Negotiating Classroom Language Practices: Pre‐Service Teacher Agency and L1/L2 Decision‐Making in Exam‐Oriented EFL Classrooms

Although multilingual perspectives have challenged English‐only norms, limited research has examined how pre‐service teachers translate contextual demands into L1/L2 decisions during practicum. This qualitative multiple‐case study involved 24 pre‐service English teachers during a 12‐week practicum in examination‐oriented Chinese senior high schools. Four focal participants underwent longitudinal within‐ and cross‐case analysis, while data from the remaining 20 were used to examine recurrence across the cohort. Data included observations, recordings, journals, interviews, and teaching artefacts. Three recurrent patterns emerged: lesson‐type‐based allocation, diagnostic switching, and L1‐supported meaning‐making towards L2 output. A less frequent extension involved coordinating multimodal and dialectal resources. These practices were shaped by professional beliefs, student responses, mentor mediation, and differing demands of routine and high‐visibility teaching. Agency developed through responsive adjustment, conditional allocation, strategic adjustment, and prospective reorganisation. The study conceptualises language‐choice agency as situated professional judgement linking contextual demands, resource evaluation, classroom action, perceived consequences, and subsequent revision. Conditional legitimacy and adaptive professionalism explain how participants maintained English‐learning goals while making Chinese and broader semiotic resources pedagogically defensible. Findings support integrating translanguaging theory with practicum‐based analysis, planned scaffolding, and reflection on professional expectations.