Effective teaching that promotes learners’ active engagement and the development of communicative proficiency has been a challenge to teachers of English as a second language (ESL). Previous research on second language (L2) teaching has shown that L2 learners improve better in communicative skills when they are actively engaged, participate in communicative tasks that facilitate interaction and are provided with the opportunity to use the target language in the classroom. This study focuses on improving ESL learners’ learning outcomes in remotely-located primary schools in Nigeria. The study aimed to test whether the introduction of Personal Response System (PRS) and communicative approach can improve pupils’ English-language communicative competences and their attitudes towards English learning. Specifically, this study examined the extent to which significant differences exist in pupils’ communicative competence performance scores and learning gains based on teachers’ use of a communicative approach, PRS and lecture methods in the ESL classroom. Furthermore, the research also attempted to find out whether pupils’ attitudes towards the learning of English would significantly differ based on teaching strategy. Attitudes of pupils and teachers towards the interventions were also investigated. A pre-test and post-test non-randomised control group design was adopted in this study. Some qualitative data were also collected to augment the quantitative main data. Ninety nine pupils from three intact classes in different schools in Ijebu-North local government, Ogun-State, Nigeria were assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. In addition to the traditional use of textbooks, one of the experimental groups was taught using communicative activities, while the second experimental group experienced communicative tasks blended with the use of a personal response system. The control group received the conventional classroom instruction (lecture method), including the use of the English language textbook. In order to provide answers to the research questions and the hypothesis of this study, English Language Listening Tests and English Language Speaking Tests, Pupils’ Attitude to English Language Lesson Questionnaire, Pupils’ Attitude to Clickers’ Questionnaire and Pupils’ Attitude to Communicative Approach Questionnaire were administered at the pre-and post-test stages of the research. These instruments were also complemented with data from classroom observation, video recording of the instructional process, and audio-recorded interviews with the teachers and selected pupils in the experimental groups. The results indicate that the two experimental groups showed greater improvement in communicative competence than did the control group; but the PRS group improved more than the communicative approach group both in listening and speaking skills development. Moreover, pupils’ learning gains were statistically different, with the PRS group having the highest gain scores above the communicative approach group, while the control group did not experience increased learning gains. The results also reveal pupils’ mixed-reactions with respect to their attitudes toward the English language lesson and the interventions. Teachers’ attitudes toward the interventions were in the positive direction.

There is awareness and concern in Japan that the process of teaching and learning English as a foreign language in the school system does not produce students who can communicate in the target language. This is especially true of communication in the spoken mode. Attempts have been made to move towards more communicative language teaching, despite constraints such as large class size, compulsory use of structurally-organized textbooks, and grammar-based university entrance examinations. However, such attempts do not seem to have been particularly successful. The purpose of this study is to suggest modifications to the teaching of English in upper secondary schools in Japan which could enable students to develop their communicative competence and also to consider implications for the assessment of spoken communication. Chapter I describes the scope and background of the study. Chapter II looks at the teaching of English in upper secondary schools in Japan, discussing aspects such as the place of English in the total school curriculum and constraints on the introduction of spoken communicative activities. Chapter III discusses the theory and practice of the Communicative Approach to Language Teaching in the English teaching context in Japan. Chapter IV offers suggestions for incorporating spoken communication in English lessons at upper secondary school level. In Chapter V, the problem of assessing oral communicative performance is considered in practical terms. The final chapter highlights major constraints and points to recent developments which may give an impetus to a move towards more communicative teaching of English as a foreign language in Japanese schools. It is intended that this Study Report will provide guidelines for the feasible introduction of spoken communicative activities in large classes at upper secondary level and that it will offer practical suggestions for assessing students' performance in such activities.

For some years now, linguists have been developing methods of teaching second language learners to communicate effectively in the foreign language, concentrating on methods of developing skills in oral communication. Although there are many factors in Australia which would favour the introduction of Communicative Language Teaching for Indonesian - such as well-equipped classrooms and small class sizes - the Communicative Approach to teaching does not appear to have been fully developed. This is partly because of the lack of communicatively-based textbooks and teaching materials. The aim of this study is to suggest some ways in which Australian teachers could adapt the currently available materials and textbooks for use in communicative teaching of Indonesian, and also to propose methods of assessing students' communicative abilities. Chapter One describes the background to the study, and defines its aims, its scope and the research method used. Chapter Two looks at the teaching of Indonesian in the A.C.T., concentrating on the equipment and textbooks which are available. Some of the problems of teaching and assessment are also outlined. The discussion of Communicative Language Teaching in Chapter Three covers the development of language teaching methodology in general terms. A description and analysis of my research conducted on students and teachers of Indonesian in the A.C.T. is included in Chapter Four. The last two chapters contain a presentation of possible teaching materials and methods of introducing communicative activities (Chapter Five), and possible ways of assessing communicative activities (Chapter Six). Some of the problems of the Communicative Approach are also discussed. This Study Report is intended only to suggest some ways of introducing communicative activities into A.C.T. classrooms in the waiting period before new textbooks and materials, hopefully based on the Communicative Approach, become available.

Recent years have witnessed many developments in using a communicative approach in language teaching, but Little has yet been mentioned about how to teach interpretation, which is an important skill for many Chinese students of English. Interpreting involves a variety of complex tasks, such as the acquiring of language proficiency, general knowledge, cultural knowledge, and specific interpreting skills, among which linguistic knowledge is a prerequisite for the study of interpreting, and cultural knowledge is of equal importance. The analysis of grammatical errors and cultural mistakes made by Chinese interpreters indicates that errors and mistakes are often recorded in areas where there is a significant difference between the languages and cultures of English and Chinese-speakers. Such analysis also demonstrates that many errors and mistakes are attributed to interlingual or intralingual transfer in addition to idiosyncrasy, and to using the culture of the source language community as the norm in linguistic and paralinguistic behaviour. The errors and mistakes made can be traced to a lack of both linguistic competence and communicative competence. As the interpreter is an intermediary in communication between an addresser and an addressee, the quality of his output has considerable impact on the rendering of the message. Therefore, in order to avoid possible errors and mistakes which might impede communication, it seems necessary to add to the existing curriculum of interpreting in China such courses as will enable future interpreters to acquire both linguistic competence and communicative competence. The study of culture, which used to be neglected in the interpreting curriculum in China, must be seen as an indispensable component in the curriculum. The understanding of some aspects of the culture of English speakers can be facilitated by a communicative approach to language teaching, by the use of a large amount of culture-based authentic materials, and by the introduction of specific techniques usually needed in interpreting.

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Agradecemos a compreensão. on 2016-04-05T14:02:21Z (GMT) / Submitted by JEAN CUSTÓDIO DE LIMA (jeanclima@terra.com.br) on 2016-04-05T20:35:03Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TESE Jean C. de Lima.pdf: 11165589 bytes, checksum: 9b6bbae33d2e259a30e884a2bbcb5ccd (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Paula Grisoto (grisotoana@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-04-05T20:49:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 lima_jc_dr_mar.pdf: 11165589 bytes, checksum: 9b6bbae33d2e259a30e884a2bbcb5ccd (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-05T20:49:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 lima_jc_dr_mar.pdf: 11165589 bytes, checksum: 9b6bbae33d2e259a30e884a2bbcb5ccd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-07 / Esta tese investiga o ensino de Língua Inglesa (LI) diante da implementação das Tecnologias Digitais da Informação e Comunicação (TDICs) ancorada na Abordagem Comunicativa (AC) e suas Teorias Sociointeracionistas. O objetivo geral é o de verificar se essa mudança metodológica traz ganhos acadêmicos para os alunos acostumados atualmente com as inovações multimídias como tablets, computadores, celulares, vídeo games etc e com a presença desses gadgets em todos os âmbitos de suas rotinas, exceto dentro dos muros escolares nos quais o uso desses aparelhos é limitado. Para fundamentar este estudo, foram consultados principalmente os seguintes autores: Pierre Levy, Don Tappscott, Luciano Meira, Paula Sibilia, Almeida Filho, Noam Chomsky, Richard Brown, Lev Vigotski, Jean Piaget, dentre outros. A investigação teve como metodologia o estudo de caso e foi realizada no primeiro semestre de 2015, tendo como sujeitos duas turmas do primeiro ano do ensino médio e uma professora do Instituto Federal do Ceará (IFCE). Durante este estudo, foram usados dois questionários, um protocolo de observação participante e uma avaliação em LI como instrumentos de pesquisa. Após a triangulação de dados qualitativos e quantitativos obtidos durante o trabalho, foram observados resultados acadêmicos positivos no que concerne ao ensino de Língua Estrangeira (LE) com o apoio das novas tecnologias, isto é, os alunos, submetidos ao uso das TDICs, apresentaram mudanças de atitudes, de comportamentos, das relações entre eles e entre o conteúdo. Obtiveram ainda um incremento de 22,7% nas suas médias nas avaliações de LI. Assim, diante desses câmbios e de outros dados, também advindos deste trabalho sobre o ensino de LI por meio dos ambientes de aprendizagem virtual para esses alunos das novas gerações (nativos digitais), esta tese apresenta algumas contribuições metodológicas, uma proposta que busca instituir no lócus de pesquisa (IFCE), uma atitude digital frente ao processo de ensino e aprendizagem de LI, visando a alinhar o ensino de idiomas dentro da instituição com o mundo conectado fora dos muros escolares. / This thesis investigates English teaching in the face of implementation of Digital Information and Communication Technologies (DICTs) based upon the Communicative Approach (CA) and its Social Interactionist Theories. It has as its main objective to verify if such methodological change brings academic gains to students accustomed nowadays to multimedia innovation as tablets, computers, cell phones, video games etc and to the presence of those gadgets in all dimensions of their routines except inside school’s walls in which the use of those tools are limited. In order to substantiate this study, I reached for the following authors: Pierre Levy, Don Tappscott, Luciano Meira, Paula Sibilia, Almeida Filho, Noam Chomsky, Richard Brown, Lev Vigotski, Jean Piaget among others. This investigation had a case study as its research methodology and it was done in the first semester of 2015, having, as subjects, two sophomore year classes and a High School teacher of Instituto Federal do Ceará (IFCE). During the study, two questionnaires, an observation protocol and an English evaluation were used as research tools. After triangulation of qualitative and quantitative obtained data, positive academic results concerning Foreign Language Teaching (FLT) and new technologies use were observed, that is, the students, subjected to DICTs, presented changes of attitudes, behaviors and relationship among themselves and between students and content and they also obtained an increase of 22,7% on their averages in English tests. So, before those changes and other data provided by this work on English teaching and use of virtual learning environments by new generation students (digital natives), this thesis presents some methodological contributions, a proposition to introduce at research locus (IFCE), a digital attitude towards English teaching and learning process with the goal of aligning idiom teaching at the institution to connected world outside school’s walls.

Cette recherche a pour objet l'interculturel dans la didactique du Français Langue Étrangère (FLE) en général et la contextualisation des manuels scolaires du FLE pour un public syrien de manière spécifique. Ce travail s'interroge sur le sujet de l'application de l'Approche Communicative (AC) adaptée au contexte syrien et les raisons qui ont conduit à la création de l’AC « version syrienne ». En effet, les recherches effectuées par ZREIKI Hyam sous la direction de BLANCHET Philippe en 2008 ont montré que les pratiques des enseignants syriens dans les classes révèlent l'existence d'une sorte de méthodologie semi-directive qui trouve ses limites entre les méthodologies traditionnelles et l'approche communicative, qu'elle a appelé la « version syrienne » de l’AC. L'objectif général de la recherche consiste à rechercher les raisons de la différence, en termes d'application, entre les deux versions originale et syrienne de l'AC. Le cadre théorique essaie de bien cerner le contexte syrien, d’y exposer un historique de la langue française en Syrie, les bases théoriques de la « version originale » de l'AC et de terminer avec une analyse de la situation didactique du FLE dans les établissements scolaires syriens. Les analyses consistent à savoir si l'adaptation d'une « version syrienne » était un choix pertinent surgissant de la différence contextuelle entre la France et la Syrie ou une forme d'intolérance à la diversité culturelle de la part des syriens. Pour cela, des enquêtes de terrain ont été effectuées auprès des acteurs principaux du paysage didactique syrien dont les résultats obtenus ont été croisés afin de trouver des éléments de réponses à la question de départ. À l'issue des analyses ethnographiques de ces résultats, les origines de la « version syrienne » de l'AC semblent trouver ses sources dans les mauvaises conditions de l'enseignement/apprentissage du FLE dans le contexte syrien et dans la politique propre de l’État syrien qui influence la politique linguistique en défavorisant l'introduction de l’interculturel dans les manuels scolaires. / This research focuses on the intercultural in the didactic of French as a Foreign Language (FFL) in general and the contextualisation of FFL textbooks to a Syrian public in a specific way. This work examines the subject of the application of the Communicative Approach (CA) adapted to the Syrian context and the reasons that led to the creation of the CA «syrian version». Therefore, research carried out by Hyam ZREIKI, under the direction of Philippe BLANCHET in 2008 have proved that Syrian teachers’ practices in classrooms reveal the existence of a kind of semi-directive methodology between traditional methodologies and CA, which she named the CA «Syrian version». The general objective of the research is to investigate the reasons of the differences, between original and the Syrian version of the CA, in terms of application. The theoretical framework tries to clearly identify the Syrian context, to expose a history of french language in Syria, theoretical basis of the CA «original version» and to terminate with an analysis of the FFL didactic situation in Syrian schools. In this thesis, the researcher will analyse as to whether the adaptation of a «Syrian version» was a relevant choice for the Syrian context, or a form of intolerance to cultural diversity. To achieve this, field investigations were conducted with key players in the Syrian educational system. The results were crossed to find answers to the original question. At the end of results ethnographical analysis, CA «Syrian version» origins seem to find it’s sources in poor conditions of FFL teaching/learning in the Syrian context. It appears that the Syrian politics heavily influences the linguistic politic by opposing the introduction of the intercultural in textbooks

Este trabalho versa sobre desenvolver a habilidade de “reconhecer características ou propriedades de fenômenos ondulatórios ou oscilatórios, relacionando-os a seus usos em diferentes contextos” (BRASIL, 2009, p.8) de uma forma menos tradicional. O objetivo foi abordar o conteúdo de acústica utilizando instrumentos musicais (violão, guitarra, flauta, xilofone, lira...). A partir de ondas estacionárias em tubos sonoros e cordas vibrantes, foram elucidados os conceitos de altura, intensidade e timbre, relacionando com os conceitos básicos de ondas – frequência, comprimento de onda, amplitude, velocidade de propagação das ondas em cordas de diferentes densidades lineares, entre outros. Também foram trabalhadas notas musicais e conceitos bem básicos de formação de acordes. A proposta foi aplicada com os dois nonos anos de um colégio particular bastante tradicional de Novo Hamburgo: o Colégio Marista Pio XII. Nesta fase final do Ensino Fundamental, o colégio disponibiliza aos seus alunos cinco períodos de Ciências da Natureza, distribuídos em: um de Biologia, dois de Física e dois de Química. A ideia é que fossem trabalhadas Competências e Habilidades comuns aos componentes curriculares, por meio de sequências didáticas. O trabalho foi aplicado em um total de seis encontros, cada um com duração de 50 min. Alguns desses períodos foram dedicados a aulas puramente expositivas, outros deles com aulas expositivas dialogadas, com a utilização de uma espiral de caderno, uma guitarra, um cavaquinho, instrumentos de sopro e do computador, onde interpretamos as frequências fundamentais emitidas pela vibração das cordas e do ar em tubos sonoros com o software Spectrogram1. Como referencial teórico, utilizamos a teoria sócio-interacionista de Vygotsky e alguns conceitos de alfabetização científica. A discussão e o manuseio de instrumentos musicais em pequenos grupos fizeram com que os alunos interagissem entre si e com o professor, favorecendo a construção do conhecimento e a interação de signos. A partir dessas interações aluno - instrumentos musicais, professor - aluno e aluno – aluno, o objetivo era abrir espaço para questionamentos, discussões e reflexões, de maneira que o conhecimento fosse sintetizado por todos. Como referência para o planejamento de ensino, construção do significado das aulas e análise das interações, utilizamos uma ferramenta analítica de Mortimer e Scott (2002). / This work is about developing the ability to "recognize characteristics or properties of wave or oscillatory phenomena, relating them to their uses in different contexts "(BRASIL, 2009, p.8), in a less traditional way. The objective was to approach the content of acoustics using musical instruments (guitar, electric guitar, flute, xylophone, lyre ...). From stationary waves in sound tubes and vibrating strings, concepts of height, intensity and timbre, were elucidated, relating them to the basic concepts of waves - frequency, wavelength, amplitude, velocity of wave propagation in strings of different linear densities, among others. Musical notes and basic concepts of chord formation were also seen. The proposal was applied with two groups of nineth graders from a very traditional private school in Novo Hamburgo: Marista Pio XII school. In this final phase of elementary school, the school offers its students five classes of Science a week, distributed in one of Biology, two of Physics and two of Chemestry. The idea was work with common skills to these curricular components, through didactic sequences. The work was applied out in a total of six classes, each lasting 50 min. Some of these were devoted to purely expository presentation, others with dialogic lectures, with the use of the spiral of a notebook, a guitar, another small kind of guitar, wind instruments and a computer where we interpret the fundamental frequencies emitted by the vibration of the strings and air in sound tubes with the Spectrogram software2. As a theoretical reference, we use Vygotsky's socio-interactionist theory and some concepts of scientific literacy. The discussion and manipulation of musical instruments in small groups led the students to interact with each other and with the teacher, favoring the construction of knowledge and interaction. From these student - musical instruments, teacher - student and student – student interactions, the objective is to open space for questions, discussions and reflections, so that knowledge was synthesized by all. As a reference for teaching planning, construction of meaning and interaction analysis, l we used an analytical tool by Mortimer and Scott (2002).

As aulas expositivas dialogadas são aquelas nas quais os professores dialogam com os alunos, atuando como mediadores dessas aulas. O diálogo é um dos momentos em que pode ocorrer o processo de ensino e aprendizagem. Neste trabalho, foi analisada uma aula expositiva dialogada que foi ministrada 2 vezes pela mesma professora do 1º ano do ensino médio regular de uma escola pública da zona oeste da cidade de São Paulo. Nessa aula, foi realizada a correção de exercícios de uma ficha de atividades sobre dinâmica populacional. Essa ficha fazia parte de uma sequência de ensino investigativa (SEI) que incluía algumas atividades. As aulas foram áudio-vídeo gravadas, transcritas e analisadas sob o ponto de vista de 3 aspectos de 2 referenciais metodológicos, que foram os tipos de iniciações/perguntas (MEHAN, 1979) e os padrões de interação e a abordagem comunicativa (MORTIMER E SCOTT, 2002). Esses referenciais foram combinados uns aos outros para que a nossa análise ficasse mais completa. Os padrões de interação foram associados aos tipos de iniciações e os mesmos padrões foram analisados individualmente, seja em relação aos padrões triádicos, não triádicos abertos ou fechados. A abordagem comunicativa também foi analisada individualmente. Nossa hipótese inicial era que iniciações de metaprocesso desencadeariam sequências de interação mais longas e interativas. Porém, nossa hipótese não foi confirmada e constatamos que iniciações mais simples como as de escolha e de produto desencadearam sequências de interação mais longas. Em relação aos padrões de interação, a maioria era de não triádicos fechados, o que mostrou que a aula foi bem dinâmica e interativa e essa interação terminava com uma avaliação da professora, na maioria das vezes. Em relação à abordagem comunicativa, a interativa de autoridade foi a presente na maioria do discurso, demonstrando que o objetivo da professora era ouvir os pontos de vista dos alunos e encaminhá-los para o ponto de vista da ciência escolar. A abordagem interativa dialógica também esteve presente em algumas partes do discurso quando não havia avaliação das falas dos alunos pela professora. / The expository - negotiated lessons are those in which teachers interact with their students, becoming mediators. This interaction is one moment that can happen the teaching and learning process. This research analysed a expository - negotiated lesson that was given twice by the same teacher from a public school in the west zone of São Paulo. In this lesson, the teacher was correcting questions from activities form about population dynamics. This form was part of a didactic sequence with some activities. The lessons were recorded, transcribed and analysed in 3 aspects of 2 methodological standards: inicialization / questions types (MEHAN, 1979); interaction patterns and communicative approach (MORTIMER E SCOTT, 2002). These standards were combined in order to become our analysis more complete. The interaction patterns were associated to the inicialization types and the same patterns were analysed individually, in relation to the triadic and non triadic patterns. There were 2 types of non triadic patterns: the open and the closed ones. The communicative approach was also analysed individually. Our initial hypothesis were that metaprocess initiations could trigger longer and interactive interaction patterns. But our hypothesis was not confirmed and we establish that more simple initiations like choice and product types triggered longer interaction patterns. In relation to interaction patterns, most of them were closed non triadic, which meant that the lesson was very dynamic and interactive. And this interaction ended with a teacher evaluation most of the times. With respect to the communicative approach, the interactive of authority was present in most of all discourse, showing that the teacher aim was listen the students point of view to take them to the educational science point of view. The dialogical interactive communicative approach was present in some discourse parts when the teacher did not evaluate the students speeches.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / The purpose of this study was to evaluate how well educational software programs teach English as a Foreign Language and/or Second Language (EFL/ESL) pronunciation following the principles of the Communicative Approach (CELCE-MURCIA et al., 2010). In the first stage of the research, a software program evaluation instrument was developed and validated. Forty-six EFL/ESL teachers used it to analyze an online version of the software program Pronunciation Power 2. The responses of the participants were submitted for statistical analysis. An ICC of 0.983 (zero point nine hundred eighty-three) for the responses indicated a high degree of correlation in the evaluation of the instrument items used by the participants. The results of the One-Way ANOVA also indicated that there was no significant difference (p> 0.05) in the evaluation of the items. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient obtained was 0.918 (zero point nine hundred and eighteen), indicating a high degree of internal consistency. The results of the factor analysis suggested grouping the instrument items into 5 (five) components that were arranged in the following order: 1. Content Design; 2. Pedagogical Design; 3. Assessment/Flexibility Design; 4. Multimedia Design; and 5. Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) Design. In the second stage of the research, the instrument was used to analyze 5 (five) EFL/ESL pronunciation teaching software programs available on the market. Regarding the items of the component Content Design, the analysis showed that only one software program obtained less than 50% (fifty percent) of the maximum rating, two programs obtained between 50 and 70% (fifty and seventy percent) and two other programs reached more than 80% (eighty percent) of the maximum rating. In the items of Pedagogical Design, all programs scored above 50% (fifty percent); three programs obtained between 50 and 70% (fifty and seventy percent) and two other programs obtained above 70% (seventy percent). The evaluation of the ASR Design indicated that the items for this component had minimum ratings in all programs - four software programs scored zero and only one program obtained 33.33% (thirty-three point thirty-three percent) of the maximum rating for this component. The component Assessment/Flexibility Design obtained less than 50% (fifty percent) of the maximum rating of all the group items, while the items for Multimedia Design achieved higher ratings in most programs. Two software programs obtained between 50 and 70% (fifty and seventy percent) and three scored above 70% (seventy percent). To sum up, the overall results indicate that only one software program obtained more than 75% (seventyfive percent) of the maximum rating on the instrument. The other four programs presented less than three-quarters of the necessary characteristics to potentially develop English pronunciation. Although these programs, by themselves, may not be able to develop EFL/ESL pronunciation satisfactorily, they can be used to enrich the teaching of EFL/ESL pronunciation. / Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo avaliar de que maneira softwares educativos ensinam a pronÃncia do inglÃs como LÃngua Estrangeira e/ou Segunda LÃngua (LE/L2), seguindo os princÃpios da Abordagem Comunicativa (CELCE-MURCIA et al., 2010). Na primeira etapa da pesquisa, elaboramos um instrumento de avaliaÃÃo de softwares e o submetemos a processos de validaÃÃo. Quarenta e seis professores de inglÃs como LE/L2 o utilizaram para avaliar uma versÃo online do software âPronunciation Power 2â. As respostas dos participantes foram submetidas a tratamentos estatÃsticos. O ICC encontrado, 0,983 (zero vÃrgula novecentos e oitenta e trÃs), mostrou um alto grau de correlaÃÃo na avaliaÃÃo dos itens do instrumento pelos participantes. Os resultados da ANOVA simples tambÃm apontaram que nÃo havia diferenÃa significativa (p > 0,05) na avaliaÃÃo dos itens. O Coeficiente Alpha de Cronbach obtido de 0,918 (zero vÃrgula novecentos e dezoito) indicou um elevado grau de consistÃncia interna. JÃ os resultados da AnÃlise Fatorial sugeriram o agrupamento dos itens do instrumento em 5 (cinco) componentes que foram organizados na seguinte ordem: 1. Design de ConteÃdo; 2. Design PedagÃgico; 3. Design de AvaliaÃÃo/Flexibilidade; 4. Design de MultimÃdia; e 5. Design do Mecanismo de Reconhecimento AutomÃtico de Fala (MRAF). Na segunda etapa da pesquisa, utilizamos o instrumento para analisarmos 5 (cinco) softwares para o ensino da pronÃncia do inglÃs como LE/L2 disponÃveis no mercado. Em relaÃÃo aos itens do componente Design de ConteÃdo, a anÃlise evidenciou que apenas um software obteve menos de 50% (cinquenta por cento) da pontuaÃÃo total, dois softwares obtiveram entre 50 e 70% (cinquenta e setenta por cento) e outros dois atingiram mais de 80% (oitenta por cento) da pontuaÃÃo total. Nos itens de Design PedagÃgico, todos os softwares pontuaram acima de 50% (cinquenta por cento); trÃs softwares obtiveram entre 50 e 70% (cinquenta e setenta por cento) e dois outros acima de 70% (setenta por cento). JÃ a avaliaÃÃo de Design de MRAF apontou que os itens desse componente foram os que obtiveram menor pontuaÃÃo em todos os programas â quatro softwares pontuaram zero e um Ãnico software obteve 33,33% (trinta e trÃs vÃrgula trinta e trÃs por cento) do total de pontos do componente. O componente Design de AvaliaÃÃo/Flexibilidade obteve, na maioria dos programas, menos de 50% (cinquenta por cento) da avaliaÃÃo mÃxima de todos os itens do grupo, enquanto os itens de Design de MultimÃdia atingiram maior pontuaÃÃo na maioria dos programas. Dois softwares obtiveram entre 50 e 70% (cinquenta e setenta por cento) e trÃs pontuaram acima de 70% (setenta por cento). No somatÃrio geral, apenas um dos softwares obteve mais de 75% (setenta e cinco por cento) da pontuaÃÃo total do instrumento. Os outros quatro softwares apresentaram menos de trÃs quartos do total das caracterÃsticas necessÃrias para potencialmente desenvolverem a pronÃncia da lÃngua inglesa. Embora esses programas, por si prÃprios, nÃo sejam capazes de desenvolver a pronÃncia da lÃngua inglesa como LE/L2, eles podem ser usados para enriquecer o ensino da pronÃncia do inglÃs como LE/L2.

The communicative approach is one of the most characteristic features of contemporary language teaching. This paper aims to study ways of achieving communicative competence of students by using informal language practice and games in teaching. It attempts to look more closely at the relationship between language acquisition, language games and communicative language teaching. This study is based on the theory that language games and informal language practice allow natural learning to occur and provide opportunities for developing communicative competence in a foreign language. While games and informal language practice are widely used in language classrooms in many countries, it appears from the writer's observation and experience of teaching English in China that there is still, among Chinese teachers and students, a great deal of suspicion and uncertainty about the functions and the effectiveness of such classroom activities. Problems detected in language classrooms in using these activities and games suggest that Chinese teachers and students have misunderstood and misused these activities. In this study, it is hoped to analyze in some depth the problems involved in using language games in China, including the attitudes, teaching methods and expectations of the teachers and students. Also, it is hoped to investigate the optimal use of games and practice in Chinese classrooms. As the use of games has received little serious attention in China to date, it is hoped, finally, to suggest ways of using games effectively to improve learners' communicative ability.