Indonesia Conference Directory

This article explores the experiences of three pre-service English teachers from Philippines who were assigned in a private elementary school in Indonesia as part of a pre-service teacher exchange program. Working in a context that did not share the similar first or second language, the three teachers used English, their second language, as a lingua franca in communicating with the students. Drawing upon data from their teaching diaries, class observation, and in-depth interviews, this article reveals that using English in the classroom was challenging because English was neither the first nor the second language of their students. Three narratives from the teachers are also recounted to shed some light on their strategies to bridge the communication gap. The findings further indicate that their participation in a short Bahasa Indonesia for Non-Native Speakers program played an important role in their language adjustment. Implication of the study for English language teaching in Indonesia is also presented.