Abstract:

The practicum period is a crucial component of teacher education as it embodies the first phases into "real" teaching and thus provides a leap into professional transformation and growth on the side of pre-service teachers. Nevertheless, the COVID-19 pandemic jeopardized this period and placed the educational contexts at stake in providing that reality. Within this frame, the present study focuses on the research conducted on the practicum period of Turkish pre-service teachers of English during the pandemic. More specifically, the research question that the article addresses is “what is the nature of studies conducted about Turkish pre-service EFL teachers’ practicum period during the COVID-19 pandemic concerning their characteristics, methodologies and contributions to the field?” With the aim of answering the research question, the seven studies conducted in Turkey regarding the practicum during the pandemic were collected and analyzed as to their bibliographic features, methodological orientations, foci and context, with a scoping review methodology. This scoping review demonstrated both positive/beneficial and negative/challenging aspects of the pandemic period for the English language teacher education context of Turkey. The results of the present study displayed a wider lens in perceiving the English language teaching and teacher education settings during both such emergencies and transition from existing to 'new normal'.

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