Penelitian Pendidikan

Abstrak
The task of bridging the gap between theory and practice is easier said than done. In the field of teacher education, it is of utmost importance to ensure that teachers who graduate from Teacher Education Institutes are able to develop and establish their professional identity as soon as possible. Though pre-service teachers in Malaysia are exposed to numerous theories of learning and teaching during their training, there is a specific course all TESL teacher trainees have to undertake which is known as “Linking Theory to Practice” (LTP) which encompasses all these important elements. One of the course learning outcomes (CLO) of LTP is that pre-service teachers should be able to design a scheme of work, and lesson plans to teach language skills, language content and language. Hence this study explored whether pre-service teachers who would be embarking on a practicum stint, have achieved this CLO. A questionnaire consisting of thirty items representing three constructs were administered to 50 pre-service teachers. Initial analysis shows that there are three areas which need to be further examined. They are: i. lack of writing skills; ii. lack of ability to teach the English sound system; and iii. lack of ability to teach subjects other than English.