Learning to Teach in Indonesian High School Settings: A Case Study of Two EFL Female Pre-service Teachers

The teaching practicum has long been recognized as an important component of pre-service teacher education (Santoro, 1997) if not the most important one (Farrell, 2007). It is also the “capstone experience” in most teacher education programs (Gaudelli & Ousley, 2009, p. 931). The importance of the teaching practicum for student teachers in the process of becoming teachers is also widely recognized (Beck & Kosnik, 2002). One reason for that is that it provides opportunities for pre-service teachers to apply knowledge of teaching and learning which they gain during their university coursework (Beeth & Adadan, 2006). Due to the importance of teaching practicum in the process of becoming teachers, this field has been extensively studied for the last four to five decades, if not longer (Caires & Almeida, 2005). Abundant research has highlighted the impact of the teaching practicum on the professional development of pre-service teachers (Caires et al., 2012; Canh, 2014; Choy, Wong, Goh, & Low, 2014; Kabilan, 2013; Kayi-Aydar, 2015; Kuswandono, 2013; Leijen & Kullasepp, 2013; Moussay et al., 2011; Schoeman & Mabunda, 2012; Vetter et al., 2013). While the teaching practicum for language teachers especially in TESOL(Teaching English to Speakers of other languages) has been scrutinized widely, ESL (English as a second language) and EFL (English as a foreign language) practicums remain unexplored (Canh, 2014). My research, then, extends the little research on teaching practicum in EFL settings. Purposes of the Study The purpose of my study is to explore the experiences of two female EFL preservice teachers in an Indonesian university teacher education program in learning to teach in high school settings.Using a qualitative case study design, I aim to answer the following research questions: 1. What are the goals of the pre-service teachers’ student teaching? 2. What instructional tools do they utilize in their teaching? 3. What tensions do they encounter in the process of learning to teach in high school settings