Abstract

Teaching is a hard task since one is dealing with pupils who have different skills, levels of knowledge, interest and individual differences. Giving a successful lesson is the aim of every teacher. As such, a teacher should try his/her best to make pupils understand the lesson easily and quickly. To bring about such an aim, the teacher is advised to plan the lessons in advance before stepping into the classroom. Careful preparation for lessons aids the teacher in dealing well with different problems and situations as they arise in the class. It also makes the teacher feel more secure in front of the class.
The current research aims to investigate 4th year EFL university students' conception of lesson planning before and after the teaching practice period. A two-part questionnaire was designed as an instrument to answer the research questions of this study. The data obtained by means of the questionnaire were computed using the calculated mean, the standard deviation, and the T-test.
The results indicate that 4th year EFL university students (student-teachers) well realize the value of lesson planning, at the time no significant effect of teaching practice has been detected on such realization. The findings also show no significant effect of gender in this respect as no differences were there between male and female students' realization of the value of lesson planning before and after the teaching practice period.