| This study surveyed the academic and professional needs of the teacher trainees in the B.Ed. TESL program at Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria, as perceived by the teacher trainees, the teacher educators and the graduates of the program. Since its inception in 1973, this program has not been assessed to ascertain whether it is addressing the needs of its clientele. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to generate data from the perceived needs of the different constituencies in the program to make suggestions for improvement.; There were a total of 176 subjects made up of teacher trainees, teacher educators and graduates. There was a separate questionnaire for each of these groups. Needs were assessed in the following areas: knowledge, skills and the teaching practice.; The results showed that the subjects perceived most items to be of high importance for all teachers of TESL. The teacher trainees and the teacher educators tended to perceive need more for TESL teachers than for the trainees. However, the teacher educators more than the trainees emphasized the importance of most of the items for the trainees. Areas perceived as highly important for the trainees include: Knowledge: Use of English, English grammar and phonemes, psycholinguistics and language testing. Skills: Writing lesson plans, planning for variety in lessons, using appropriate methods to develop language skills, constructing appropriate tests for evaluating students' achievement, skills on material development and adaptation, and classroom management. Teaching Practice: Dissatisfaction was expressed over present practice teaching procedures. A need was indicated for the trainees to observe supervisors demonstrate teaching techniques as well as discuss their teaching with their peers and supervisors. Additionally, the teacher educators indicated that the trainees should model teaching techniques and develop skills in analyzing their teaching.; Most items were perceived to be moderately covered. In the light of these findings, it was recommended that: (1) the curricula of the colleges that prepare prospective candidates for the B.Ed. TESL program be reviewed to determine what is covered at that level. (2) The objectives, content and implementation strategies of the B.Ed. program be re-examined to ensure that the needs of the trainees are being addressed. |
