This study aimed at investigating the perceptions Brazilian pre-service teachers hold concerning the teaching of the four skills in English as a foreign language, with a view to understanding how perceptions relate to pedagogical practice. Data were collected during the pre-service teachers' teaching practicum and the analysis, based on six sets of information, revealed that the pre-service teachers' perceptions stem from two types of knowledge: the theoretical knowledge and the experiential knowledge built up on their apprenticeship of observation and the memories of their lived experiences. Moreover, the perceptions the pre-service teachers have of these two types of knowledge work as tenets for them to interpret and understand their teaching, as filters through which the theoretical knowledge is viewed, as a source of teachers' knowledge, and as triggers of conflicts and dilemmas as well.