How teachers perceived and experienced the implementation of a multilingual approach in their classrooms during the first year of implementation in Switzerland is poorly understood by policy makers and teachers. Findings from three pilot studies conducted before the implementation indicated that teachers had transferred only few aspects of the new multilingual approach into practice. Guided by constructivist learning and third language acquisition theories, this study explored how teachers perceived and experienced the implementation of the multilingual approach. A purposeful criterion sample of primary school English language teachers at Grade 5 who had completed a professional development program was targeted for this qualitative case study. Data were collected from interviews with and classroom observations of 8 teachers. Data analysis, conducted using initial and axial coding, revealed that teachers implemented the multilingual approach by closely following the instructions provided in a teacher manual, but needed more time to conceptualize the teaching and learning materials and to collaborate with other language teachers. These results prompted the development of a project to establish professional learning communities (PLCs). In PLCs, teachers will have time to engage in reflection, collaborate with colleagues, and strengthen teachers' classroom practices. This study has implications for social change as teachers who engage in collaboration with colleagues and reflective practice will positively affect student achievement. Students may be taught by teachers who have the knowledge, skills, and attitude required for a successful implementation of a multilingual approach.

Improving the teaching of English as a foreign language in public schools is a high priority for the Dominican administration elected in 2004. Consequently, the government’s plan of action includes a pilot project that integrates language teaching strategies and methods already found in the country’s private, K-12, foreign language programs. The purpose of this naturalistic inquiry was to investigate English teaching through case studies at two private schools in hopes of guiding the country’s educational policy. The schools were selected based on their contrasting methods of foreign language instruction. One school, Imersão, follows a structured immersion program where most academic subjects are taught in English. The second school, Cervantina, teaches all subjects in Spanish, the students’ first language, and provides one hour a day of English instruction. The research process included repeated observations of classroom activities, interviews with administrators, staff and students, and reviewing teachers’ lesson plans and student products in English. The study found that effective English language teaching can be accomplished through varying methods, as elements that promote language learning were seen in each of the schools. The programs were observed to be similar in the importance placed on meeting the academic needs of students with differing abilities, as well as cultural and linguistic backgrounds, by having language classes emphasize the importance of grammar and vocabulary alongside culturally relevant authentic communication opportunities. Even though students at both schools are able to communicate orally and in writing in English, Imersão students appear better equipped to contend with complex academic situations in the second language. However, in order to concentrate almost entirely on the teaching of English, Imersão falls short of the immersion objective of concomitantly developing the primary language at age-appropriate levels. The results also suggest that encouraging students to analyze, deduce, and think in the foreign language while learning subject content in English is advantageous. Future research into this topic should explore where the threshold of optimum exposure to the foreign language inside and outside of the classroom might be in order to achieve language proficiency, therefore allowing the administration to maximize the use of limited education resources.

This essay presents a literary study for adult students of English at English A level at Komvux (municipal adult education) and Vuxenskola (a study association for adult non-formal learning). It has its basis in the question whether reading Shakespeare in the original version is suitable for language learners as form, and is beneficial as content. The classic play Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare features in the course book Read and Log on used by the English A group at Komvux in my chosen municipality. The primary aims of the study were to explore teachers’ attitude and views on teaching literature – the classics in general, and Shakespeare in particular – to adult language learners, and students’ reactions and opinions about a lesson on Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet in the original language with regards to content and usefulness.

[pt] Esta pesquisa parte da premissa de que a comunicação intercultural será tanto mais eficaz se tivermos em mente as diferenças culturais, ou, em outras palavras, as diferenças de percepção que estão em jogo nesta comunicação. Destacamos, dessa forma, como objetivo geral deste estudo, a análise comparativa da percepção de textos multimodais, mais especificamente, anúncios publicitários impressos em revistas brasileiras e alemãs, por aprendizes brasileiros de ALE (Alemão como Língua Estrangeira) e por aprendizes alemães de PLE (Português como Língua Estrangeira), com atenção para a dimensão intercultural envolvida nesta atividade, destacando a importância de tal dimensão para o processo de ensinar e aprender línguas/culturas estrangeiras. Os dados que fazem parte deste trabalho foram coletados através de entrevistas semiestruturadas com aprendizes em escolas de língua no Brasil e na Alemanha, e foram analisados com base em conceitos desenvolvidos sobretudo nas áreas de Sociolinguística, Cruzamento Cultural e Antropologia Social. A análise dos dados aponta para a identificação tanto de aspectos culturais mais diretamente relacionados a usos linguísticos (uso de pronomes pessoais e formas de tratamento, por exemplo), quanto de aspectos culturais mais subjetivos (a percepção de estados emocionais, a visão de trabalho, entre outros), revelando-se como rico e potencial material de pesquisa, estudo ou consulta aos interessados principalmente na área de ensino e aprendizagem de ALE e PLE e cruzamento cultural Brasil- Alemanha. / [en] This research starts from the assumption that intercultural communication will be more effective if we have in mind the cultural differences, or in other words, the differences in perception that can occur in this communication. We emphasize, therefore, that the objective of this study is the comparative analysis of the perception of multimodal texts, more specifically, printed advertisements in Brazil and Germany. That means the study of how Brazilian learners of GFL (German as a Foreign Language) and German learners of PFL (Portuguese as a Foreign Language) interpret these advertisements. This analysis pays attention to the intercultural dimension involved in this activity, highlighting the importance of this dimension to the process of teaching / learning foreign languages / cultures. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with learners in language schools in Brazil and Germany, and were analyzed based on concepts developed primarily in the areas of Sociolinguistics, Cross-Cultural Studies and Social Anthropology. The data analysis aims to identify not only the cultural aspects more directly related to linguistic usages (use of personal pronouns and forms of address, for example), but also the more subjective cultural aspects (like the perception of emotional states, the view of work, among others). The results show a rich and potential material for research, study or consultation for everybody who is interested mainly in the area of teaching and learning GFL and PFL and of cross-cultural studies Brazil-Germany.

This research is a contribution to the discussion concerning the relationship between language and culture in Foreign Language Classes (FLC). It discusses the place of cultural issues in FLC and how they can contribute to a more efficient learning of a foreign language and also to the formation of critically aware students/citizens. The discussion about language and culture is related to issues like globalization, hegemony, linguistic and cultural mutability, but it is especially related to the educational field. This work takes into account analyses, theoretical perspectives, studies and books that deal with this theme, being mostly based in Applied Linguistics, relying on researchers and linguists such as Bhabha, Crystal, Fiorin, Hall, Porto and others as a support to this research. The research corpus is composed of an analysis of an English schoolbook, transcripts of 18 English classes and a questionnaire applied to the teacher and to the students of the observed classes. The qualitative ethnographic perspective is adopted in order to support this work. The analysis of the schoolbook aimed at verifying a possible relationship between language and culture within its units and how that relationship occurs. The class observation s purpose was checking the place and the importance of cultural issues in the teacher s teaching practice as well as checking the kind of knowledge the students were offered. The questionnaires, handed by the end of the observation period, intended to analyze the teaching practice and the teacher s beliefs concerning the relationship between language and culture, as well as to consider the students purposes and their beliefs about the role of the English language in their lives. This study concludes that a) the teacher was not acquainted with theories and approaches that support the teaching of foreign languages; b) the students were mainly taught lexicon and how to analyze (in order to be able to correct) linguistic structures, but they were not able to use, in simple conversations, what they were taught in classroom; c) mostly traditional approaches were used in different kinds of exercises; and d) the analyzed schoolbook, despite its discourse of teaching real-live English , through dialogues that supposedly depicted real Brazilian everyday situations, was actually concerned with the teaching of lexicon and the practicing of grammar rules in situations that were either incomplete, incoherent or that pointed to an English reality. / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Esta pesquisa é uma contribuição para a discussão da questão da relação entre língua e cultura no ensino de língua(s) estrangeira(s). Discute-se o lugar de questões culturais no ensino de língua(s) estrangeira(s) e como elas podem contribuir para um aprendizado mais eficiente de línguas, bem como para a formação de estudantes/cidadãos mais criticamente conscientes. A discussão sobre língua e cultura está relacionada à questões como globalização, hegemonia, mutabilidade lingüística e cultural, mas especialmente com sua presença no contexto educacional. Consideram-se, então, análises, perspectivas teóricas, estudos e livros que abordam este tema, estando, este trabalho, baseado principalmente na Lingüística Aplicada, atentando, também, para perspectivas de alguns autores/as, pesquisadores/as e linguistas como Bhabha, Crystal, Fiorin, Hall, Porto e outros como suporte para a pesquisa. Como corpus da pesquisa, faz-se uma análise de um livro didático de lingua inglesa, observam-se 18 aulas de inglês em um colégio da rede particular de ensino de Maceió e aplica-se um questionário ao professor e outro aos alunos da série cujas aulas foram observadas. A análise do livro didático se deu a fim de atentar para a ocorrência da relação entre língua e cultura nas lições e como essa relação se dá. A observação de aulas teve como meta a percepção do lugar e da importância de questões culturais na prática de ensino do professor e verificar que tipo de conhecimento está sendo trabalhado. O questionário, por sua vez, procurou examinar se a prática de ensino e se as idéias sobre um ensino que relacione língua e cultura se interrelacionam, bem como observar como os alunos vêem a língua inglesa em sua relevância na contemporaneidade e em suas vidas, adotando-se, desse modo, a perspectiva qualitativa para nortear este trabalho. Este estudo conclui que a) o professor não conhecia bem as teorias e abordagens que embasam o ensino de línguas; b) os alunos tinham léxico e análise de estruturas lingüísticas (de modo a estarem aptos a corrigi-las) como os principais focos do ensino, não sendo capazes de usar, em conversas simples, o que era ensinado em sala de aula; c) abordagens tradicionais eram principalmente usadas em diferentes tipos de exercícios; e d) o livro didático analisado, apesar de seu discurso sobre ensinar um Inglês vivo , através de diálogos que supostamente ilustravam situações brasileiras cotidianas reais, estava, na verdade, voltado ao ensino lexical e gramatical em situações que eram ora incompletas, ora incoerentes ou que apontavam para uma realidade inglesa.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:26:49Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2005-08-17Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:15:48Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 guerreiro_gms_me_sjrp.pdf: 6935185 bytes, checksum: 9599ee3e59fa8acdd05c6984a5812bdf (MD5) / Muitos pesquisadores afirmam que o ensino de língua estrangeira (LE) não pode ser separado do ensino da cultura (por exemplo, Brown, 1987; Kramsch, 1994; Savignon e Sysoyev, 2002; Lo Bianco, 2003) e vários autores têm investigado o valor desta relação em sala de aula. A cultura, com suas múltiplas definições, muitas vezes tem encontrado um lugar na sala de aula de LE apenas no que se refere a aspectos perceptíveis, tais como artes, costumes ou datas comemorativas. Aspectos mais sutis, ligados à linguagem, como por exemplo, escolhas a respeito do nível de formalidade, escolhas sintáticas ou funcionais, podem não encontrar na sala de aula um espaço bem definido. O objetivo desta pesquisa é verificar como uma professora de LE, formada em uma universidade brasileira e que nunca esteve fora do país, trabalha em sala de aula com os aspectos da linguagem enquanto ligados à cultura; quais são suas dificuldades e como ela tenta preencher a lacuna do conhecimento cultural da LE somente com meios encontrados em seu próprio país, como por exemplo Internet, filmes e livros. A pesquisa é de cunho etnográfico e tem como contexto de investigação uma escola que oferece cursos livres de idiomas. Para a coleta de dados, foram utilizados os seguintes instrumentos: observações, notas de campo, gravação em áudio e vídeo, sessão de história de vida, um questionário aplicado à professora e entrevistas com os alunos e com a professora. Espera-se que os resultados desta pesquisa possam contribuir para a conscientização da importância da competência cultural na formação e no ensino de LE. / Many authors state that second language teaching cannot be separated from the teaching of culture (for example, Brown, 1987; Kramsch, 1994; Savignon and Sysoyev, 2002; Lo Bianco, 2003) and many researchers have investigated the value of this relationship inside the language classroom. Although culture has multiple definitions, at the same time it has found a place in second language lessons only when it refers to perceptive aspects such as arts, habits or commemorative dates. More subtle aspects related to language, such as inside choices in a certain level of formality, syntactic or functional choices, may not find in the classroom that kind of definite planning for teaching these aspects. This investigation focuses on an EFL teacher who has graduated from a university in Brazil and who has never been abroad. It has the aim of analysing how the teacher deals with the relationship between culture and language inside the classroom, what her difficulties are and how she manages to fill the gap of cultural knowledge by referring to sources with which she deals only in her own country, for instance the Internet, movies and books. The study is of an ethnographic nature and the data from teaching context were collected in a private language school. The research instruments to obtain the corpus are observations, field notes, video and audio-recordings, a questionnaire with open questions applied to the teacher and a session of life history. Interviews with the teacher and with the students were conducted as well. It is expected that the results from this study can contribute for the awareness about the importance of the cultural competence in S/FL learning and teaching.

Advances in technology over the last few decades have led to significant changes in the way we communicate. Technological innovation has been one of the reasons for the development of computer-mediated communication (CMC), which has had far-reaching implications in the private and professional lives of many people. Instant messaging (IM), which is one form of computer-mediated communication, has significantly gained popularity over the years and many scholars have examined its influence in areas including business and academics. Initially developed to enhance communication between users who understood the same language, some IM clients including Wechat (www.wechat.com), QQ International (www.imqq.com), and Skype Translator (www.skype.com) have integrated a built-in translation application that facilitates communication among users that speak different languages. The current research project explores the relationship between machine translation, IM, and foreign language (FL) learning. In particular, it investigates whether machine-translated IM could improve the willingness to communicate (WTC) of beginner FL learners and whether the IM translation tool offers learners opportunities to communicate (OTC) in the FL. To answer these questions, China-based beginner FL learners were recruited and paired with native and near-native English speakers based in Canada. China-based participants completed two questionnaires and also exchanged (machine-translated) IM on selected topics with Canada-based participants for a period of ten weeks. Some China-based participants communicated with the help of the IM translation tool, while the others communicated without the tool. After analyzing the data gathered during the study, we found that WTC increased more for participants with the IM translation tool than for participants without the IM translation tool. Our analysis also indicated that the IM translation tool offered participants OTC in English. This was illustrated in various conversation aspects including number of words and turns exchanged, synchronous exchanges, ownership, conversation enhancement, topics discussed, tasks undertaken, and requests for paraphrase, repetition and explanation. In the discussion of the implications of our findings, we outline how the research project reinforced our understanding of the concept of WTC in a technology driven FL learning environment. We also discuss the implications of our findings for machine translation (MT), FL, and translation studies. Our discussion focuses on the debate on the tools to use and content to teach in the translator and FL training environments as well as various concepts in translation studies including MT quality, writing for MT, fit-for-purpose MT, collaboration and MT post-editing. This project enables us to test the applicability of MT in a different context using a novel group of users. The project therefore contributes to ongoing research on the relationship between CMC (specifically IM), MT, and FL learning, as well as to our knowledge of applications and perceptions of MT.

Este trabalho tem como foco principal analisar o fenômeno da terceirização de ensino de língua estrangeira bem como suas respectivas práticas educacionais no contexto da educação formal. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa-interpretativa de cunho etnográfico, realizada a partir de observações de aulas, entrevistas formais e informais com professores, alunos, coordenador e diretor em uma escola particular que pratica a terceirização do ensino de línguas com um instituto de idiomas. As concepções que embasaram as análises realizadas são as das teorias da pedagogia crítica (FREIRE, 1996; GIROUX, 1997) e dos letramentos e multiletramentos ( GEE, 1990; COPE e KALANTZIS, 1996; LANKSHEAR e KNOBEL, 2003). As análises assinalaram que, sob um contexto neoliberal de mercantilização da educação, a terceirização do ensino de línguas foi uma alternativa que visa garantir a qualidade e a produtividade numa visão linguística estruturalista do que seria um ensino eficaz. No entanto, sob uma perspectiva voltada aos objetivos educacionais e de formação do estudante, pertinentes a uma visão de língua como prática social e um lugar onde valores são construídos, essa prática mostrou-se incompatível, considerando as mudanças percebidas na sociedade atual. / This work focuses on analyzing the phenomenon of outsourcing foreign language teaching as well as their respective educational practices in the context of formal education. It is a qualitative and interpretative ethnographical-oriented research held from observations of lessons, formal and informal interviews with teachers, students, Coordinator and Principal in a private school that practices the outsourcing of language teaching with a language Institute. The conceptions leading the analyses carried out are the theories of critical pedagogy (FREIRE, 1996; GIROUX, 1997) and literacy and multiliteracy studies (GEE, 1990; COPE and KALANTZIS, 1996; LANKSHEAR and KNOBEL, 2003). The analysis has indicated that, under a neoliberal context of commodification of education, language teaching outsourcing has been an alternative which aims to ensure the quality and productivity in a structuralistic linguistic view of what should be an effective education. However, under educational objectives, relevant to a perspective of language as a social practice and a place where values are built, this practice has signaled to be incompatible, considering the changes observed in the nowadays society.

A presente pesquisa apresenta uma investigação sobre as concepções de língua e cultura decorrentes dos discursos e das práticas de ensino de duas professoras de inglês da escola pública regular de ensino formal. Os registros desta investigação são analisados sob uma perspectiva metodológica qualitativo-interpretativa de caráter etnográfico (GEERTZ, 1978; ANDRÉ, 2008) e servem como insumos para a reflexão e discussão sobre o tema segundo a perspectiva das teorias educacionais dos novos letramentos e multiletramentos. Tais discussões levam em conta as mudanças da sociedade atual (COPE; KALANTZIS, 2000), a influência da globalização (BAUMAN, 1998; HALL, 1992; SUÁREZ-OROZCO, M.M. & QIN-HILLIARD, 2004), mudanças epistemológicas (LANKSHEAR; KNOBEL, 2003; MORIN, 2000; MONTE MÓR 2002, 2008, 2009a), e a ênfase no caráter educacional, cultural e crítico do ensino de línguas estrangeiras na educação formal (OCEM-LE, 2006). Diante das análises decorrentes das observações de aulas, das entrevistas e conversas informais com as professoras, dos questionários respondidos pelos alunos e da análise de documentos, pudemos identificar concepções que evidenciam elementos atribuídos a noções ditas tradicionais de conceber língua e cultura, ou seja, a língua como um sistema abstrato estrutural com base, principalmente, na gramática ou como uma ferramenta de comunicação. Cultura, por sua vez, apresenta-se sob a concepção antropológica e humanista, como um aspecto geralmente dissociado da língua. Identificamos, ainda, que ambas as professoras conhecem e estudam abordagens de ensino de línguas estrangeiras que abarcam concepções de língua e linguagem com viés sociocultural, sem contudo, parecer transpor ou se apropriar de tais concepções de maneira que mudem suas práticas de ensino. Tais evidências, contudo, não surgiram de maneira linear e homogênea, uma vez que as práticas pedagógicas e narrativas das professoras mostraram-se descontínuas e conflituosas. Ambas as professoras mostraram-se bastante preocupadas e comprometidas com o trabalho que realizam e com a contínua busca por tornar suas práticas significativas. / This research presents an investigation regarding the conceptions of language and culture identified in the speeches and teaching practices of two English teachers of formal education in public schools. The reports of this investigation are analyzed under the methodological standpoint of an interpretative-qualitative research, with ethnographic aspects (GEERTZ, 1978; ANDRE, 2008). It serves then as a starting point for a discussion about this theme from the perspective of the educational theories of new literacies and multiliteracies. This discussion takes into account the recent ongoing changes in society (COPE; KALANTZIS, 2000), the influence of globalization (BAUMAN, 1998; HALL, 1992; SUÁREZ-OROZCO, M.M. & QIN-HILLIARD, 2004), epistemological changes (LANKSHEAR; KNOBEL, 2003; MORIN, 2000; MONTE MÓR 2002, 2008, 2009a), and an emphasis on the educational, cultural, and critical aspects of foreign language teaching in formal education (OCEM-LE, 2006). Given the resulting analyzes of classroom observations, interviews and informal conversations with the teachers, questionnaires answered by students, and document analysis, we identified concepts that highlight elements assigned to the so-called traditional notions of language and culture. That is, language as an abstract structural system based mainly on grammar or as a tool of communication. Culture, in turn, is regarded in its anthropological and humanist sense, generally dissociated from language. We also found that both teachers know and study foreign language teaching approaches that encompass sociocultural concepts of language, however, seeming not to apply or relate these concepts to their own teaching practices in a way to transform them. Such indications, however, did not arise in a linear and homogeneous way, since the pedagogical practices and narratives of the teachers were discontinuous and conflicting. Both teachers were quite concerned and committed to their work and to the continuing search for making their practices meaningful.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T18:56:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marlene Neri Sbadin.pdf: 1066017 bytes, checksum: 0c75d13c62956d0f8cf85497b556e220 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-03-03 / This research was carried out in a West city of Paraná State. Its goal was to analyze the introduction of English as a Foreign Language for children in elementary school. To reach this goal some classes had been recorded and analyzed in order to describe the teacher-student interaction and the activities in the classroom. Besides that some interviews had been done with the principal and the teacher of English as a way to collect information about the curriculum, language teaching planning and the school facilities to improve the English learning process. For this reason it was used ethnographic microanalysis as classes observation, field diaries and research of other educational documents. To analyze the data collected in the English Language classic authors had been read to accomplish the research and to comprehend the data. It was noticed that the quantity of input during the English class had been scarce, characteristic very similar to English classes to teenager students, from 5th grade to 8th grade, since teacher have not good fluency in English, then they use to teach through grammar and translation activities with some drills. It was very productive if teachers could improve their own languages abilities, even oral ability, by English courses provided by the University. These courses might pre service or in service in order to prepare teachers to face this new challenge teach English for kids. / Esta pesquisa foi feita numa cidade no oeste do Estado do Paraná. Seu objetivo foi analisar a introdução do inglês como língua estrangeira para crianças das séries iniciais do ensino fundamental. Para alcançar este objetivo, algumas aulas foram gravadas e analisadas de forma a descrever a interação professor-aluno e as atividades em sala de aula. Além disso, algumas entrevistas foram feitas com a professora de inglês e a diretora da escola, de forma a reunir informações sobre o planejamento das aulas e os recursos escolares para aperfeiçoar o processo de aprendizagem de inglês. Para tanto, nas observações das aulas, diários de campo e outros documentos educacionais, foram utilizados a microanálise etnográfica. Para analisar a coleta de dados na língua inglesa foram lidos autores clássicos para realizar a pesquisa e compreender os dados. Foi percebido que a quantidade de insumo durante as aulas de inglês era ínfima, característica muito similar às aulas de inglês dos adolescentes de 5ª a 8ª séries. Ocorre que os professores não apresentam boa fluência em inglês, então costumam ensinar através de atividades de gramática e tradução com algumas atividades de repetição. Seria muito produtivo se os professores pudessem aperfeiçoar-se em suas próprias habilidades lingüísticas, igualmente na habilidade oral, através de cursos ofertados pela universidade. Estes cursos poderiam ser de graduação ou de formação continuada de forma a preparar os professores para encarar este novo desafio, que é ensinar inglês para crianças.