Pre-service teachers' beliefs in the activity of learning to teach English in the Chilean context

Research on teachers' beliefs has gained significant attention in second/foreign language teacher education literature in the last 20 years [3]. These studies have highlighted the relevance of teachers' beliefs on teachers' decisions and practices. Although research on beliefs has contributed to our understanding of what teachers think and do, largely these studies have been framed at an individual level [12]. However, more recently research has emerged primarily from sociocultural perspectives exploring the social origin of beliefs [2]. This paper examines English as a foreign language (EFL) pre-service teachers' beliefs about language teaching as part of the activity of learning to teach English in the Chilean context. This paper argues that beliefs mediate pre-service teachers' learning, and that they can potentially develop into concepts. This study suggests that beliefs are shaped and reshaped as pre-service teachers engage in the activity of learning to teach English.