Malaysian TESL Pre-Service Teachers' Instructional Planning

The main aim of the study was to explore the instructional planning of Teaching English as Second Language (TESL) pre-service teachers (PSTs) in Malaysia. The three research questions used for this research were: (1) How do TESL PSTs plan for their lessons? (2) How do TESL PSTs make their interactive decisions (IDs)? (3) How can TESL pre-service teachers' post-lesson reflections be described? 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. Planning was mostly influenced by their previous experience, knowledge of students, level of self-efficacy, teaching beliefs, and the role of their mentor. Five practices that were common among the PSTs when they make their IDs are referring to their previous experience, using punitive actions, managing their expectations as well as being flexible and immediate when responding to classroom issues. Their reflections on the lessons appear to be done on different levels, depending on how they perceive the criticality of any incidents that occurred in the lesson. The findings also suggest that the PSTs were able to reflect on their experience and use these reflections in planning their subsequent lessons. However, the inconsistencies shown 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 in planning their subsequent lessons, provided they are given appropriate and pragmatic support by the teacher training community in order for them to plan more effective lessons.