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Abstract
This paper reports on a study of Chinese pre‐service teachers' perceived problems in their teaching practicum. Reflective paper‐writing was employed to investigate the views of 210 student teachers on an English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher education programme in Central China. The findings highlight six major problems. The paper points out that these problems have been caused by the exiting rationalist model of teacher education, and emphasises the need to transform the existing model of teaching practicum. The transformation entails a re‐examination of the existing EFL teacher education programme. The paper argues for setting up a new model that stresses continual interactions between the theoretical and practical components of a course, and close contact and collaborations between universities and schools to improve student teachers' professional development in teaching practicum.