Language Barriers: Indonesian efl pre-service teachers’ experience during international teaching practice in Thailand

The phenomenon of international teaching practicum exists to accommodate globalization in improving the quality of teaching internationally. Thus, the existence of an international program can help pre-service teachers to internationalize English-speaking culture, such as international internships. However, the phenomenon of global teaching practice, which has been investigated in many studies, and earlier research, raises several significant language barriers. Hence, this research aims to investigate the language barriers thatIndonesian pre-service teachers encounter during their international teaching practice program in Thailand. Qualitative research method was chosen in this study to obtain in-depth information about the phenomenon of language barriers through classroom observation and interviews with three Indonesian pre-service teachers. The findings revealed that Indonesian pre-service teachers discovered three major language barriers during their teaching practice, namely different language background, lack of English proficiency, and differedifferent dialects also accents used. From the three barriers, the most challenging was different language background. However, the response given by Thai students, school staff, and local people around the school environment to the language barriers experienced by Indonesian pre-service teachers was perfect. Utilizing how Thai students try to facilitate communication between Indonesian pre-service teachers and other students, and how in-service teachers offer advice and continue to assist Indonesian pre-service teachers in overcoming language barriers throughout the program.