Yüzbasioglu, S: Field Experience and Its Application in ELT

Over the last few years researchers in education came to the conclusion that in teacher education more emphasis should be put into practice rather than theory. The purpose of the study was to investigate the perceptions of the student teachers on experienced field practice (School Experience II (SEII), Teaching Practice Activities (TPA)) and expected field practice and also to investigate the frequency of the student teachers fulfilling the requirements, their benefits, their cooperation and their being informed both at SEII and at the TPA. The findings indicated that the student teachers expectations were higher than their experiences in both SEII activities and TPA. It was observed that gender effected what student teachers experienced neither at SEII nor in TPA. However, gender did not effect student teachers expectations in Teaching Practice. Expectations of the student teachers were the same at every ELT department and their success affected their experience in TPA. This study should be especially useful to educators and students in ELT.