Resumen en español

The analysis of teachers’ beliefs about assessment procedures and practices during speaking activities in EFL public contexts is important because it helps us understand teacher’s reasons behind the selection of materials and activities for classroom practices. This field has been studied in national and international private universities in order to explore the main beliefs of teachers regarding the assessment of speaking. However, few studies have been carried out exploring the connection between beliefs and practices of the assessment of speaking in public schools. Thus, this study aimed at exploring an EFL teacher’s beliefs concerning the assessment of 9th graders’ speaking skills in a public school and understanding how those beliefs were reflected on the teacher’s practicum. To this end, semi-structured interviews, a Likert scale and two non-participant observations were used to gather the data. Results revealed that the teacher held beliefs 1) different assessment techniques and instruments, 2) what should be taken into account for the assessment of students’ speaking skills, 3) sharing criteria and feedback, 4) the purposes of speaking assessment activities and 5) students speaking performance. It also showed that sometimes what the teacher said was not reflected in her performance.