Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Volume 6, No. 2, July 2021 Available online at: https://journal.umy.ac.id/index.php/FTL/issue/view/786 e-ISSN: 2580-2070, p-ISSN: 2527-7650 164 Article History: Submitted: 5 May 2021 Reviewed: 7 May 2021 30 May 2021 Edited: 26 June 2021 1 July 2021 Accepted: 8 July 2021 English Education Master Students’ Perceptions on Their Agency as Future EFL Teachers Kristian Florensio Wijaya Sanata Dharma University, Indonesia kristianw611@gmail.com DOI: https://doi.org/10.18.196/ftl.v6i2.11994 Abstract This study investigated English Education Master Students’ perceptions of their agency as future EFL teachers. The underlying concern for conducting this study is a shortage of future EFL teachers’ professional development literature exploring the significance of promoting agency in varied second language classroom contexts. The narrative inquiry approach was employed to obtain more overarching depictions about the apparent stories told by the research participants to fulfil this central research objectivity. Ten open-ended written narrative inquiries were harnessed to shed more enlightenment for future EFL teachers’ professional development with the support of robust agency establishment. This set of narrative inquiry questions heed more profound attention to dig out graduate EFL students’ perceptions of their agency as prospective second language educators. The obtained findings overtly revealed that future EFL teachers could elevate their agency and promote holistic second language learning enterprises while their school institutions imparted continuous mutual supports. Eventually, the findings will shed more enlightenment for ELT experts, practitioners, and policymakers to design more unrestricted educational regulations. They supportively substantiate future EFL teachers' agency growth, particularly in Indonesia's EFL learning contexts, emphasizing the text- based learning achievements. Keywords: Agency; future EFL teachers, English Education Master students; narrative inquiry =========================================================================== mailto:kristianw611@gmail.com https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.18196/ftl.v6i2.11994&domain=pdf&date_stamp=2021-07-16 Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Volume 6, No. 2, July 2021 Available online at: https://journal.umy.ac.id/index.php/FTL/issue/view/786 e-ISSN: 2580-2070, p-ISSN: 2527-7650 165 Introduction Educators should be well-equipped with intensive professional development training to improve the overarching educational quality. Vanassche et al. (2019) avered that continual professional development training would allow teachers to bring about significant positive impacts to their specific academic fields in concert with the dynamic global changes in the existent society. Concerning this matter, EFL teachers in this modern age are also jointly commissioned to constantly elevate their professional development by not merely taking part in particular educational institutions but also willing to reform the face of education itself by bravely internalizing innovative, contextual, and creative second language learning interplays in their diverse wide-ranging classroom circumstances. This perspective agrees with the theory of qualified EFL teachers propounded by Loughran (2014). He argued that high-quality EFL scholars could deem the figures promoting interactive and unusual language learning enterprises for their learners possessing distinctive life backgrounds. Further, one of the significant affective components needed by EFL teachers to embody that aforementioned educational reformation is agency. Agency can be defined as a strong- inherited people’s willingness to initiative internalize specific intended actions to impart some changes to their targeted surroundings progressively. This definition above is closely interlinked with the theory of teacher agency adduced by Eteläpelto (2017), articulating agency as people’s power, perseverance, and strong desire to carry out some consecutive influential actions affecting their existent vicinities. Rogers and Wetzel (2013) stated that agency denotes human beings’ capabilities to create gradual changes in their particular living environments. In a similar vein, Priestley et al. (2012) postulated that agency could also be deemed as people’s commitment to incorporate a set of appropriate actions contextualized with their vicinities to ascertain that the social community members widely accept these changes. In a globalized English language teaching venture, the notion of an agency should be conscientiously interpreted and actualized by EFL teachers to successfully promote some significant educational transformation. This emerging matter occurred since EFL teachers are also restricted with the academic policies, objectivities, and beliefs ingrained by their school institutions. Thus, they must act accordingly in line with those written regulations while nurturing their suitable agentic actions concurrently. These beliefs are resonated well with the theory of EFL teachers’ Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Volume 6, No. 2, July 2021 Available online at: https://journal.umy.ac.id/index.php/FTL/issue/view/786 e-ISSN: 2580-2070, p-ISSN: 2527-7650 166 agency adduced by Nguyen and Bui (2016), avowing that to rejuvenate the existing educational practices gradually, EFL teachers are advocated to activate their agentic manners about the regulations, perspectives, and goals upheld by school institutions. Calvert (2016) accentuated the critical need for EFL teachers to release some purposeful agentic actions in harmony with the educational policies forming in their particular school institutions to fully fulfil the comprehensive academic demands targeted by the wider society. Agency can be conjectured as one of the mainstays that functioned as an educational trajectory to bring about more holistic second language learning enterprises for all learning community members. Hence, EFL teachers are also strongly suggested to profoundly reflect on their thoughts, beliefs and paradigms before embodying specific actions. This action needs to be done by them to successfully apply the apparent positive actions sincerely asserted by their learning community members and benefit the further advancement of teaching-learning practices. This above-mentioned pivotal action is corroborated by the theory of EFL teachers’ agency devised by Toom et al. (2015). It asserts a more explicit need for EFL teachers to obtain collective approvals from their educational institutions before implementing a vast range of agentic actions to ascertain that the communal objectivities walk in an identical corridor indisputably. Therefore, an agency should be parsed as a collective and reciprocal perspective instead of personal thought due to the dynamic nature of agency simultaneously involving teachers, educational institutions, and society. They enact such a harmonious action considerably rewarding for the further progression of their academic development. The above- explained theory is in tandem with the idea of EFL teachers’ agency invented by Biesta et al. (2015). It emphasizes the crucial need to all learning community members; teachers, learners, parents, and school superiors to actualize some tangible, specific agentic actions in concord with the educational beliefs, policies, and practices collectively approved by these academic board members to instil more synergized collective actions supportive for advancing their educational institutions. Five relevant studies have been conducted in this archipelago to investigate EFL teachers’ professional development concerning English language teaching-learning transformation. However, none of these studies has specifically completed a more in-depth exploration of EFL teachers’ agency. Murtiningsih (2019) revealed that unearthing that Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Volume 6, No. 2, July 2021 Available online at: https://journal.umy.ac.id/index.php/FTL/issue/view/786 e-ISSN: 2580-2070, p-ISSN: 2527-7650 167 effective EFL teachers were figures who could motivate and fully understand the laborious learning situations faced by learners. In another study, Pertiwi et al. (2020) discovered that innovative EFL teachers applied more interactive and captivating learning media for multivariate learners. Lestari (2017) noticed some demotivating factors promoting EFL teachers to depart from their teaching vocation earlier, such as lack of salary, minimum support given by educational institutions, learners’ noncompliant behaviour, and excessive administrative works. Hence, this researcher suggested educational institutions addressing more intensive support for their teachers to continue enlightening future generations' lives. Hatmanto and Purwanti (2020) unveiled that it was crucially essential for EFL teachers to adjust their traditional teaching methods into the modern one to engage millennium generations to keep motivated in acquiring the target language. Lastly, Fithriani (2018) encouraged the government to cease enacting massive discrimination between native and non-native EFL teachers in the recruitment processes to promote more equity beneficial to advance ELT practices in this nation. As noted before, there is a devoid of specific studies conducting more profound exploration toward the significance of agency for future EFL teachers. Thus, this present study is needed to be plied to investigate the particular perceptions infused by graduate university EFL learners regarding the importance of agency for their career pathways as future EFL educators. One research problem was formulated in this study to comply with this primary research objectivity: (1) What are the particular perceptions instilled by English Education Master students toward the importance of agency for their career development as future EFL teachers? This study implemented qualitative research to unravel the problem formulated. Indonesian EFL educators, practitioners, and policymakers can discern EFL teachers’ agency in distinctive ELT enterprises. Hopefully, it will result in more appropriate and contextual teacher professional development training heeding its attention to forge this professionalism aspect to promote significant advancement for educational enterprises. Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Volume 6, No. 2, July 2021 Available online at: https://journal.umy.ac.id/index.php/FTL/issue/view/786 e-ISSN: 2580-2070, p-ISSN: 2527-7650 168 Literature Review Professional Agency Educators, learners, school board members, and society must have a synergized collaborative interplay. It aims to nurture the professional agency inherited within EFL teachers prolifically. As mentioned previously, the robust construction of agency cannot be detached from socio-cultural practices. A higher degree of EFL teachers’ agency can be fully engendered when all learning community members mutually endorse their professionalism, dedication, and effortful actions. These conceptions are calibrated with the theory of EFL teachers’ agency propounded by Pappa et al. (2019), stating that a higher agency level can be yielded when EFL teachers are cogently supported by all educational members boards in their institutions. By nature, EFL teachers’ professional agency can take place in a wide array of educational practices like accommodation, adaptable actions, and effortful actions to meet the demands proposed by educational institutions. These assumptions are inextricably associated with the significant components of EFL teachers’ professional agentic behaviour repudiated by Green and Pappa (2021). They argued that EFL teachers who were adaptable, resilient, and flexible would successfully nourish their professional agency in the light of school policies along with personal objectivities. In a similar vein, Hamid and Nguyen (2016) also prompted the globalized educational institutions to continuously provide more intensive moral and mental supports for EFL teachers upholding distinctive cognitive and pedagogical backgrounds without forcing them to strictly forge their agency in the presence of constrained educational policies. The efficient actualization of professional agency can also be generated. When EFL teachers dissented the proposed new school policies, they worked collaboratively with other working counterparts to promote some innovative educational changes and expend a considerable number of appropriate actions suitable with the demands provoked by their school institutions. Vähäsantanen (2015) affirmed that it is inescapable for EFL teachers to foster their professional agency through some positive and controversial actions. They include disapproving the new educational reforms, maintaining mutual collaborative interplays with other colleagues, and dedicate their maximum efforts for the future betterment of their school institutions. Hence, the professional agency has an intertwining nature of collective agency in worldwide ELT occurrences. As a result, EFL teachers advocate creating more mutual, Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Volume 6, No. 2, July 2021 Available online at: https://journal.umy.ac.id/index.php/FTL/issue/view/786 e-ISSN: 2580-2070, p-ISSN: 2527-7650 169 intimate, and positive collaborative efforts with all learning community members to bring about more significant progression in their school vicinities. Gurney and Liyanage (2016) also mentioned that the long-life learning spirit needs to reside within EFL teachers attempting to cultivate a higher degree of agency to become more resilient, adaptable, and professional educators in future educational events. Haneda and Sherman (2016) strongly suggested EFL teachers establish, nurture, and amplify the mutual rapports within their broader school community circumstances to maximize their utmost agency levels in corresponding with unpredictable educational landscape transformation and breakthrough. EFL Teachers’ Agency As illustrated in the prior subsection, the agency is closely correlated with people’s more vital willingness to impart fundamental changes to support deliberate, effortful actions appropriate to their surroundings. Apart from this definition, this term needs to be refined when dealing with ELT enterprises. EFL teachers should overcome all of the conflictual relationships among their personal beliefs, institutional demands, and collective objectivities to nurture their agency resulted in apparent educational advancement successfully. This notion mentioned above is in tandem with the prior findings of the EFL teachers’ agency current study unearthed by Morales Jaramillo (2021). He advocated for all educational stakeholders, experts, and policymakers to maintain a higher level of positive and mutual relationships with highly diverse EFL teachers to transform them into proactive agents of change toward their learners’ future lives. Kayi-Aydar (2015) also advised globalized EFL teachers to place, adjust, and juxtapose their agency with educational settings. It aims to create a more positive working atmosphere, enhancing their highest motivation to dedicate their best teaching performances to multiverse learners. According to the particular teaching-learning situations, highly-agentic EFL teachers can internalize innovative, creative, and unusual pedagogical actions. Then, the teachers commission them to exert those risk-taking actions. All of the above-explicated conceptions are mutually intertwined with basic tenets of EFL teachers’ agency propounded by Biesta et al. (2015). EFL teachers could degrade their internal and external conflicts regarding the institutional and personal demand, promoting more meaningful teaching-learning dynamics than other teachers who are restricted with individual and collective perspectives in their Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Volume 6, No. 2, July 2021 Available online at: https://journal.umy.ac.id/index.php/FTL/issue/view/786 e-ISSN: 2580-2070, p-ISSN: 2527-7650 170 mindset. Toom et al. (2015) theorized that highly agentic EFL teachers could exert many flexible changes in their teaching-learning repertoire with their current learners’ learning situations, needs, preferences, and styles. These intertwining natures of the above-explained findings are also worth tailored to Kitade's (2015) study. Highly agentic EFL teachers are aware of distinctive socio-cultural and unique life backgrounds brought by their learners in one particular classroom ecology. This situation reciprocally affected them to instil varied contextual pedagogical practices. These thoroughly fit with learners’ learning conditions, needs, and preferences. Furthermore, the educational institutions’ policy constraints can act as a double-edged sword for further developing EFL teachers’ agency. The accepted academic regulations can supportively endorse teachers to build the intended teaching-learning materials suitable for learners’ learning needs or impose teachers to rigidly follow all educational demands without casting more intensive caring for learners’ learning situations. These arguments are in conjunction with the common obstructions that potentially hinder EFL teachers’ agency growth theory as adduced by Gao (2017). He articulated that regional educational institutions’ policies can potentially restrict the prolific EFL teachers’ agency. They might disallow educators merely following all of the written rules without applying any potential pedagogical approaches appropriate to their targeted classroom contexts. Kalaja (2015) also pinpointed that more mutual, positive, and synergized collaborations should occur among educators, parents, learners, and school board members. It aims to ceaselessly elevate EFL teachers’ agency without being constrained by extensively formal educational regulations. EFL teachers’ agency should be well-nurtured, amplified, and adjusted according to the legalized educational policies and collective demands approved by the overarching learning community members. Educationalists may dedicate their best pedagogical approaches to benefit learners’ learning advancement and outcomes. Also, they may engage in real-life contexts at the same time. In other words, EFL teachers can channel their energy, commitment, and persistent actions to promote more supportive teaching-learning circumstances wherein all learners are capable of incorporate all the obtained competencies sustainably in out-of-class contexts. These impactful learning benefits concurred with the good values imparted by the robust establishment of EFL teachers’ agency findings as unfolded by Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Volume 6, No. 2, July 2021 Available online at: https://journal.umy.ac.id/index.php/FTL/issue/view/786 e-ISSN: 2580-2070, p-ISSN: 2527-7650 171 Garcia-Carrion et al. (2017). They exclaimed that EFL teachers’ perspectives toward their school institutions would reciprocally leverage their further actions, willingness, and commitment to impart the intended teaching-learning actions addressed for their targeted classroom learning vicinities. All educational board members must establish more synergized and collaborative networking with all educationalists. It is to fully impart various second language learning benefactors for multiverse learners without being hindered excessively with the structural educational ecologies raised by the educational institutions. The major-specific research findings of these studies above can also be conflated with the results of prior EFL teachers’ agency studies plied by Le et al. (2021). Most Vietnamese EFL teachers successfully fulfilled all educational institutions’ demands, policies, and objectivities with their appropriate agentic actions due to the highly supportive collaborative interplays, mutual rapport, and sustainable collective sharing of their school working environments. These concepts also share an identical commonality with EFL teachers’ agency study plied by Le et al. (2021). Educational policymakers and school stakeholders openly involved EFL teachers in designing appropriate educational policies best suited their classroom learning climates to empower their agentic actions, efforts, and spirit while dealing with uphill teaching-learning obstacles. Methodology This current study was conducted in the light of a qualitative method to obtain more profound depictions concerning the particular observed phenomena. This nature of the present study had an intertwining rapport with the theory of qualitative research postulated by Deveci and Onder (2013), averring that the central purpose of qualitative research is to enable researchers to dig more sensible truth out of the specific phenomena or events they are discerning. Ten (10) open-ended written interview questions were harnessed to attain more reliable data according to English Education Master Students’ perceptions of their agency as future EFL teachers. They focused on further activation and the extension of EFL teachers’ agency, particularly when crammed by some unpredictable educational oppression probably arising from parents, school stakeholders, school principals, and school foundation members. This primary research objectivity is in conjunction with the theory of open-ended written interview inquiries propounded by Talmy and Richards (2011). One of the striking beneficial Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Volume 6, No. 2, July 2021 Available online at: https://journal.umy.ac.id/index.php/FTL/issue/view/786 e-ISSN: 2580-2070, p-ISSN: 2527-7650 172 impacts of utilizing open-ended interview questions is the researchers will potentially attain natural and reliable data. For the research participants, the researcher invited two English Education Master students from batch 2019 and 2020, Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta. As a general portrayal, these two distinctive millennial generations had experienced relatively long-range English language teaching experiences in various multi-ranging classroom circumstances. The first research participant earned her bachelor degree in English Language Education in 2012. After completing her bachelor study, she commenced her teaching vocation at one particular agricultural educational institution in Yogyakarta. For the professional teaching experiences, the first participant had worked not merely in the above- mentioned educational institution but also in diverse school communities to enrich her pedagogical experiences as a future EFL educator. In contrast, the second participant was studying at English Education Master Study Program in a similar university. In the meantime, she is in the second semester of her study. She had already experienced real-time practice teaching experiences in one particular high school when she was still an undergraduate. The second participant was a hard worker when preparing the best-suited materials for multivariate learners. However, she had never undergone more intensive teaching experiences in one particular school institution as one of the teaching staff. By committing to this critical research objectivity, the results of this present study will potentially impart a single piece of contributions toward the further development on elevating future EFL teachers’ agency in Indonesian ELT contexts. The researcher would compartmentalize each finding into specific main themes to ascertain each argumentation expounded. To a lesser extent, these in-depth depictions were also corroborated by relevant theories and prior studies of EFL teacher’s agency to better promote more sensible and comprehensive descriptions out of the collected data derived from the research participants. For the coding of each finding, the researcher subsumed the obtained responses from the research participants based on the most frequent explications disseminated by them. By conducting this in-depth qualitative coding technique, the depictions of each central theme will be presented in an identical umbrella functioned to enable worldwide readers to precisely understand the particular ongoing matters taking place within the participants’ personal along with professional lives as future EFL educators. Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Volume 6, No. 2, July 2021 Available online at: https://journal.umy.ac.id/index.php/FTL/issue/view/786 e-ISSN: 2580-2070, p-ISSN: 2527-7650 173 Findings This section clarifies the obtained significant findings regarding English Education Master students’ perceptions of their agency as future EFL teachers. Those findings manifested in four specific themes, namely, (1) The robust construction of EFL teachers’ agency, (2) Positive perceptions of nurturing agentic characters, (3) The paramount needs to teach more transformative teaching-learning enterprises, and (4) The critical stance to be long-life learners to preserve the firm establishment of the agency. Concerning these themes mentioned above, the following lines will be accompanied by sensible arguments, relevant theories, and prior related findings supported by the data disseminated by two research participants. For further information, these subdivided categories dealing intimately with a narrative inquiry approach since the research participants’ real-life stories or experiences are elucidated in the light of relevant theories and prior research results generated by the worldwide ELT experts about the importance of nourishing prospective EFL educators’ agency. The Robust Construction of EFL Teachers’ Agency I have supportive colleagues, and they always share their experiences in class. Therefore, I can learn from them as well. [Participant 1] Teaching is like a half part of my soul. What I mean by teaching is that when we can share and learn at the same time. It can be with any students’ level, grade, or even not a student, but people in a way broader context. [Participant 2] Based on the findings attained from two participants, both English Education Master students instilled such a higher degree of agency at the commencement of second language teaching-learning enterprises. The first participant frankly acknowledged that the inducement of robust agency establishment was caused by the supportive working surroundings forming in her prior school institution. The support manifested in continuous encouragement, intensive professional development training, a higher degree of reverence addressed by learners, and Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Volume 6, No. 2, July 2021 Available online at: https://journal.umy.ac.id/index.php/FTL/issue/view/786 e-ISSN: 2580-2070, p-ISSN: 2527-7650 174 conducive working surroundings collectively constructed by colleagues. The first participants could manage their stress levels, burdens, and heavy working loads better through these positive trajectories. Hence, meaningful teaching-learning enterprises could construct their knowledge proactively. Concerning the second participant, she also confessed that teaching vocation had been lifeblood in her life since she could disseminate a vast array of rewarding life values, knowledge, and mutual sharing to her learners. This agentic characteristic enabled the second participant to design more innovative, creative, and enjoyable second language learning activities for all learners deriving from exceptional levels. More importantly, the second participant had successfully activated learners’ independent learning characters appreciating the beauty of teaching-learning processes amid pain-staking, energy-draining, and time- consuming knowledge discovery. Such conditions would bring about varied influential positive benefits for learners’ academic achievements and broader social contexts. Positive Perceptions of Nurturing Agentic Characters Yes. I always believe that my teaching vocation will bring beneficial effects for students and help them grow as well. [Participant 1] When I can make my students understand what I have said, shared, and taught. Then they use it daily. It becomes everlasting lesson for them and me. [Participant 2] Both participants had progressively constructed positive perceptions of their agency since they consistently showed a more remarkable persistence, eventual efforts, and more substantial commitment to nourish their agency in more straightforward teaching-learning objectives. This positive attitude can elevate their agency more considerably. Those pre- determined teaching-learning goals worked as a propelling force to display their most excellent teaching performances, maximizing each learner’s potential to construct a wide array of knowledge efficiently and meaningfully. The first participant overtly repudiated that her specific positive beliefs on her teaching vocation could lead learners to master the intended Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Volume 6, No. 2, July 2021 Available online at: https://journal.umy.ac.id/index.php/FTL/issue/view/786 e-ISSN: 2580-2070, p-ISSN: 2527-7650 175 subject-specific fields and strong mentality and laudable characters primarily beneficial for them. The second participant also infused identical lenses of perspective like the first participant since her profound concern was calibrated with the applicable learning outcomes that learners can harness in their daily-basis. Thus, the continuous repetitions and practices would hopefully transfigure into more proficient future academicians. The Paramount Needs to Inculcate More Transformative Teaching-Learning Enterprises I always believe that students will learn if a teacher gives comfortable environment for students. Therefore, I always try to provide pleasant learning environment for students by making games or providing videos. [Participant 1] Definitely yes. My target is not about to finish all the lesson subject as the curriculum mentioned. However, I face the God’s creature, who is a human. Instead of teaching them a solid rule of English, I bring the value of language in a broader needs for them, which make them do questioning a lot and think more. [Participant 2] Concerning the above-displayed findings, both participants concurred that to be more agentic EFL teachers. It is of paramount importance for them to promote more meaning- making second language teaching-learning enterprises. All learners will not merely engage more proactively in unearthing knowledge but also thoroughly enjoy the overarching learning activities internalized by their teachers. These agentic characters could occur in a second language learning climate. When teachers realized the crucial importance of loosely detaching from their enacted lesson plans to adjust to other teaching strategies or activities appropriately, they potentially provided more supportive learning assistance for their learners. Through this agentic action, the teaching-learning values will be more prosperous for all learning community members regarding knowledge dissemination, positive character building, and admirable working attitudes showcased by all learners, particularly while impeding formidable learning challenges. According to the first participant, all EFL teachers must infuse more pleasurable teaching-learning circumstances for their learners to learn better and conceive the Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Volume 6, No. 2, July 2021 Available online at: https://journal.umy.ac.id/index.php/FTL/issue/view/786 e-ISSN: 2580-2070, p-ISSN: 2527-7650 176 meaningfulness of the ongoing teaching-learning dynamics they are engaging. The second participant also ingrained such a strong belief. Learning does not occur in an isolated and rigid manner through some memorization and drilling techniques but also collaborative along with higher-order thinking skills should be instilled to ascertain that each learner gradually transformed into more effective problem-solvers, informed decision-makers, and cooperative knowledge constructors within their learning community members. Impinged upon this understanding, the second participant did not transfer the knowledge passively for her learners. Yet, she sustainably engaged all of them to think more critically, be more proactive in formulating in-depth inquiries, and be more attentive listeners through some intensive discussions resulted in a significant transformation of the overall learners’ learning attitude, behaviour, and competencies development. The Critical Stance to be Long-Life Learners to Preserve the Strong Establishment of Agency Yes, because learning environment always changes, and I have to adapt my teaching method. More crucially, I always reflect my teaching performance. What went wrong and what needs to be improved. [Participant 1] Yes. The skill to think more and to bring students to learn language in wider point of view. These two perspectives make me learn a lot during my teaching class, not only prepare the authentic materials but how to invite them to be more meaningful in learning everything. [Participant 2] One of the salient characteristics of highly agentic EFL teachers is the potent willingness to be long-life learners while engaging in their long-lengthy teaching-learning enterprises. Two participants represented those long-life characters. They taught such a solid longing to adapt their teaching methods to classroom learning vicinities. They also reflected more exhaustively concerning all teaching approaches, activities, contentions, and values in their teaching-learning dynamic venture. These delineations are intimately correlated with the in-depth personal reflection generated by the first participant avowing that she sustainably upgraded her teaching methods and performances in line with the diverse wide-ranging Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Volume 6, No. 2, July 2021 Available online at: https://journal.umy.ac.id/index.php/FTL/issue/view/786 e-ISSN: 2580-2070, p-ISSN: 2527-7650 177 classroom surroundings she continually faced. The first participant embodied these complex teaching-learning matters since the changeable EFL classroom settings commissioned her to do so unless the learning breakdowns will be unacceptable for the complacent behaviours showcased by the teachers. The second participant also shared an identical perspective as the first participant since she continuously learned a substantiate number of precious knowledge, life values, and classroom lessons from her learners during the daily-based teaching-learning activities. EFL teachers will transform into more knowledgeable, innovative, broad-minded academicians and agentic positive educationalists. Discussions Supportive Working Environments Potentially Strengthen Future EFL Teachers’ Agency In partnership with what had already been elucidated in the prior subsection, a higher degree of agency is more or less substantiated by supportive working environments forming in their school institutions. Both participants overtly repudiated that their positive agentic characteristics were tangibly actualized when continual moral supports were addressed by colleagues, school principal, school foundation, learners, and parents. As a result of this positive springboard, supportive working circumstances offer these two participants more promising avenues to obey all school regulations dutifully. At the same time, at a similar moment, sustainably invigorate their agentic actions by promoting more exhilarating, meaningful, and holistic second language learning enterprises wherein all learners can strive and thrive altogether without letting anyone be left behind. These lines of argument support the prior findings of EFL teachers’ agency conducted by Kayi-Aydar (2015). They encouraged school institutions to mentally, morally, and psychologically impart more supportive endorsement for EFL teachers. They somehow encounter taxing teaching-learning obstructions in their particular classroom learning contexts to cultivate their positive agentic behaviour in imparting their utmost dedication. Liyanage et al. (2015) also prompted all EFL practitioners and policymakers to enact more contextual and applicable educational mandates elevating teachers’ agentic behaviour to prepare their learners to pass the national examinations and their future continual life engagement. Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Volume 6, No. 2, July 2021 Available online at: https://journal.umy.ac.id/index.php/FTL/issue/view/786 e-ISSN: 2580-2070, p-ISSN: 2527-7650 178 Through the inculcation of supportive working surroundings, EFL teachers can also exhibit a higher degree of sturdiness, resilience, and perseverance while encountering a vast range of exacting teaching-learning hurdles. It can also be articulated that agentic EFL teachers are the figures capable of stipulating the precise decisions to overcome the thorny obstacles hindering their ongoing teaching-learning dynamics. This positive attitude is induced since they are not walking alone during tracing in the deep valley of teaching-learning journeys. There will always be great assistance from their colleagues, school board members, and learners whenever they are crammed with these kinds of unsavoury working events. Further, two participants also sanctioned identical matters. Their colleagues and school foundation were always ready to mutually assist them when they encounter severe difficulties in their teaching voyage regarding classroom management, learning materials selection, pressure coming from parents, and unruly behaviour exhibited by some learners. These in-depth portrayals are pertinent to the prior findings of the EFL teachers’ agency study plied by Green and Pappa (2021). EFL teachers exposed to the intensive daily opportunities to continuously nurture their agency concerning the school power, parents’ expectations, collective school networking, and professional space will be better in coping with various teaching-learning hindrances compared to other teachers lacking chances to express their willingness, thoughts, and ideas toward their school institutions. Sahragard and Rasti (2017) unfolded that Iranian EFL teachers commissioned to conduct critical self-reflection practices simultaneously accompanied by school institutions’ support after doing their daily teaching activities. As a result, they would better manage their stress, anxiety, and negative behaviours when confronting them abruptly teaching-learning impediments. Xiaolei (2018) also unveiled three major indispensable components to bolster the continuity of EFL teachers’ robust agency growth: the actualization of emotionally supportive working environments and the profound self-reflections mirroring EFL teachers’ daily perspectives on their teaching practices and the current teaching-learning conditions incurred in their school institutions. Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Volume 6, No. 2, July 2021 Available online at: https://journal.umy.ac.id/index.php/FTL/issue/view/786 e-ISSN: 2580-2070, p-ISSN: 2527-7650 179 The Stronger Desire to Impart More Striking Positive Influences is Closely Intertwined with Positive Agentic Behavior Consented to the above-explicated conceptions of agency, it is worth emphasizing in this line that the potent endeavour to address more significant positive impacts is mutually interrelated with positive agentic behaviour. The agency's baseline is deemed human beings’ desire to carry out some intended appropriate actions useful for their existing surroundings. In an EFL teaching-learning arena, this notion has been burgeoning prolifically since teachers are demanded to address more enjoyable, meaningful, and transformative teaching-learning dynamics for all learners possessing distinctive uniqueness, characters, and learning proficiency. In like manner, highly-agentic EFL teachers can also be equated with pioneers intending to devise a wide array of suitable pedagogical approaches, learning activities, and rejuvenated educational beliefs to further advance structural and practical educational ecologies. The two participants identified varied pleasurable, meaning-making, innovative, and creative second language learning activities successful in cultivating learners’ proactive learning engagement, higher-order thinking skills, and commendable positive learning behaviour. When all school learning community members have fully experienced more holistic, independent, and collective learning enterprises, the education will be automatically transformed from the exam- oriented become more humanized paradigm accentuating the overall qualities of human beings. These lines of perspectives echoed the similar to Chinese EFL teachers’ agency by Yang and Clarke (2018). When educational institutions' eventual primary scholastic objectivity rejuvenated the whole academic systemic functions, traditions, beliefs, and socio-cultural values previously upheld by those schools, EFL educators would benefit most from these dramatic changes. Their positive agentic behaviour is corroborated by the renewable policies supporting their innovative, creative, and autonomous educational interplays. Kordabadi et al. (2021) also suggested various educational institutions to conducting more intensive agency training within the professional lives of EFL teachers. They will allow some positive trajectories to begin to discern that their current teaching vocation will bring about a vast array of rewarding values impacting future generations’ future lives. The urgent need to embody eventual EFL teachers’ agentic behaviour is consistent with the prior findings of the EFL teachers’ agency conducted by Sahragard and Rasti (2017). They advocated significant educational institutions to facilitate Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Volume 6, No. 2, July 2021 Available online at: https://journal.umy.ac.id/index.php/FTL/issue/view/786 e-ISSN: 2580-2070, p-ISSN: 2527-7650 180 EFL teachers with more substantial professional agency training supportively. It aims to preserve their long-lasting teaching motivation and help them distinctively differentiate the external and internal factors prompting or hindering their agency growth from supporting their professionalism as educators fully. Conclusion and Implication This present qualitative study accentuated the significance of establishing, nourishing, and fostering EFL teachers’ agency in multiverse ELT contexts. Two participants confessed that a higher agency-level enabled them to promote more transformative second language learning enterprises to uphold distinctive learning backgrounds. Thus, they will be more life-long academicians. Again, these positive inducements were heavily influenced by supportive working environments in their former school institutions. Both global and Indonesian EFL experts, practitioners, and policymakers will be more capable of designing more context-based and dynamic ELT enterprises that benefit University EFL learners who will be high-quality future EFL teachers. These suggestions correspond with one of the inducements of positive agentic behaviours, namely the potent endeavour to carry out all potential effortful actions, dedication, persistent attempts, and inner volition to address the transformative changes in the targeted, appropriate surroundings. There exist some certain limitations in this study. Since this present qualitative study only relied on one particular research instrument, open-ended written interview inquiries, future researchers planned to replicate this investigation are advocated to utilize more varied research instruments to yield more reliable data. Second, this present qualitative study should also be conducted in a larger sample to provide more generalizable research results significant for EFL teachers’ professional development. 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