The practicum is one of the most significant experiences in second language teacher education. If structured and supported appropriately, practicum experiences can enable preservice teachers to actualize the knowledge they acquire through their university coursework and develop the practical knowledge and skills needed to enter teaching profession. From a sociocultural perspective (Vygotsky, 1978; Leontiev, 1981; Engeström, 1987), this process of learning has origin from participation in sociocultural practices and contexts of teaching (Golombek, 2011).
In a recent review of research on language teacher education, Borg (2011) identifies a number of issues for subsequent research and raises the concern that the field currently knows little about the multiple processes involved in the language teaching practicum. Moreover, the potential for a Vygotskian sociocultural framework to support research on situated language teacher education has been advocated by a number of researchers (e.g. Cross, 2010; Johnson, 2009; Johnson & Golombek, 2011). As context is specific, it needs conceptualizing at a broader conceptual level to allow for aggregation and comparison of findings across contexts. A sociocultural framework offers a powerful theoretical lens to conceptualize the context of teacher learning and understand teachers' thinking and practice in relation to context (Cross, 2010).
This presentation builds on the above literature and considers a Vygotskian sociocultural perspective as a basis for a potential conceptual framework to underpin research on preservice English language teachers' learning during the practicum in transnational contexts. Specifically, it aims to highlight the need for a conceptual framework for understanding the multidimensional processes of preservice teacher learning to teach during the practicum, the complex and varied context of this learning, the preservice teacher as the learner of teaching, and the relationships among the three components of learning to teach. It then looks to a sociocultural theoretical framework to address the need and discusses its methodological implications for the study of preservice English language teachers' learning during the practicum in Australia and Vietnam. Empirical data are used to illustrate the application of this framework.