Enhancing Pre-Service EFL Teachers’ Self-Efficacy through the Use of ELF in a Multilingual World

The teaching practicum, a psychologically demanding phase of professional development, yields diverse self-efficacy outcomes for pre-service teachers. While it is crucial to view the practicum as a cornerstone for shaping teaching beliefs, there exists a research gap in understanding its influence on the self-efficacy of pre-service English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teachers in East Asia and delving into the cognitive processes during this period. This mixed-methods study (n = 18) aimed to address this gap. The quantitative results revealed an overall increase in participants’ self-efficacy, notably in classroom management. The qualitative findings uncovered challenges faced by those with lower self-efficacy, particularly when discrepancies arose with mentor teachers over teaching English through a communicative approach. Conversely, individuals with linguistically and culturally diverse pre-practicum experiences exhibited resilience while maintaining robust beliefs about their own teaching. The findings suggest the necessity for tailored teacher preparation programs aiming at nurturing a multilingual perspective through interaction in English as a lingua franca.