Language teacher education programmes can be viewed as "change" programmes, particularly in their endeavours to re-shape cognition. However, often such programmes are found to be relatively ineffective in this regard. As a means of facilitating the desired change, trans-national language teacher education programmes, in which students study abroad for a portion of time, may be more effective than programmes conducted in the home environment because of the potential for encountering the new and different. This article considers the impact of two years spent in New Zealand on the language teaching practices of a cohort of Malaysian pre-service teachers during their teaching practicum. It also considers the methodological challenges in identifying sources of influence on language teaching practices.