September 2005 Volume 9, Number 2
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Constructing the Teaching Process from Inside Out: How Pre-service Teachers Make Sense of their Perceptions of the Teaching of the Four Skills

Marimar da Silva
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina
Brazil

Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the perceptions Brazilian pre-service teachers hold concerning the teaching of the four skills in English as a foreign language, with a view to understanding how perceptions relate to pedagogical practice. Data were collected during the pre-service teachers' teaching practicum and the analysis, based on six sets of information, revealed that the pre-service teachers' perceptions stem from two types of knowledge: the theoretical knowledge and the experiential knowledge built up on their apprenticeship of observation and the memories of their lived experiences. Moreover, the perceptions the pre-service teachers have of these two types of knowledge work as tenets for them to interpret and understand their teaching, as filters through which the theoretical knowledge is viewed, as a source of teachers' knowledge, and as triggers of conflicts and dilemmas as well.

Keywords: EFL, ESL, Second Language Teacher Education, Teacher Perception, Teaching Practicum, Brazil

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