ABSTRACT
As a member of ASEAN community, Malaysia has strong commitment to improve its English language education. Among the many initiatives taken is the enhancement of ESL teacher education, which focuses on developing pre-service teachers’ professional development during practicum. Teaching practicum has long been recognized as an important part of ESL teachers’ preparation, as it offers school-based experiences that enable pre-service teachers to make transition from their academic programme to the realities of teaching in a school. In this study, we examine how teaching practicum influences pre-service teachers’ professional identity formation in terms of their knowledge, procedural awareness, and skills, dispositions and teacher identity. Findings from the study demonstrate that more exposure is needed for the pre-service teachers to have school experience throughout their four-year programme. The study also found that teacher educators and cooperating teachers play an instrumental role in pre-service teachers’ professional identity formation by providing good role models. Implications for teacher preparation of English teachers are further discussed in this chapter.
