Teaching Speaking Skills in Ecuador: EFL Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs during the Practicum

Teachers’ beliefs shape their pedagogical strategies, yet many language teachers remain unaware of their educational philosophies and how these beliefs are manifested in their teaching practices. This issue becomes more significant regarding pre-service teachers’ beliefs, which affect their performance during the practicum when they start university programs with pre-established beliefs about teaching. The present qualitative study aims to investigate five Ecuadorian EFL pre-service teachers’ beliefs about teaching speaking skills. Data were collected through written and visual narratives, focus group interviews, and reflective journals. The analysis was done following grounded theory. Findings show three different core beliefs: (a) the importance of English, (b) speaking error correction, and (c) methodologies to teach speaking skills. Research into teachers’ beliefs is critical, as it may offer insights into teachers’thought processes and classroom planning strategies. Further research is necessary to see how these beliefs affect their teaching practices.