Student Evaluation of Peer-Group Microteaching as Preparation for Student Teaching

Peer-group microteaching in second language instruction training has several advantages: (1) peers are easily available at no cost, (2) they can offer more valuable feedback, (3) many different grouping situations can be simulated, (4) teachers can concentrate solely on skill teaching, (5) it is a low-threat situation, & (6) the same lesson can be covered several times to the teacher's satisfaction. Such situations would be replaced by real-pupil microteaching as the teacher gains greater proficiency. This technique was used with students for seven & one-half hours a week for ten weeks. To gain feedback, students were given a questionnaire on the usefulness, interest, organization, new ideas, & attitudes of each session. Rs perceived peer-group microteaching as a valuable experience both before & after real teaching experiences, although interest level was not always high. This was seen as the most important preteaching experience by participants. 6 Tables. T. Lamb