<![CDATA[Teaching Indonesian for Foreign Speakers (BIPA) contributes to the internationalization of the Indonesian language while presenting cross-disciplinary challenges for pre-service teachers from non-BIPA educational backgrounds. This study explores the lived experiences of pre-service English teachers when teaching BIPA and the coping strategies they adopted in multicultural classrooms. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), the study involved five English Education student-teachers with BIPA teaching experience. Data were collected through reflective journals and semi-structured interviews and analysed to identify participants’ experiences, challenges, and responses during the teaching process. The findings revealed that participants initially experienced professional identity dissonance and pedagogical friction when adapting their English Education background to BIPA instruction. They gradually managed these challenges through multimodal instruction, strategic code-switching, thorough preparation, and continuous video-based reflection. The experience also encouraged participants to develop more student-centered teaching practices and greater intercultural awareness. This study contributes to BIPA teacher preparation research by highlighting how cross-disciplinary teaching experiences can support the professional adaptation and pedagogical development of pre-service teachers in diverse and increasingly international educational contexts.]]>
