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Distance Teaching Practicum: Its Impact on Pre-Service EFL Teachers’
Preparedness for Teaching
Gülten Koşar
Hatay Mustafa Kemal University
Turkey111

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Abstract
Teaching practicum performs a crucial role in initial English language teacher preparation
programs in that it offers pre-service English-as-a-foreign-language teachers a great chance to
put the pedagogical content knowledge they have acquired through the coursework into
practice by teaching real students. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, pre-service
English-as-a-foreign-language teachers in the context of the present study, had to do more thanhalf of their teaching practicums via distance education. This qualitative case study explores
25 pre-service English-as-a-foreign-language teachers’ conceptions of the influence of distanceteaching practicum on their preparedness for the first year of teaching. The data collected byemailed questionnaires were analysed adopting inductive content analysis. The results
indicated they did not believe distance teaching practicum was effective in enhancing theirprofessional learning and preparing them for the first year of teaching. In addition, they did notthink teaching practicum conducted face-to-face could be replaced by distance teachingpracticum.
Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, distance teaching practicum, preparedness for teaching,pre-service English-as-a-foreign-language teachers, teaching practicum112

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Teaching practicum (TP) could be conceived to be a platform where pre-service English-as-aforeign-language teachers (PSEFLTs) gain a first-hand experience of testing the effectivenessof disparate methods for English language teaching, about which theoretical information isprovided by the university component of pre-service teacher education. Notwithstanding theimportance of the theoretical knowledge imparted to pre-service teachers to help them prepare
for the teaching profession, the mismatches that may occur between what is preached in thecoursework and what is lived in the field might be the source of not only PSEFLTs’, but also
beginning EFL teachers’ questioning its merit. Since learning to teach is viewed to be a contextdependent activity (Zeichner, 2010), the field is deemed to be of high significance by PSEFLTs
to experience what it means to be a teacher and to gain profound insights into teaching andlearning from the viewpoints of teachers rather than students, which they have been doing to
the date they commence to do their TPs.
Distance education (DE) that could be defined as the education provided via online learning
environments and on which a plethora of research has been undertaken (Akimov & Malin,2020; Bose, 2013; Lee, 2017; Nielsen, 1997; Ramos et al., 2011; Raygan & Moradkhani, 2020)
differs from face-to-face education presented in a learning setting with the physical presenceof the teacher and students. Not only does the mode of delivery change from face-to-faceeducation to DE, but also the learning outcomes produced by them may change. Such a
discussion on the disparities between the effects of face-to-face education and distanceeducation on student learning can be extended to the probable discrepancies between the effectsof face-to-face TP and distance teaching practicum (DTP) on PSEFLTs’ professional learningand preparedness for the teaching profession.
Until the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, TP had been conducted by placing senior
PSEFLTs into practicum schools where they were required to teach students and observe their
mentor teachers’ instructional practices. As a result of the pandemic, they could not complete
their TPs in their placement schools. In view of the fact that PSEFLTs hold TP in high esteem
and view it as an invaluable arena adding to their preparedness for teaching, this research aimed
to unpack PSEFLTs’ conceptions of the effect of DTP on their preparedness for the first yearof the teaching profession. The lack of research into the impact of DTP on PSEFLTs’
preparedness for teaching indicates the contribution to be made by this study to the literature.
Additionally, the findings to be presented in this research could prompt teacher educators,
mentor teachers and policy makers in TP to deeply ponder over what initiatives to launch witha view to running effective DTP so that PSEFLTs can make the most of it.
Literature Review
Pre-Service Teachers’ Professional Learning
Teacher professional learning could be defined as learning practices they go into in an attempt
to enhance the quality of their teaching. What teachers want to learn professionally couldchange according to their year of teaching experience (Louws et al., 2017), and thedevelopment of pedagogical content knowledge is believed to be person- and context-bound(Driel & Berry, 2012). Associated with that, the factors contributing to pre-service teachers’
professional learning are postulated to be manifold, and in addition, they are considered to be
influenced by past and present experiences having been gained in various contexts (Leeferink
et al., 2015). Considering “the person” as one of the main determiners in gaining pedagogicalcontent knowledge, it could be alleged the experiences pre-service teachers had in their prioreducational lives and the ones they undergo as fulfilling the requirements of the pre-service
teacher education program presumptively have something to do with their professional

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learning. Pre-service teachers assume an active role in the construction of their professional
knowledge during their initial teacher education (Tang et al., 2012), and what they acquire
through campus- and school-based learning could foster their abilities to work at schools (Tanget al., 2016). Pre-service teachers seek help for their professional learning starting from theirfirst year in the program (Toom et al., 2017), which brings forward the crucial function to beserved by teacher educators and the other parties featuring in pre-service teacher education.
A set of actions can be taken to promote pre-service teachers’ professional learning. For
instance, it could be stimulated through peer assisted learning as was reported in the research
conducted by Bone et al. (2019). Teaching abroad experience is also posited to broaden preservice teachers’ knowledge of teaching in a world continually increasing in complexity(Moorhouse & Harfitt, 2019). Additionally, Anwaruddin’s (2016) study yielded integration of
information and communication technologies into English language teachers’ professional
development activities ended in improvement in their pedagogical knowledge. Seeing theincreased integration of technology into teaching and learning practices at all levels of
education over the last two decades, avoiding it in pre-service teacher education would literally
be swimming against the current.
Notwithstanding the fact that subject knowledge is appreciated to be effective in quality
teaching (Richards et al., 2013), teaching experience gained by virtue of TP is on a par withpre-service teachers’ knowledge of English language teaching. TP occupies, in effect, a vital
place in pre-service teacher education (Gray et al., 2019; Grudnoff, 2011; Ulvik & Smith, 2011)as pre-service teachers practice teaching real students and develop their teaching competencies
via employing pedagogical content knowledge they have accumulated from the start of and/or
during their TPs (Choy et al., 2014; Cohen et al., 2013; Gebhard, 2009). The indispensable
contribution of teaching experience gained in TP to PSEFLTs’ learning was demonstrated in
Chien’s (2015) study from the points of view of PSEFLTs. As well as practicing teaching in
TP, reflecting on teaching practices impacts on pre-service teachers’ professional learning. For
instance, in the study by Gan and Lee (2016), it was reported that pre-service English-as-asecond-language teachers’ reflections on their teaching experiences in TP resulted inprofessional learning with regard to effective classroom practices. Undoubtedly, mentor
teachers perform a fundamental role in how much pre-service teachers learn from theirexperiences of TP. Accordingly, the substantial role played by mentor teachers in pre-service
teachers’ learning to teach is accentuated in the literature (Adams, 2017; Barak & Wang, 2020).
Irrespective of the fact each student teacher has diverse needs in the transition period between
the final year of pre-service teacher education programs and the first year of teaching (Dahlgren& Chiriac, 2009), they all need practice teaching and reflect on their teaching practices in
conjunction with the feedback they receive from their mentor teachers and university
supervisors.
Distance Teacher Education
Distance teacher education could be conducted as a supplement to face-to-face teacher
education or as a substitute for it as a consequence of the emergence of an unanticipatedcircumstance like a pandemic. Distance teacher education is contended to be an agent
promoting the increase in the exchange of ideas between lecturers and pre-service foreign
language teachers and developing students’ skills of the use of technology for their learning(Forbes & Khoo, 2015), and it is viewed to be an agent enhancing pre-service teachers’
professional learning and development (Turvey, 2012). Moreover, online technologies are
considered to facilitate personalized teacher professional development in Yurkofsky et al.’s(2019) study. It was demonstrated in the study that DE promoted pre-service teachers’

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reflective practice, and offered curricular and emotional support to them. The advantages ofDE, according to Cowan (1995), were the freedom students had in placing more emphasis on
the topic they wanted to learn and in the decisions they made in the learning process, and having
the chance to study at their own pace. However, the author claimed that it embodied a numberof disadvantages including the absence of effective communication, considering the one inface-to-face communication, the difficulty to be faced by students in taking equal advantage ofthe same DE, and lack of socialization among students and teachers.
The way DE is conducted affects the satisfaction pre-service teachers derive from it. To
exemplify, the research by Kim et al. (2011) revealed the quality of teaching positively
influenced learning satisfaction with DE. The study by Offir et al. (2008) explored thedifferences in the learning outcomes produced by synchronous and asynchronous distancelearning systems. Synchronous distance learning was depicted to be more effective thanasynchronous, originating from the higher level of interaction between the teacher and students.
The extant studies on DE also reported negative conceptions student teachers held about it due
to the problems in regard to the inability to use technology, the need for training the staff todevelop their technological skills, demotivation among students, and being devoid of social
presence (Gillies, 2008). The research done by Adem (2009) yielded the reasons behind thehigh attrition rates amongst the participants of distance teacher education programs, which
involved the insufficiency of the support and overburdening the participating teachers by thework required. What is reported in Adem’s (2009) study indicates the necessity of offering firmand continuing support to distance pre-service teachers. The level of support to be provided tothem largely depends upon their particular needs. To illustrate, the significance of virtual field
experience for pre-service teachers who could not go to schools was emphasized besides theneed for the development of their technological skills in Phillion et al.’s (2003) study.
Initiating and sustaining a strong interaction with pre-service teachers in distance education
can be deemed to be a predictor of the effectiveness of DE. Therefore, the quality of DE could
be improved through increasing both the quantity and quality of the interaction between
students and teachers (Carrillo & Flores, 2020). Meaningful tasks as a part of online courses
were favoured while the ones mandating memorization and group activities were not founduseful by the study participants in the research by Boling et al. (2011). Even though designingmeaningful tasks and maintaining interaction between the teacher educator and pre-service
teachers and amidst pre-service teachers seem to be challenging in distance teacher education,
Falloon’s (2011) study suggested the promoting effect of virtual classrooms on the occurrenceof quality dialogue. Furthermore, an array of improvements in DE such as providing prompt
feedback and constant adaptation of the online system based on students’ comments are
required to foster student learning (Hall, 1996). In addition to pre-service teachers, university
supervisors and mentor teachers could derive benefits from distance teacher education(Gruenhagen et al., 1999). They may have the chance to develop their skills in effectively andefficiently using digital technologies in pre-service teacher education and their repertoire oftactics to employ at challenging times in distance teacher education.
The literature encompasses studies demonstrating no significant difference in students’contentment receiving education in traditional classrooms and online classrooms (Skylar et al.,2005). Higher education students’ social presence in online learning environments is contended
to be affected positively by a comfortable online learning environment in which their feedbackon the process of their distance learning is valued (Sung & Mayer, 2012). The pivotal role
played by feedback in getting the most out of DE on the part of pre-service teachers wasstressed in Uribe and Vaughan’s (2017) study. Pre-service teachers instructed on the115

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significance of providing timely feedback in encouraging student learning need to receive
immediate feedback from their teacher educators. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic
has urged all the parties involved in pre-service teacher education to ground pre-service teacher
learning on digital technologies, about which they are likely to hold distinct views. For
instance, the teacher educators participating in a recent study conducted by Moyo (2020)
expounded divergent views on how teacher certification would be finalized in the absence of
TP done in the field. In addition, they emphasized the significance of appreciating favourable
outcomes of TP conducted face-to-face in a real classroom environment to sustain the achieved
standards in pre-service teacher education.
Andragogy, developed by Knowles (1968), is the theory underpinning this study. The theoryof andragogy lays the emphasis on adult learners’ characteristics to explicate how they learn.
Following is Table 1 displaying adult learner characteristics proposed by Knowles (1980,1984).
Table 1: Adult learner characteristics
As a person matures, his or her self-concept moves from that of a dependent personality
toward one of a self-directing human being (Knowles, 1980, p. 43).
An adult accumulates a growing reservoir of experience, which is a rich resource for learning(Knowles, 1980, p. 43).
The readiness of an adult to learn is closely related to the developmental tasks of his or hersocial role (Knowles, 1980, p. 43).
There is a change in time perspective as people mature –from future application ofknowledge to immediacy of application. Thus, an adult is more problem-centred thansubject-centred in learning (Knowles, 1980, p. 43).
The most potent motivations are internal rather than external (Knowles, 1984, p. 12).
Adults need to know why they need to learn something (Knowles, 1984, p. 12).
Since the participants in this study are adult learners, according to andragogy, they aresupposed to be self-directed and internally motivated learners, which could have its reflectionsin their perceptions with respect to DTP. Review of related literature has uncovered that DTP
is an under-researched topic necessitating more research to enlighten its impact on PSEFLTs’
professional learning and their preparedness for beginning to teach following graduation; thus,
this research targets unravelling what views PSEFLTs hold about the effect of the DTP they
have completed on their preparedness for the first year of the teaching profession.
Methodology
Research Design and the Context
This study was designed as a qualitative case study because, according to Strauss and Corbin(1998), qualitative research is “research about persons’ lives, lived experiences, behaviours,
emotions, and feelings” (p. 11), and this research aims at exploring PSEFLTs’ lived DTP
experiences. Additionally, as is stated by Denzin and Lincoln (2010), gaining a deeper accountof a subject’s perceptions of a phenomenon necessitates the use of qualitative study, and in thisresearch, delving into PSEFLTs’ DTP experiences was targeted. Furthermore, as is suggested
by Punch (1998), the question of what kind of research, qualitative or quantitative, could enable
us to learn more about what is investigated was posed prior to the start of this research. Taking
into account the research question to which answers were sought in the present study, theanswer to that question was found to be qualitative research. In addition to these, this research

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does not intend to generalize the findings to other contexts, but to explore the study
participants’ perceptions of the DTP they have done.
In the context of this study, senior PSEFLTs have to take a 14-week TP course in the last yearof initial English language teacher education programs. The course aims to endorse PSEFLTs
preparing for the teaching profession by providing an opportunity to them for transferring thepedagogical content knowledge they have gained since the beginning of their academic
education into their teaching in their practicum schools. PSEFLTs must teach at least 14 hours
in their placement schools, assigned by Provincial Directorate of National Education. However,the PSEFLTs in this study could not complete their TPs in their placement schools on accountof the coronavirus disease. They had been to their placement schools for just three weeks when
their country started to be shaken by the deleterious effects of COVID-19 on every aspect oflife. For this reason, they could not continue going to their placement schools in the remaining
11 weeks; instead, they were assigned the following tasks:••••

Read the regulations regarding the teaching profession and add a copy of them to your
file.
Read the rules to be obeyed at schools and add a copy of them to your file.
Provide information about the online systems having already been used by thepracticing teachers to do school-related work and the distance education system
introduced synchronously with the termination of the face-to-face education.
Analyse the 2019-2023 strategic plan of the Ministry of National Education and add asynopsis of it to your file.

The participants completed the tasks and submitted their assignments to their university
supervisors by uploading them to the distance education system used by the university they
were enrolled in. The university supervisors were asked to email the assignments of the
PSEFLTs they had supervised to their mentor teachers. The performance of the PSEFLTs on
the TP course was assessed through grading their assignments, which had been done byassessing the lessons taught by them before the emergence of COVID-19. Subsequent to thecompletion of the DTP, a mailed questionnaire was administered to find answers to the researchquestion.
Participants
The questionnaire was e-mailed to 42 fourth-year PSEFLTs, the selection of whom was
grounded on convenience sampling. Nonetheless, 25 PSEFLTs responded to it. The mean ageof the participants was 23.2. Fifteen participants were female and the rest were male. All theparticipants had to complete their TP at a distance and were the first PSEFLTs doing DTP. The
participants were informed about the purpose of the study and their consent was obtained; in
addition, it was notified that they could withdraw from the study at any time for any reason.
The name of the participants will not be mentioned throughout this research to protect theirprivacy. Each participant is numbered and when extracting statements from their responses,
expressions like PSEFLT 2, PSEFLT 5 are used.
Data Collection Tool and Analysis
A mailed questionnaire comprising two parts was developed by the researcher. The first partwas used to disclose demographic information about the participants while the second part
involved the three open-ended questions posed to uncover PSEFLTs’ perceptions of the DTP.
The questions were created after reading the literature on DE, and then were sent to three117

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English language teacher educators to ensure the precision of the questions and that they could
offer answers to the research question. The questions in the questionnaire are:•••

What are your opinions on the effect of the paperwork assigned to you in place ofpracticing teaching in real classes on your professional learning?
Taking into account not having the opportunity for completing your TP in the field,
how do you feel about your preparedness for teaching in your first year on the job?
How do you think DTP could be offered in a way different from assigning paperwork
so that it could help you prepare for your professional life better?

The data gathered from the questions were analysed inductively following the steps suggested
by Creswell (2007). The data were read by two coders, one of whom is the researcher, before
they began the coding process, thereby getting a rough idea of the participants’ views about the
DTP. The coders selected one of the questionnaires and thought about what was meant in the
responses by the respondent, and wrote it in two or three words. Afterwards, the coding process
started. Following that, each coder looked at his/her list of codes and tried to lessen the numberof the codes to 25-30 to avoid redundancy. Before commencing to develop themes from thecodes, the coders checked each other’s codes and tried to come to an agreement on thediscrepancies between the codes they had produced. Finally, themes were developed from thecodes. Peer debriefing (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) was conducted with an eye to ensuring
trustworthiness in this research. The processes undergone in this study, from the employedresearch design to the data collection tool and analysis, were checked by a pre-service English
language teacher educator. Moreover, member checking (Lincoln & Guba, 1985) was done bysharing the findings and their interpretations with the participants to ensure they reflected what
they had in their minds about the DTP.
Findings
The first and second questions in the mailed questionnaire served to obtain data on what theparticipants thought about the influence of the DTP on their preparedness for the first year of
the teaching profession. The data on the first question of what the PSEFLTs conceived of theeffectiveness of the assigned paperwork instead of practicing teaching in the field led to theemergence of the theme below.
Effective in Learning Professional Regulations, Useless in Learning to TeachAll the participants held the conception that the paperwork they completed helped them learn
about the regulations in relation to teaching profession, which, according to them, could belearned easily from the website of the Ministry of National Education even if they had not been
assigned it. The statement of PSEFLT 21 epitomizes others’ viewpoints on the effect of thepaperwork they carried out on their professional learning.
I believe that nothing can be compared to the real practice in a classroom
with real students. Because, as a teacher candidate, I think observing a realclassroom atmosphere and experiencing some teaching-related situations intheir own contexts can give me enough confidence to deal with similar
situations in my future teaching career.
The participants indicated professional learning was learning about teaching for them, which
could be achieved by teaching practice, and therefore, they believed their professional learning
could be enhanced by putting the content and pedagogical knowledge into practice in real

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teaching. The PSEFLTs highly valued the TP constituent of pre-service teacher education,
which enabled them to work out the effectiveness of the teaching methods they had learned
and on which they had done their microteaching. PSEFLT 10 stated in her survey:
Teaching real students is beneficial for us because we really teach something
in classes. We need to practice teaching to develop our teaching skills, but
we couldn’t do it this term because of the COVID-19.
PSEFLT 2 explicated her perception of the negative impact of the paperwork on her
professional learning:
When I learned I had to submit a file on regulations instead of teaching, I
was really disappointed and demotivated because I know that the best way oflearning to teach is to teach.
The second question in the questionnaire presented invaluable insights into PSEFLTs’
preparedness for the first year of teaching profession. The content analysis revealed that aside
from one PSEFLT, all the others did not feel ready for the first of year of teaching as aconsequence of the DTP they had completed. The participant who claimed she was prepared
for the first year of teaching, despite the DTP, stated she had been tutoring for three years andthat that teaching experience made her feel that she was ready to start to teach. The content
analysis of the remaining 24 participants’ responses led to the development of the following
theme.
I Missed Irreplaceable Experiences, and Therefore, I Do Not Think I am Prepared toStart to Teach
The respondents pointing out that they were not prepared for the first year of teaching asserted
that they had been deprived of the valuable hands-on experience of teaching they would havegained if the pandemic had not hit the normal flow of the TP having been maintained for
decades. PSEFLT 15 explained why he was not prepared for the first year of teaching in thefollowing words:
I feel uncomfortable about not doing my practicum in my placement
school. I really don’t feel ready for teaching in any context. I guess I
did not learn how to teach.
PSEFLT 7 stated:
For the first year on the job, TP is needed. So, because I had to do DTP, I
am lacking in self-confidence in my teaching skills.
Linked with the significance attached to gaining experience of teaching, another point
conveyed in the responses is that the participants believed the more opportunity they had had
to teach English to real students, the more prepared they would have been for teaching English,
which had been hindered because of the pandemic.
I think, as pre-service teachers, we have to practise more and more because
we need to improve our teaching skills to teach better. Also, we need to bepresent at schools to get accustomed to the operation of schools. Because of
these, we had to go to practicum schools but we couldn’t (PSEFLT 14).

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The third question was added to the questionnaire to learn about the PSEFLTs’ suggestions
concerning how DTP could be designed in a different way to better serve senior PSEFLTs in
preparing them for the first year of teaching. The content analysis revealed that they had norecommendation as to offering DTP in a different way to improve its effectiveness in equipping
PSEFLTs with the knowledge and competencies they would need to use in their professional
lives. The reasons they stated for suggesting nothing about improving DTP developed thetheme given below.
No DTP Could Replace Face-to-Face TP
The participants asserted in their responses that they had no idea about how to improve thequality of DTP as they did not believe that TP could be conducted through DE. From theirpoints of view, it should be done face-to-face; that is to say, they should be at schools teaching
students, observing how schools operate and what responsibilities other than teaching theteacher has. The PSEFLTs stated that TP was the course they had waited till the last term of
the program, yet they could not complete it by being physically present at their placement
schools. Three of the respondents argued that they should be subjected to face-to-face TP after
the end of the pandemic or at least as soon as it lost its detrimental effects before beginning toteach.
I have no suggestion about how DTP could be made more effective because
I do not think it can be effective at all. For TP, we should be at schools withreal students. DE is not appropriate for TP. It is not a course like linguistics;
because of that, I can develop my teaching only if I teach. Something should
be done to give us the chance to do our practicum face-to-face before we
start to work in the field (PSEFLT-11).
Discussion
The findings demonstrated that the TP the PSEFLTs had to complete via DE as a result of theoutbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic did not help them enhance their professional learning
aside from learning professional regulations. Due to the unprecedented impact exerted by the
pandemic on educational life involving tertiary education, the participants had to complete thepaperwork assigned to all the senior Education Faculty students in the context of the study,
which did not result in professional learning for the study participants, who defined it asbroadening pedagogical content knowledge and transferring it into practice. These findings are
the indicators of the significance of this study inasmuch as the related literature does not entail
a study reporting on PSEFLT’s viewpoints on the contribution of DTP to their professional
learning, and associated with that, to their preparedness for the first year of the teachingprofession. Integrating technologies into teacher education contributes substantially toteachers’ professional learning as was yielded in Anwaruddin’s (2016) research, nonetheless,most parts of the TP done through DE were not perceived to be adequate to extend theirprofessional learning. Such discontent with the DTP stemmed from what was expected of themto complete their TP, which pinpoints the importance of providing a chance for PSEFLTs topractice online teaching. By the same token, the PSEFLTs’ perceptions regarding the DTP they
completed indicate the necessity for determining the content of DTP contemplatively and incooperation with PSEFLTs. It was revealed in the findings that the content of the DTP
disappointed the PSEFLTs and demotivated them to complete the program. In view of theimportance of the high level of motivation novice teachers have in their success in the first yearof teaching, the study participants who will begin to teach in the following school year might
encounter motivation-related problems. Providing the respondents had had the chance to carry

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on going to their placement schools and online learning tools had been incorporated into theprocess, their perceived unenhanced professional learning could have been empowered as was
suggested by Forbes and Khoo (2015).
The PSEFLTs stated they were not prepared for the first year of teaching due to not being able
to complete their TPs face-to-face in their placement schools. They delineated what they had
been devoid of as a result of the DTP by addressing the lack of teaching experience, theopportunity to observe the classroom practices of their mentor teachers and to observe theoperation of schools, among which losing the chance to practice teaching was the mostannoying for them. The findings show that TP is highly valued by the study participants, andsimilarly, the participants in the studies undertaken by Gan and Lee, 2016; Chen, 2015; Choyet al., 2014 and Cohen et al., 2013 gave special prominence to it. The stress placed on TP makes
sense because it is the arena where they display the teaching skills they have gained anddeveloped to a certain extent, and get feedback on them (Uribe & Vaughan, 2017). In the DTP
the participants conducted, there was no interaction between them and their mentor teachers,significant figures in initial teacher education (Adams, 2017; Barak & Wang, 2020), because
no circumstance occurred to get in touch with them, which can make the picture of what the
PSEFLTs lived clearer. Taking into account the need PSEFLTs appeal for starting from theirfirst year in the program (Toom et al., 2017), the pivotal role of the quality of the interaction
amongst the stakeholders of initial teacher education becomes evident.
In addition to the absence of the interaction between the PSEFLTs and their mentor teachers,
the one between PSEFLTs and their university supervisors was not gratifying as could beunderstood from the respondents’ responses, involving that they lacked self-confidence in theircurrent teaching abilities. This indicates TP done in real classrooms caters for the increase in
PSEFLTs’ level of self-confidence. In line with this, the participants could not offer any
suggestion to improve the effectiveness of DTP for they had a strong belief in the conceptionthat TP should be done by the physical presence of PSEFLTs in their placement schools.
Though the respondents did not come up with an alternative for TP conducted face-to-face,
Phillion et al. (2003) suggested virtual teaching practice for the pre-service teachers who could
not go to placement schools. Given the fact that the research participants and the other parties
in TP were unprepared for conducting it at a distance, it could be understood why the PSEFLTs
could not make recommendations for reforming the way it was conducted in their context.
However, the invaluable experience gained by the stakeholders through striving to complete
the DTP will probably steer the future of it and how it can be carried out in the best way
possible.
Implications for Initial English Language Teacher Education
The education provided to PSEFLTs both on-campus and at schools needs to becomprehensive, of high quality and adaptable to a wide range of situations subsuming the
mandatory DE that may result from a pandemic. The entire world has suffered from COVID19 over the last seven months and this led the Faculties of Education to produce a solution to
the problem of the impossibility of conducting TP face-to-face as a result of the closure ofschools. The solution they worked out was having the last year pre-service teachers do theirTPs at a distance. As could be comprehended from the perceptions of this study’s participants,
meticulous work needs to be done on designing DTP jointly with PSEFLTs. Anything, fromthe content to the assignments, should be tentative because the feedback that will be offered by
PSEFLTs might necessitate something that has not been contemplated before. Since theopportunity for practicing teaching is what makes TP valuable, virtual teaching practice needs

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to be an integral and indispensable part of DTP. PSEFLTs should be teaching students they aresupposed to teach face-to-face in a virtual synchronous learning environment, and feedback on
their teaching should be provided both by their mentor teachers and university supervisors.
Online technologies should be used in the teaching of pedagogical and content courses, too tohelp PSEFLTs perceive DE as a part of their education.
Conclusions
This qualitative case study explored PSEFLTs’ perceptions concerning the DTP they have done
and the influence it has wielded on their preparedness for teaching. The findings reported thatthe participants were not feeling ready for the first year of teaching as they could not practiceteaching and complete their TPs in their placement schools thereof. The findings reiterate thevital role taken on by TP in the eyes of pre-service teachers. This study has the potential to
make a notable contribution to the literature on TP by the findings as to the negative effect of
the way TP was conducted at a distance in the context of this study.
Since this research was conducted with the participation of 25 participants studying at the same
university, the researcher does not aim at generalizing the results to other contexts.
Undoubtedly, further research is needed to gain more considerable insights into PSEFLTs’
conceptions of both DTP and its influence on their preparedness for the first year on the job.
Moreover, additional research should be conducted in the following years with the practicing
teachers having engaged in DTP with a view to examining how it will have impacted on theirteaching in their first year/s of teaching. Large-scale studies in which participants with DTP
experience from different contexts take part are also needed for they could demonstrate if thedivergence in participants’ views on DTP resides in the differences in the way/s DTP is carried
out.

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Corresponding author: Gulten Kosar
Email: gulten.kosar@mku.edu.tr

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