Teachers’ past learning experiences, also referred to as “apprenticeship of observation,” can affect their beliefs and, in turn, their teaching practices. This study focused on the apprenticeships of observation of Chilean novice English teachers and sought to identify the possible influence of their past English teachers on their teaching and learning views in an English as a foreign language context. The qualitative multiple case study design gathered the narratives of 18 teachers using an open-ended survey and in-depth interviews. Results showed that the teachers’ apprenticeship of observation influenced their socio-emotional and affective views on teaching with a main concern on teacher-student relationships. From a sociocultural perspective, it was found that feelings associated with these experiences helped them understand their own practice.

This qualitative case study examines the perceptions of three novice EFL teachers regarding their past mentoring experiences in school settings. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to elicit their overall  views as well as obtain insight to specific aspects of this process according to the Five Factor Model on Mentoring (Hudson, 2007). Findings indicate that the personal attributes of mentors were perceived as being most relevant. However, based on the perception of the teachers, aspects such as school requirements and feedback are not widely considered by their mentors despite the fact that these elements impact the mentoring process. It is expected that by analyzing teacher perceptions, more knowledge will be gained about future EFL student teacher preparation so that programs will be able to better address the specific needs of mentees during their practicum period.

AbstractDespite the vast body of research on communication strategies (CSs) and the way L2 learners manage to get their message across via these mechanisms, there is little research on Spanish as L2 in an interactional context and between different types of dyads. This is why this study attempts to examine a possible relationship between Spanish L2 learners’ use of communication strategies and the type of interactant (learner and native speaker). For this, twenty-four face-to-face interactions of two types of dyads carrying out two tasks were analysed by drawing on

This action research study aims to explore the contribution of the use of points of improvement as a reflective strategy to support eleven Chilean EFL pre-service teachers' ability to plan communicativeoriented lessons. Through questionnaires and a focus group, participants' responses were examined using thematic analysis. Findings yielded that their beliefs about communicative-oriented lessons were in fact linked with the communicative approach. Lastly, their perceptions towards the use of points of improvement as a reflective strategy showed more awareness in the classroom, narrowing the gap between their pedagogical and disciplinary knowledge.