Pre-service EFL Teachers’ PerceptionsRegarding English Varieties and TheirRelation with Language Ideologies

Framed within the Global Englishes paradigm, this paper examines the perceptions of Colombian pre-service English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers of English varieties across Kachru’s three concentric circles. The focus is on intelligibility, teaching suitabilityand underlying language ideologies. Data were collected through a questionnaire, an English variety perception survey, and semi-structured interviews with participants from two public universities. The findings reveal three interrelated patterns. First, inner-circleEnglishes, particularly American and British varieties, remain then dominant reference points, reflecting the persistence of standard language ideology. Second, participants’ evaluations of intelligibility were more flexible, as several expanding-circle varieties,including Colombian English, were perceived as understandable and communicatively effective. Third, a clear ideological tension emerged between intelligibility and pedagogical legitimacy, with teaching authority and professionalism continuing to be closely associatedwith inner-circle norms. Participants’ preferences were primarily shaped by sustained exposure through educational practices and media rather than by beliefs in inherent linguistic superiority. This points to the enduring influence of native-speakerism and prestige ideology in teacher education. At the same time, however, engagement with Global Englishes-informed tasks prompted moments of reflection and partial ideological reorientation. Overall, the study highlights teacher education as a site of ideological struggle and contributes regionally grounded evidence to Global Englishes debates in the Colombian English Language Teaching (ELT) context.