What Is Needed for Better Professional Outcomes? Reflections of Pre-Service English Teachers on the Erasmus Student Traineeship Programme

There have been a large number of studies about mobility programmes; however, few studies have focused on traineeship programmes. Thus, this descriptive narrative study aimed to reveal the reflections of pre-service English teachers on their Erasmus student traineeship programme experiences via retrospection. The participants were four female English teachers who were chosen via convenience sampling. The participants were, in fact, in-service English teachers in Türkiye; however, they reflected upon their past experiences in the Erasmus student traineeship programme when they were pre-service teachers. The data were collected via semi-structured, online interviews, and analysed according to the steps of conventional content analysis. The participants reported that they participated in the programme to benefit from travelling opportunities, practice teaching skills, and improve English speaking skills. Although the participants shared some cultural, linguistic, and personal contributions, the professional contributions were reported to be weak, and teaching expectations were partially met. They attributed the mismatch between their expectations and experiences to the lack of support of their sending institutions, insufficient amount of grant, limited duration of the programme, and language barrier.