TEACHING PRACTICES IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHER TRAINING: A CRITICAL APPROACH BASED ON UNDERGRADUATE TEACHER TESTIMONIES

Abstract

Pre-professional internships are a fundamental pillar in teacher training in foreign languages and constitute the propitious way and moment for teachers in training to be linked to their future work, which implies a responsible, autonomous and contextualized use of the knowledge acquired, as well as a high development of complex, rigorous, creative and operative thinking. Taking into account this precept, a research was conducted to analyze the process of pre-professional practices in the career of Pedagogy of National and Foreign Languages at the National University of Chimborazo, based on the testimonies of eighth semester students in the academic period 2022-1S. This study followed the interpretative paradigm and the qualitative approach of scientific research. With the contribution of the biographical narrative method and in-depth interviews, the participants' perspectives on the process in question were obtained. The Thematic Analysis Model was used to analyze the narratives. The main results reflect critical positions of the study population regarding the role played by pre-professional practices in their professional training; a particular fact that allowed elucidating the benefits, limitations and challenges of the process in the study context.