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4.2.2 Causes of the challenges related to classroom management.
There are five possible causes of the challenges related to classroom management that student teachers identified in the interview. The causes are as
follows: learners’ low motivation to learn English, poor learner-learner relationships, institutional acts, psychological anxiety, and knowledge barrier.
4.2.2.1 Learners’ low motivation to learn English.
More than half participants Dwi, Edi, Ario, and Dian underwent dealing with learners’ low motivation to learn English. The participants seemed to note
that some of their students did not show enthusiasm in learning English. For example, Edi indicated “some of the students had low motivation in learning
English.” This is relevant to Richards Schmidt’s view that the motivation of students is “generally considered to bone of the primary cause of success and
failure in second language learning” Richards Schmidt, 2002, p. 344. This
may indicate that pre-service teachers had built knowledge of their students, meaning that student teachers were aware of students’ low interest in learning
English Pennington, 1990, p. 150. Further, this may indicate that student teachers might have developed professional development, which is a focus of field
practicum Gebhard, 2009, p. 251. That is to say, student teachers’ training programs had helped pre-service teachers to build their professional expertise.
In addition, a student teachers Dwi further noted that their students thought English was a difficult subject. This supports the view that “language
learning is one of the most face threatening school subjects because of the pressure of having to operate using a rather limited
language code” Dörnyei, 2001, p. 40. Furthermore, this may signal pre-
service teachers’ awareness of building knowledge of their students in order to develop professional development
Pennington, 1990, p. 150; Gebhard, 2009, p. 251.
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4.2.2.2 Poor learner-learner relationships. As noted by two student teachers Dian and Satria, the problem revolving
around difficulties in managing classroom was a result of torn attachment of students’ relationship with one another. All three pre-service teachers indicated
that some of their students did not want to work with some other students. This supports the issue of learners’ cohesiveness, which is a widely discussed topic
among social psychologist, in that the dynamicity of the groups is related to social studies pertinent to student behavior Dörnyei, 2001, p. 42.
Student teachers’ experience above, further, indicates that pre-service teachers might not know the aspects to create cohesiveness among the learners.
As suggested by Dörnyei 2001, teachers could create group cohesiveness by making groups consisting 3-6 students, designing materials that can create
learners’ dependency on each other, and giving training of group skill e.g. listening to all members’ comments, etc., and giving an opportunity to review the
challenges found in the group work and the strategies that can be used to overcome the problems Dörnyei, 2001, p. 101-102; see also Murray
Christison, 2001; p. 191. In addition, this may suggest that leaners did not see the value of cooperative work. Therefore, it is pre-
service teachers’ job to make sure that students can understand the benefits of working in a group e.g. providing
students Christison, 1994, p. 139-41. One of the benefits, as McGarty 1992 in Murray Christison, 2011 points ou
t, is to “provide students with more complex input and opportunities for interaction McGarty, 1992, as cited in Murray
Christison, 2011, p. 190. This may signal pre- service teachers’ lack of general
pedagogic knowledge and this further may indicate courses in the preparation program’s flaw to fully prepare student teachers before entering teaching practice
Shulman, 1987, as cited in Randall Thornton, 20001, p. 27.
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4.2.2.3 Institutional act. It is reported that some issues encountered in field practicum are
exclusively prone to correlation with institutional acts, meaning that the problems are directly related to institutions decision-makings. With regard to this, all
participants shared a mutual account that they had to teach in a classroom whose students had diverse English competence. This is relevant to Brown’s view that
teaching multiple proficiency levels is “a byproduct of institutional placement procedures and budgetary limits” Brown, 2001, p. 197-98. Furthermore, this
may suggest that student teachers were given the real context of second language classroom, which can help them to build professional development Gebhard,
2009, p. 251.
4.2.2.4 Psychological anxiety. It was indicated by two student teachers Dian and Edi that difficulty in
establishing a good English instruction was, by some means, associated to their anxiety in imposing rules. Of particular interest is Dian who recounted the issue in
a hypothetical situation, “If only I was stricter, the students might show disciplined-
behavior” Dian. This comment may suggest that the practicum was colored by student teachers’ perception of insecurity practicum Çelik, 2009, p.
103. That is, several pre-service teachers assumed that their students showed less respect for them, comparing to considerable amount of respect the students
showed for their regular English teachers. This seems to oppose the suggestion that student teachers need to build strong personal quality in teaching practices
Brookfield, 1990, as cited in Crookes, 2003, p. 166. Furthermore, the issue pre-
service teachers’ lack of confidence in imposing rules may relate to mentor teachers’ inability to boost student teachers’
confidence in classroom-based skills see Randall Thornton, 2001, p. 13. This enhances
the suggestion that formal training addressing mentor teachers’ roles in
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the practicum needs to be undertaken Yang, 2001, p. 101; cf. Malderez, 2009, p. 263-64.
4.2.2.5 Knowledge barrier. It is important to bear in mind that being knowledgeable i.e. well-prepared
prior an instruction can lead to a well-managed and effective classroom instruction. On the contrary, teachers with lack of preparation may encounter
some problems in the lesson. In relation to this, it was experienced by Dwi that language barrier had impeded him, to some extent, to conduct a good English
instruction. Asked about his weaknesses as a teacher, he admitted that he did not have a wide vocabulary. As a result, when his students asked him to translate
some Indonesian bahasa Indonesia words into English, Dwi could not provide the appropriate response. This may indicate that the teacher preparation program
where Dwi enrolled at could not provide the student teacher with vast knowledge of English language, especially in terms of rich English vocabulary Pennington,
1990, p. 150. The phenomenon of knowledge barrier was echoed in Arios experience.
Ario recalled that he occasionally could not answer all questions raised by the students. This suggests teachers education programs might not fully prepare
student teachers with well-built knowledge and good language proficiency Shulman, 1987, p. 39, as cited in Randall Thorton, 2000, p. 27; cf. Ellis, 1990,
p. 26 . This is similar with Numrich’s study which indicates that student teachers
had lack of English knowledge Numrich, 1996, p. 144; see also Gan, 2013, p. 101-02.
Both above-mentioned cases are relevant to the suggestion that ESLEFL teacher education programs needs to consider language improvement as their
main focus Stoynoff, 1999; Richards, 2010 in Gan, 2013, p. 101-02. That is to say, teacher preparation programs should not only focus on developing ESLEFL
student teachers’ professional development, but they also have to direct their
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courses to improve student teachers’ language competence Shulman, 1987, in Randall Thornton, 2001, p. 13; Madya, 2008, p. 6.
4.2.3 Causes of the challenges related to communication breakdown.