placement for teaching practice. The paper also outlines a detailed case study of eight of these teachers with respect to specific problems they experienced during their teaching practice.