12 practicum, and have commenced teaching English in an educational
institution usually within 3 years of completing their teacher education program p. 437.
Based on Farrell‟s 2012 definition of novice teachers above, experience
ESOL teachers who enter new culture or school context could not be considered as novice. Moreover, teachers who are returning to TESOL after many years off
could not be considered as novice. Another important thing related to the definition of novice teachers is that age could not be used as the criterion. In other
words, age does not have any relevance with novice Farrell, 2012. For the purpose of this study, novice teachers are defined as teachers who
have just graduated from English Teacher Education study program and in their initial years of teaching. In terms of time teaching, novice teachers in this study
are defined as teachers who have less than three years of teaching.
b. Understanding novice teachers
When beginning teachers enter their in-service teaching, they start to experience the real “learning to teach” process. In this “learning to teach” process,
novice teachers change their prior st ate of “the learner” into the state of “the
teacher” Huberman, 1993. During their real “learning to teach” process or their initial years of teaching, novice teachers usually faced with “culture shock” or
“reality shock” Veenman, 1984, Huberman, 1993, Farrell, 2006, Farrell, 2008, and Farrell, 2012.
According to Veenman 1984:143 novice teachers experience the “reality shock” because of “the collapse of the missionary ideals formed during teacher
training by the harsh and rude reality of classroom lif e”. Similarly, Huberman
1993 refers to the reality of classroom life which is very different from what
13 novice teachers envisaged during their pre-
service education as the “reality shock” faced by novice teachers during their initial years. Likewise, Farrell 2012:211
also reveals that the “reality shock” faced by novice teachers is the time when novice teachers realize that “the ideals they formed while training may not be
appropriate for the realism they are faced with during their first year of teachin g”.
Regarding to the “reality shock” faced by novice teachers, understanding novice teachers is crucial in order to rescue them from abandoning their job.
Crookes 1997 and Peacock 2009 reveal that novice teachers are left to survive on their own in less than ideal conditions too often and it results some drop out of
the profession early in their careers. In addition, Farrell 2012:436 reveals that many novice teachers are travelling alone without the guides and guardians
decided to “abandon the teaching path before ever discovering the joys of teaching”. Therefore, novice teachers should be understood and should not be
neglected on their own. Besides the “reality shock” in their initial years of teaching which might
make them leave their profession, novice teachers need to be understood since what they experience in their initial years of teaching would determine their future
practice. According to Karatas and Karaman 2013 the first years of teaching in teacher‟s career play a significant role in shaping their identity and future practice.
Pitton 2006:2 also puts that “the success of new teachers is critically linked to their first teaching experiences and the opportunities they are given to talk through
issues they face in the classroom”. Therefore, it is important to understand their struggle, survival, and adaptation during their initial years of teaching because
14 when they were left alone with their challenges and start to fell ineffective, they
believe that they are not suitable for the profession and quit their jobs.
c. Problems faced by novice teachers
