EFL teachers’ conceptions of speaking competence in English

Abstract

The present article lies at the intersection of research on teacher cognition and speaking competence in a second language. It is a qualitative analysis of teacher accounts of speaking in the context of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Iran. More specifically, the study is an exploration of three EFL teachers’ conceptions of learning and teaching the speaking skill in English. The teachers represented varying levels of experience and education and were classified as experts and novices. Through juxtaposing teachers’ views of how students should learn to speak and how the teachers themselves learned to speak English, the research study uncovers the interwoven nature of learning experience with teaching conceptions. It also unveils the images underpinning their conceptions of how to learn and teach speaking in an EFL context. The results also portray teachers as having unique ways of thinking of speaking while at the same time sharing certain patterns.

Keywords:

• teacher cognition
• speaking
• EFL
• personal practical knowledge
• expertise