---

The present study explored the Ecuadorian secondary school teachers' beliefs about teaching EFL in the context of national curriculum reform. The data comprised in-depth interviews with 16 teachers from 14 public secondary schools in Ecuador. The interviews were semi-structured, and they were guided by a set of questions probing into the teachers’ beliefs about instructional design, assessment, teaching materials, and learning activities. Qualitative analysis of the interview transcripts revealed some interesting insights into the Ecuadorian teachers' beliefs and reported practice. The findings showed that the teachers were positive about the principles and innovation in the new curriculum designed by the Ministry of Education. However, various contextual and practical constraints hindered the teachers from implementing the intended curriculum. These factors included large class size, a lack of teacher training and professional development, and the heavy load caused by compulsory extra-curriculum activities. Implications for EFL pedagogy and teacher professional development are discussed.

 

---

The influence of the minimum air temperatures on the lemon fruits color change from green to yellow was studied in three climatic change scenarios. With the drop in temperature in early autumn, chlorophylls in the lemon fruits break down and they naturally take on their characteristic yellow colour. In this work, based on three climate models, in which the temperature change is predicted until 2100, the effect of climate change on natural degreening of lemons fruits was analyzed. According to these models, due to the rise in air temperature, the start of color development would be delayed by one week to two months. But, in none of these cases would the fruits reach their characteristic colour on the tree, therefore, it would be necessary to use degreening chambers to achieve the commercial coloration, implying an increase in production costs.