Esta pesquisa focaliza práticas e eventos de letramento observados no ensino de leitura em inglês de duas escolas do Ensino Médio (uma pública e outra particular). A partir da análise interpretativa de vários excertos de exercícios, de fragmentos de entrevista gravada em áudio com as professoras e de depoimentos de alunos, colhidos por meio de questionário, identificamos concepções de linguagem e de educação semelhantes nas duas escolas investigadas. Verificamos também regularidades no que diz respeito ao paradigma de aprendizado curricular, presente nas duas escolas, assim como notamos contradições entre o que é realizado nas escolas e as práticas de leitura e de aprendizado interativo desenvolvido pelos alunos fora da escola, possibilidades geradas a partir de novas tecnologias de informação e comunicação. Por entender que a abordagem qualitativa seja a mais adequada aos objetivos propostos, convivemos com a realidade da sala de aula para a coleta de dados, utilizando procedimentos e instrumentos característicos da pesquisa de cunho etnográfico. Por meio de triangulação das informações obtidas, selecionamos práticas e eventos de letramento significativos para uma análise interpretativa, apoiando-nos em teorias de base sociológica postuladas na década de 1990, como a do Letramento Crítico (Critical Literacy), concepção desenvolvida sob o termo guarda-chuva de Novos Letramentos (New Literacy Studies). Também adotamos os Multiletramentos (Multiliteracies), cujo foco está centrado em dois aspectos das sociedades contemporâneas: primeiro, a interação de fronteiras lingüísticas e culturais dentro de e entre sociedades, e, segundo, a multimodalidade, múltiplos modos de construção de significado, envolvendo o lingüístico, o visual e o sonoro, dentre outros meios semióticos que integram a crescente tendência de textos mediados por novas tecnologias. Nas duas instituições participantes dessa pesquisa observamos práticas e eventos de letramento similares, apontando para uma concepção de educação e de linguagem convencionais que não correspondem às necessidades da sociedade contemporânea que integra globalmente a produção e a distribuição de palavras, sons e imagens, interativamente. Portanto, o resultado das análises indica uma necessidade de revisão nas concepções de leitura, aprendizagem, linguagem e de conhecimento estabelecidas nas escolas, de modo a promover a re-estruturação e a adequação de práticas que correspondam às exigências da sociedade pós-industrial, fundada em novas tecnologias de informação e comunicação. / The focus of this research is on literacy practices and literacy events observed for the teaching of reading in English in two high schools (a private one and a public one). Analyzing several excerpts of exercises, fragments of the interviews held with the teachers as well as the answers of the students to a questionnaire, we have identified similar conceptions of language and education in both schools. We have also observed regularities related to the curricular learning paradigm that dominates both institutions, as well as contradictions between the practices developed inside the school and the practices that take place out-of-school, through an interactive learning paradigm enabled by information and communication technologies. A qualitative approach is adopted as well as the procedures that belong to ethnographic research, since the instruments are best suitable to the objectives proposed by a research that requires participation and observation about literacy practices and events that take place in the classrooms. The data collected and triangulated supplied information to interpretive analyses through the lenses of a sociological perspective developed in the 1990\'s known as Critical Literacy, an approach to literacy designed under the umbrella term of New Literacy Studies. We also use the concept of Multiliteracies, which focuses on two key aspects of contemporary societies: first, the interaction of cultural and linguistic boundaries within and between societies and second, multimodality, multiple modes of meaning making: linguistic, visual, auditory among other semiotic media that are an increasing tendency in texts mediated by new technologies. We have observed similar literacy practices and events in both institutions indicating that conventional conceptions of education and language that have been used to the teaching of reading in English do not correspond to the needs of a networking society that integrates globally the production and distribution of words, sounds and images interactively. The research analyses indicate the need of a revision in the concepts of reading, learning, language and knowledge that have been used in schools in order to re-structure and adequate the practices to the demands of a post-industrial society based on information and communication technologies.

Este trabalho apresenta uma investigação sobre as concepções e práticas referentes à avaliação da aprendizagem de língua inglesa em comunidades do Ensino Fundamental. Os registros dessa investigação são aqui analisados e servem como ponto de partida para uma discussão sobre o tema segundo a perspectiva das teorias de letramentos predominantes nas últimas décadas. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa-interpretativa de caráter etnográfico (André, 2003), cujas perguntas direcionadoras são: I. Como se caracteriza hoje a avaliação da aprendizagem nas aulas de inglês em algumas comunidades do Ensino Fundamental? II. Como pensar a concepção de avaliação da aprendizagem de línguas sob a perspectiva dos novos estudos de letramento? Diante das observações de aulas, das entrevistas com as professoras e da análise dos documentos, pudemos identificar a recorrência de uma concepção de avaliação pautada no paradigma da modernidade, cujos problemas mais evidenciados foram seu entendimento como sinônimo de mensuração, a ênfase ao ensino de conteúdos objetivos e estáveis e ainda a prioridade do uso de provas escritas. Tais evidências, porém, não se fizeram de modo linear e homogêneo, uma vez que as narrativas e práticas pedagógicas dos sujeitos de pesquisa mostraram-se descontínuas e contraditórias. Assim é que pudemos curiosamente identificar concepções estruturalistas de língua acompanhadas de uma prática avaliativa formativa e concepções progressistas de ensino ao lado de uma concepção convencional de avaliação. No que diz respeito à discussão da avaliação de línguas diante das transformações epistemológicas assinaladas pelos novos estudos de letramento, concluímos que sua reconceituação deverá abarcar elementos até então negligenciados pela concepção convencional de educação. Trata-se, pois, de uma re-conceituação em curso e que requererá maior expansão de conhecimento por meio de pesquisas acadêmicas. / The aim of this study is to investigate both conceptions and practices regarding English language assessment in some Elementary School communities. The reports of this investigation are then analyzed and serve as a starting point for a discussion about the theme from the perspective of the prevailing new literacy studies in the last decades. It is an interpretative-qualitative research, with ethnographic aspects (André, 2003), whose guiding questions are: I. How does language assessment evolve in English classes in some Elementary School communities? II. What would the conception of language assessment be like from the perspective of the new literacy studies? Through research field, interviews with teachers and documentation analysis, we could identify a recurring conception of evaluation based on the paradigm of Modernity, whose most evident problems were its interpretation as measurement, the emphasis on objective and stable contents, and also the predominant use of written assessments. These findings, however, did not occur in a linear and homogeneous way, since both narratives and teaching practices appeared to be discontinuous and contradictory. Thus, we could curiously notice language structuralist conceptions together with formative evaluation and progressist views of language beside a more conventional evaluation concept. Regarding the discussion of language assessment towards the epistemological transformations signaled by the new literacy studies, we come to the conclusion that its re-conceptualization should enclose certain elements hitherto neglected by a conventional education conception. This, therefore, refers to a current reconceptualization, which will demand more academic research outcomes.

O principal objetivo deste estudo é investigar como alguns sujeitos envolvidos no processo de ensino de língua inglesa, como língua estrangeira, desenvolvem e praticam o senso crítico no ensino em questão. Em função dos resultados preliminares da investigação, procedeu-se a uma etapa subseqüente, conhecida como processo de ruptura, que consistiu em: desconstruir e subverter interpretações consideradas, por determinados grupos sociais, como canônicas e, portanto, hegemônicas. Em tal etapa, visamos conhecer a natureza da interação dos sujeitos observados à luz das concepções propostas. Esta proposta buscou introduzir ontologias filosóficas e epistemologias do conhecimento que consideram os sujeitos como agentes da História, dotados de identidades múltiplas e contingentes; paradoxais ao invés de harmônicas. O presente estudo abordou, ainda, projetos transdisciplinares e interpretações parciais/abertas (Ricoeur, 1978), procurando incluir, finalmente, processos de transformação de significados realizados contingentemente, levando-se em conta a noção de locus de enunciação (Bhabha, 1994). Para a investigação e análise dos eventos sócio-pedagógicos, foi realizada uma pesquisa etnográfica interpretativa e qualitativa. A conclusão parcial traz à tona os loci de enunciação dos sujeitos que à primeira vista contribuíram, na maioria dos casos, para a reprodução de crítica a-histórica. Entretanto, em outros momentos, provavelmente devido à maturidade dos sujeitos e à intervenção incipiente da pesquisadora, alguns sinais de posições aparentemente mais subjetivas também foram revelados. Palavras chave: letramento crítico, ruptura, dialética, etnografia, formação crítica de professores / The main aim of this study is to investigate how some of the subjects involved in the process of the teaching of English, as a foreign language, develop and practice their critical sense in this teaching. Due to the preliminary results of this investigation, a phase known as process of rupture which consists of deconstructing and subverting interpretations considered by particular social groups as canonical, and, hence, hegemonic was initiated. The main concern in this phase was getting to know the subjects´ interaction modes in the light of the proposed concepts. This proposal attempted do introduce both philosophical ontologies and epistemologies of knowledge which regard subjects as agents of History with multiple and contingent identities; paradoxal rather than harmonic. The study in case dealt with transdisciplinary projects and partial/open interpretations (Ricoeur, 1978) as well. In short, it also included processes of contingently meaning transformation taking into account the notion of locus of enunciation (Bhabha, 1994). In order to carry out this investigation, the ethnographic research perspective was applied to the analysis of social-pedagogical events from an interpretive and qualitative standpoint. The partial conclusion sheds light mainly on the subjects´ loci of enunciation, which seemed to have provided, in most cases, scope for the reproduction of a-historical criticism. Nevertheless, in other moments, probably on account of the subjects´ maturity and of my true-beginning intervention, signs of apparently more subjective positions were revealed. Key words: critical literacy, rupture, dialectic, ethnography, teacher´s critical development

Este trabalho lança um olhar sobre as minorias sociais no contexto do ensino básico brasileiro. A proposta de pesquisa parte do pressuposto de que na atualidade a definição de minorias sociais deve ser abordada, em um primeiro momento, pelo fator econômico. Sem desconsiderar o preconceito da classe dominante sobre a dominada, entendemos que as minorias sociais reproduzem, dentro de seus próprios grupos, um preconceito de classe, preconceito este conhecido como hostilidade horizontal. Nossa tese é que, se confrontarmos esse grupo social com seus próprios1 discursos hegemônicos, por meio de um trabalho de letramento crítico que se paute pela abordagem autônoma e ideológica defendida por Street (1984), esses sujeitos poderão estar aptos a mudar o curso de suas vidas e a dos membros de sua comunidade. Sendo a escola um espaço de disciplina, é nesse lugar híbrido, no qual as identidades sociais estão continuamente em construção, onde devemos intervir criticamente no senso comum que leva as próprias classes minoritárias a fortalecer os laços que as subjugam. / This study takes a look at the minority class in the context of basic education in Brazil. This research proposal assumes that, at present, the definition of minority class should be addressed at first by the economic factor. Not ignoring the bias of the ruling class over the dominated one, we understand that the social minorities reproduce within their own groups a kind of class prejudice known as horizontal hostility. We sustain that if this social group has its own2 hegemonic discourses, confronted by means of a critical literacy pedagogy that is guided by the autonomous and ideological approach advocated by Street (1984), these individuals may be able to change the course of their lives and of the members of their community. The school is an area of discipline; its in this hybrid place in which social identities are continually being built, where we must intervene critically in the common sense that takes the very minority classes strengthen the ties that subjugate.

This thesis is a qualitative text analysis of worksheets used in conjunction with watching films in English language studies in Swedish middle schools. The assignments used in the thesis were partly collected from partner schools in the teacher program and partly collected from a website which is a database of teacher submitted lesson plans. The results of the thesis include a presentation and discussion of different worksheets used by teachers, using a structure based on one used for critical discourse analysis instruction with students. The evidence suggests that two factors gave an increase in explicitly named aspects of critical literacy in film studies: firstly, that the assignment be situated in a program of study within the Swedish curriculum which shares many of the goals of critical literacy studies and secondly that the choice of film is one that challenges students to reconsider their experiences in light of the film. This study also raises the concern that the questioning methods used to implement critical literacy studies are being used to increase student talk for the purposes of grading oral proficiency without interactive discussions.

This study aims to investigate how secondary school teachers have used We should all be feminists and the accompanying teacher’s guide and if they used the material in a problematizing way, given that it is sponsored. Hilary Janks’ model of critical literacy served as theoretical basis in this study. To collect data, qualitative interviews were conducted, that included five secondary school teachers. The transcribed material was processed and analyzed by the method Qualitative Content Analysis and with a deductive approach. The main results show that teachers primarily used the material as a way to meet the criteria of the curriculum and to train students in certain moments of the Swedish subject, rather than as a material for the discussion of feminism and gender equality. The study’s most conspicuous result was that none of the teachers had reflected on the fact that the material was sponsored by a numerous of organizations. The teachers viewed the sponsors as harmless and the material as a text from a fiction writer, rather than a material from trade unions and foundations who wish to exert influence in the classroom. In the analysis by Janks’ model of critical literacy, the results show that all of the teachers had worked with critical literacy in the classroom to some extent, but that they had not realized all of Janks’ criteria on how to work with critical literacy in classrooms.

The purpose of this literature review is to compare some critical reading comprehension classroom practices globally, with particular focus on the teaching of reading comprehension in Sweden, where student well being and equity are issues of importance. Critical literacy used is a term that encompasses many aspects of power related issues in language. The Swedish curriculum is explicit in naming these issues of student identity and democratic agency which it shares with critical pedagogical practices. The result of the review is a presentation and discussion of the different studies, using a structure based on one used for critical discourse analysis instruction with students. The evidence suggests that higher level comprehension is a skill that takes time to train and should be done explicitly by pointing out the aspects of language which convey meaning. Learning to search the text for evidence of the underlying meaning gave verystrong effect sizes on standardized tests for reading comprehension. The reading comprehension results of minority/ESL students on standardized tests improved when space was made to discuss very different experiences within the same culture in language classrooms.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / A contemporary view of the teaching of English as an Additional Language (EAL) implies in recognizing practices of reading as a critical literacy, since the students‟ knowledge of the world need to be articulated so that they can be linked with a perspective that every text can generate plural meanings, revealing, thus, cultural and ideological aspects inherent to any discourse (PENNYCOOK, 1994; CERVETTI, DAMICO and PARDALES, 2000; APPLE, CHRISTIAN-SMITH, 2001). The present study takes part of an umbrella project developed at Laboratório de Pesquisa e Ensino de Leitura e Redação (LABLER). From this on, the general goal of this research is no analyze in what extent a textbook of a private course of EAL in Santa Maria-RS recontextualizes the discourse in the field of Language Science. In order to enable the objective of this study, concepts of language as genre, reading as a critical literacy and learning in the current discourse of Applied Linguistics were investigated. The reading activities must take students into develop analytical competences of contexts of language use so that they can be able to analyze discourses (MOTTA-ROTH, 2006, p. 501) as well as establish connections in order to realize that texts constitute, reconstitute and/or change discursive and social practices (MEURER; MOTTA-ROTH, 2002, p. 12). Cervetti, Pardalles and Damico (2001) propose the concept of critical literary as a way of expanding the concept of critical reading. This view shows reading as a meaning construction process, as a way of knowing the world and as a means of social transformation. In this conception, the teaching institutional objectives must reach the development of the student‟s critical awareness who once was a reader of the world and now turn out to be an actor in the world. The results indicate that the conception of language adopted by the Textbook is, partially, consonant with the interdisciplinary approach about the concept of discursive genre covered by Sociorhetoric, Systemic Functional Linguistics and Critical Discourse Analysis. The conception of reading adopted by the collection touches lightly the assumptions of reading as a critical literacy, but not in a way that highlight the objective of the activities of enabling students to question about the author‟s view, for instance. / Uma visão contemporânea de ensino de Inglês como Língua Adicional (ILA) implica em reconhecer as práticas de leitura como letramento crítico, uma vez que os conhecimentos de mundo do aluno precisam ser articulados a fim de alinharem-se com uma perspectiva de que todo texto pode gerar significados plurais, desvelando, assim, aspectos culturais e ideológicos inerentes a qualquer discurso (PENNYCOOK, 1994; CERVETTI, DAMICO e PARDALES, 2000; APPLE, CHRISTIAN-SMITH, 2001). O presente trabalho insere-se dentro de um projeto guarda-chuva desenvolvido no Laboratório de Pesquisa e Ensino de Leitura e Redação (LABLER). A partir disso, o objetivo geral desta pesquisa é analisar em que medida o Livro Didático (LD) de um curso livre de ILA em Santa Maria-RS recontextualiza o discurso do campo da Ciência da Linguagem. A fim de possibilitar o objetivo desse estudo, foram investigados os conceitos de linguagem como gênero, de leitura como letramento crítico e de aprendizagem no discurso corrente em Linguística Aplicada. As atividades de leitura devem levar o aluno a desenvolver competências analíticas dos contextos de uso da linguagem de modo a se tornar capaz de analisar discursos (MOTTA-ROTH, 2006, p. 501) bem como estabelecer conexões de forma a perceber que os textos constituem, reconstituem e/ou alteram práticas discursivas e práticas sociais (MEURER; MOTTA-ROTH, 2002, p. 12). Cervetti, Pardalles e Damico (2001) propõem o conceito de letramento crítico como forma de expandir o conceito de leitura crítica. Essa visão aponta a leitura como um processo de construção de sentido, como forma de conhecer o mundo e como meio de transformação social. Nessa concepção, os objetivos instrucionais do ensino devem atingir o desenvolvimento da consciência crítica do aluno que passa de leitor do mundo para ator no mundo. Os resultados indicam que a concepção de linguagem adotada pelo LD é, em parte, condizente com a abordagem interdisciplinar sobre o conceito de gênero discursivo abarcado pela Sociorretórica, Linguística Sistêmico-Funcional e a Análise Crítica do Discurso. A concepção de leitura adotada pela coleção perpassa os pressupostos da leitura como letramento crítico, mas não de forma que evidencie o objetivo das atividades de possibilitar ao aluno o questionamento sobre a visão do autor, por exemplo.

A cultura de massa (midiática) tem sido tradicionalmente considerada pouco criativa, alienada e, portanto, menos relevante do que as formas artísticas clássicas e canônicas. Sua incapacidade de se relacionar com a sociedade de outro modo que não como produto disponível no mercado fariam dela mero sustento da lógica de consumo. Propomos no presente trabalho a observação desta forma de cultura a partir de uma outra perspectiva. Com base em teorias Pós-Coloniais, da Complexidade e do Letramento Crítico, mostramos que a alienação da cultura de massa não lhe é uma característica intrínseca, mas uma construção feita a partir de práticas sociais cotidianas. Sendo uma construção, a alienação pode ser desconstruída, e a cultura pode tornar-se crítica, política, socialmente interessada e interessante. Trabalhamos com esta hipótese analisando o heavy metal, tomado como manifestação cultural (de massa) tradicionalmente identificada com a rebeldia e a contestação cultural e social. Observamos diferentes estratégias de dissidência a que recorrem roqueiros e headbangers, constatando que rupturas mais profundas com o conformismo alienado emergem de sua participação crítica em sua cultura musical, na cultura de massa e na sociedade de consumo. A confirmação de tal constatação foi obtida pela análise (multimodal) de um caso, representado pela banda sueca Pain of Salvation. / Mass culture has been traditionally associated with lack of creativity and alienation, being considered less valuable and interesting than classic and canonic forms of Culture and Art. Its only role in society would be that of a commodity. It would be destined to serve consumption. The aim of our research is to offer a change in the perspective from which we see mass culture. Based on concepts and ideas coming from Postcolonial theories, Social Complexity and Critical Literacy, we can see alienation not as an intrinsic quality of mass culture, but as a construction that is socially produced. Therefore, we work on the hypothesis that, being a construction, alienation can be deconstructed, and culture can be made critical, political, socially interested and interesting. In order to confirm this, heavy metal music, traditionally identified with both cultural and social resistance and disobedience, was taken for analysis. We could, then, observe the different strategies of dissidence adopted by rockers and headbangers, finally concluding that deeper ruptures with alienated conformity emerge from their critical participation in the music culture, in mass culture, and in the consumer society. Final conclusions on this were made after the multimodal analysis of a case, represented by the Swedish band Pain of Salvation.

The present licentiate thesis aims to investigate students’ written reflections after reading a Kenyan short story, distant from the students’ previous experiences from a geographical, cultural and societal point of view. The study was carried out at Swedish upper secondary school with 83 16- and 17-year-old students in year one and two at a college preparatory program. After individual reading of the Kenyan short story “Treadmill love” (“Kärlek på löpande band”, Kahora, 2006/2010) the students were instructed to write down “what in the short story they took notice of”). The research questions that guide the study deal with aspects such as what themes can be identified in the students’ written reflections about the short story, what characterizes the interaction between the students and the short story, and what kind of choices connected to the teaching and learning of literature the teachers of these students face? The findings reveal a tendency to use the short story a source of factual information of society and geographical as well as cultural aspects. This may lead to a meta-perspective and suggests a critical literacy. The same students’ reading strategies tend to enhance what they consider as exotic in the text, which contributes to an imagined authenticity. At the same time, the aesthetic aspects are de-emphasized and aesthetic and literary characteristics of the text risk remaining unnoticed, The results also show how some of the students tend to define literary aspects of the text, such as choice of language, form and characters’ actions, with what they describe as “non-western” qualities. In these cases, the students move away from the text, which also tends to strengthen binary oppositions of “us and them”. A pedagogical implication of the study concerns the necessity, when reading world literature, of helping the students develop their ability to shift perspectives and observe their own subjective point of departure from a critical perspective. But equally important is the need of tools for putting focus back on fiction as an aesthetic and fictional piece of work.