Pre-Service EYL Teachers’ Program Development During Practicum: A Narrative Inquiry in Indonesia

Lusi Nurhayati; Bunga Putri Maulia; Yuyun Yulia; Emy Nur Rokhani

doi:10.35445/alishlah.v18i2.8886

Pre-Service EYL Teachers’ Program Development During Practicum: A Narrative Inquiry in Indonesia

Lusi Nurhayati, Bunga Putri Maulia, Yuyun Yulia, Emy Nur Rokhani

Abstract

Pre-service teachers play a crucial role in improving the quality of English for Young Learners (EYL) instruction; however, limited research has examined how they experience the complete process of developing, implementing, and evaluating learning programs during teaching practicum. This study investigates how pre-service teachers develop EYL programs, the challenges they encounter, and how these experiences contribute to their professional growth. Employing a qualitative narrative inquiry design, the study involved twenty sixth-semester students enrolled in a Teaching English to Young Learners practicum course, with five participants purposively selected for in-depth investigation. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, reflective journals, and classroom observations and analyzed using Clandinin and Connelly’s three-dimensional narrative inquiry framework alongside thematic analysis. The findings indicate that lesson planning functioned as an adaptive and reflective process rather than a procedural task, while authentic classroom experiences fostered instructional flexibility, reflective practice, and collaborative learning. Participants developed strategies to address diverse learner needs, limited resources, and institutional constraints, which strengthened their self-efficacy, adaptive expertise, and professional identity. The narratives further reveal that professional growth emerged through continuous cycles of planning, implementation, reflection, and adaptation supported by interactions with mentors and peers. This study contributes to teacher education literature by demonstrating the interconnected development of pedagogical competence, self-efficacy, and professional identity during practicum. The findings suggest that teacher education programs should strengthen collaborative mentoring, structured reflection, and authentic practicum experiences to better prepare future EYL teachers for complex classroom environments.

Keywords

pre-service teachers; English for Young Learners; narrative inquiry; teaching practicum; professional identity

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.35445/alishlah.v18i2.8886