Discussions of reflection in teacher education are often related to reflective action, the process of which is often conceptualized as a cycle of reflection and action, involving components of professional problem/experience, reflective interpretation/evaluation, and modified action/experimentation. Professional learning in teaching, hence, can be understood as reflective action-learning or experiential learning cycles. During such reflective cycles, the practitioner will be engaged in processes of focused mediation, drawing on a range of knowledge and skills, integrating with personal values and beliefs, and most important of all, orientating to the professional problem or practical situation at hand. This is seen as essential to the development of artistry of professional practice (Schön, 1983 & 1987); in fact, it has been acknowledged in the teacher education literature that action research or similar professional development projects are often found to be of great value for teacher development. This paper aims to explore the link between the academic research project component of a four-year full-time teacher education programme and a group of pre-service student teachers’ learning to teach English as a second or foreign language in Hong Kong. A case study methodology was adopted, and two sets of data relating to five final year student teachers’ learning while conducting their academic research projects during practicum were collected. Out of personal interests, these student teachers all chose to study either their classroom teaching or the English language education curriculum of the year group of secondary students they had been assigned to teach. Their academic research projects involved various forms of self-study. The first set of data from each student teacher includes all the materials he or she produced for teaching e.g. lesson plans, teaching resources etc. and audio recordings of two supervised lessons as well as post-observation conference discussions. The second set of data from each informant includes 3 to 5 project supervision meeting recordings, the supervisor’s notes, the final research project report and a one-hour end-of-project interview, which was audio-recorded and transcribed. Using qualitative methods, the data were analyzed to explore the impacts of conducting self-study of practice as an academic research project on these pre-service student teachers’ professional development. A particular focus is put on the development of pedagogical competence, their sense of self as a teacher and their intellectual character for continuing professional learning. Implications on the role of academic research project in teacher education will be sought.