Abstrak
ABSTRACT Classroom management is one of the essential competencies that pre-service English teachers are expected to develop during teaching practicum because it enables them to create productive learning environments and facilitate effective English language learning. However, managing English classrooms during teaching practicum remains challenging, as pre-service teachers must simultaneously address students' behavioral, instructional, linguistic, and contextual needs while adapting their pedagogical knowledge to authentic classroom situations. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the classroom management challenges experienced by English pre-service teachers during teaching practicum and to explore the strategies they employed to overcome those challenges. This study employed a qualitative descriptive design with a retrospective approach. Seven English pre-service teachers from the English Education Department of UIN Sjech M. Djamil Djambek Bukittinggi who had completed their teaching practicum in 2025 at partner schools were purposively selected as the informants. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using the interactive data analysis model proposed by Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña (2020), comprising data condensation, data display, and conclusion drawing and verification. The findings revealed seven interconnected classroom management challenges experienced by the informants, namely disruptive student behavior, instructional and communication challenges, attention and time management, low student interest, low student participation, teacher readiness challenges, and unexpected classroom situations. Rather than occurring independently, these challenges influenced one another throughout the teaching practicum. The study also found that the informants employed three complementary categories of classroom management strategies: preventive, corrective, and engagement strategies. In addition, English anxiety, limited vocabulary, and translanguaging emerged as important findings, indicating that language-related factors played a significant role in shaping students' participation, classroom engagement, and the pre-service teachers' classroom management practices. Overall, this study concludes that classroom management in English language teaching is a dynamic and adaptive process that requires pre-service teachers to integrate pedagogical knowledge, professional judgment, and language-sensitive instructional practices. These findings highlight the importance of strengthening classroom management preparation in teacher education programs while extending current understandings of classroom management in English Language Teaching by emphasizing the role of linguistic and contextual factors in shaping pre-service teachers' classroom management practices.