Abstract:

The main aim of the study was to explore the instructional planning experience of Teaching English as Second Language (TESL) pre-service teachers (PSTs) in Malaysia. The main research question guiding this research is how do TESL PSTs plan for their lessons? Five TESL PSTs were involved in the data collection process. The PSTs were observed three times, over the course of their 12-week teaching practicum around Malaysian public secondary schools in the city of Shah Alam, Malaysia. For each lesson observation, an open-ended questionnaire was distributed, the lesson plan was collected, classroom observation was done, followed by a post-lesson interview. An analysis over their planning process revealed how these PSTs anticipate problems differently in planning for their lessons. The findings suggest that the PSTs were able to reflect on their experiences and use these reflections in anticipating potential problems in planning their subsequent lessons. However, the inconsistencies in anticipating these problems warrant further research on how these PSTs could be further supported in planning their lessons. The main conclusion that could be drawn from the study was that despite some criticisms on the PSTs’ ability to reflect on their lessons, there is potential among these PSTs to reflect and to utilize these reflections further, especially in anticipating potential problems in planning their subsequent lessons, in order for them to plan more effective lessons.

Keywords:

Pre-service teachers, TESL, lesson planning.