Pre-Service English Teachers’ Voice on Virtual Teaching Practice: Shifting from Face-to-Face Teaching into Virtual Teaching

Abstract

Pre-service English teachers face various challenges that can significantly impact their competencies and roles, particularly in dealing with students and fellow teachers. The COVID-19 pandemic has added an extra layer of complexity by necessitating the transition from traditional face-to-face learning to online education. This shift is evident in the case of the microteaching course, which originally took place in a physical classroom but was abruptly moved to an online format. This study aims to examine the experiences of pre-service English teachers in virtual teaching practice and how they navigate the challenges associated with professional development during the microteaching course. A total of 31 pre-service English teachers participated in this research, engaging in virtual teaching practice. Data was collected through in-depth interviews, questionnaires, and reflective journals. The findings indicate that pre-service English teachers acknowledge the ineffectiveness of virtual microteaching, citing difficulties in managing and accessing teaching processes as well as the challenges of creating suitable teaching materials. As a result, future pedagogical practices should focus on enhancing the preparation and design of teaching and learning materials to better support the professional development of pre-service English teachers. This will ultimately contribute to their growth as educators during their teaching internships.

Blended Snowballing Discussion Technique and Collaborative Learning Pedagogy in EFL Speaking

“…That is the teachers' method of engaging and attracting speaking students interactively in the classroom through blended snowballing discussion (BSD). This is done by considering the significance of teaching EFL to students face-to-face in the classroom and online (Butarbutar, 2019;Handayani et al, 2023;Isma, Basri, et al, 2024;Isma, Sudewi, et al, 2024). To address the issues mentioned in the previous section, teachers' strategies (Jarvis et al, 2022;Lestari & Isma, 2019), techniques (Chien, 2019), approaches (Mak & Chik, 2011), and methods (Sam, 2016) have been modified.…”