Stories Of A Pre-Service English Teacher’s Commitment To Becoming An English Teacher

Abstract

Despite the growing number of research investigating initial teacher education among EFL pre-service teachers, there has been limited discussion about their commitment to becoming English teachers. This present study aims to investigate EFL pre-service teachers’ commitment to becoming English teachers and the factors constructing their commitment to becoming English teachers. This study applied narrative inquiry as the research method. One pre-service English teacher voluntarily participated in this research and has passed the Microteaching course, and the PPL (Praktik Pengalaman Lapangan or School-based teaching practicum). Interviews were used in this study to obtain the data. In analyzing the data, the researcher used narrative data analysis methods which include: transcribing the data, member-checking, and coding. Ela (pseudonym), the preservice teacher in the 7th semester, is now a third-year student at one of the private universities in Yogyakarta. She was chosen for being the participant considering her incredible profile she grew up in a boarding school environment, during the pandemic, she has taught at the elementary school in her pesantren and now also teaches English at the elementary school. Until now, the environment of her life is still within the scope of the pesantren which her father and mother have pioneered for a long time. Several factors affected her teaching commitment. First, personal characteristics that build Ela to have commitment to teaching because she likes teaching and sharing her knowledge with the students. Second, environmental determinants were the most influential factor because Ela's parents founded a boarding school, which made Ela build a commitment to teaching to help her parents build the education in their pesantren. Third, learning experience also led her to this teaching commitment while after facing many more experiences to teach since senior high school then microteaching and school-based practicum from the university. This study suggests implications for the pre-service English teacher, and stakeholders considering factors teaching commitments.