The teaching of English as a foreign language in the context of Brazilian regular schools: a retrospective and prospective view of policies and practices

Abstract

This paper discusses government policies for the teaching of English as a foreign language in Brazilian regular schools, in relation to the practices and identities developed by the teachers working in this context. Starting with an historical analysis of the practices, propositions, and policies, since the second half of the last century, the article evaluates the impact of official documents upon the process of teaching English in Brazil. The tension between resistance and willingness to change, as well as between the identities of the teacher as either educator or instructor underlies the analysis, which also aims to point out possible paths for the future of our profession in regular schools.

Língua estrangeira moderna na escola pública: possibilidades e desafios

“…Críticas, entretanto, são feitas ao seu escopo, principalmente pelos defensores do ensino com foco exclusivamente na leitura (cf. Almeida, 2012). Para esses crí-ticos, o PNLD impõe uma ditadura na escolha do livro didático, cerceando a diversidade metodológica e tentando homogeneizar o ensino de língua estrangeira na escola.…”

Introduction - language planning: where have we been? where might we be going?

“…The original, classical approach to language planning with its roots in modernism was initially developed around Haugen's (1983) four-step model synthesis of the literature that drew on other classical theoretical work referred to previously. This approach has been re-developed in particular by Kaplan andBaldauf (1997, andmore fully in 2003;BALDAUF, 2005) to include more recent developments in the field. 1 Their eight-fold framework (See APPENDIX A) includes productive goals related to status planning (about society) (van ELS, 2005), corpus planning (about language) (HAUGEN, 1983), language-in-education planning (about learning) (COOPER, 1989) and the receptive goal prestige planning (about image) (AGER, 2005).…”

“…Leaving aside the central focus on language teaching and learning, Grabe and Kaplan (1991) have describe language planning as the quintessential example of applied linguistics, combining as it does the need for theoretical understandings about language and a requirement for application to real life situations. The discipline of language planning has been defined as systematic, future-oriented change in language code (corpus planning), use (status planning), learning and speaking (language-in-education planning) and/or language promotion (prestige planning) undertaken by some authoritative organisation -most frequently by governments, but increasingly by other organisations -with some community of speakers (see BALDAUF, 2005;KAPLAN;RUBIN;JERNUDD, 1971). The discipline itself differentiates between language policy (i.e., the plan -the laws, regulations, rules and pronouncements or statements of intent -these may be substantive or symbolic) and language planning (i.e., the implementationhow plans are put into practice) although these terms are quite often used interchangeably in the literature.…”

ELT in Brazilian public schools: History, challenges, new experiences and perspectives

“…Este es el caso, por ejemplo, el niño Global de Río 2016, creado por el Municipio de Río de Janeiro en asociación con Cultura Inglesa, una institución privada de enseñanza Inglés bien conocido en Brasil. Lo que quiero hacer en este artículo, por lo tanto, es la siguiente: en primer lugar, presentar una visión general de la historia de la educación Inglés en las escuelas públicas de Brasil, discutiendo sus funciones y relevancia educativa, los desafíos que enfrentan los profesores y estudiantes, así como las creencias relacionadas y debates el tema (ver Almeida, 2012;Assis-Peterson, 2003;Moita Lopes, 1996;Tilio, 2012) -que incluye un primer intento de proporcionar una visión general de las ciudades brasileñas que participan en la ejecución de la enseñanza del idioma Inglés en los primeros años de la escuela primaria; entonces tengo la intención de discutir críticamente el proyecto de Río de Janeiro para la enseñanza del Inglés en los primeros años. Tal discusión es necesaria no sólo porque puede ayudar a entender mejor los riesgos de adoptar un método único (y su material) para enseñar en contextos que pueden ser extremadamente diferentes entre sí, sino también por otros proyectos y experiencias se beneficiará un fiel reflejo de los problemas causados por la asociación entre las esferas y los intereses públicos y privados, que se ejemplifican por el proyecto de Río de Janeiro.…”

“…O que pretendo fazer neste artigo, portanto, é: primeiramente, apresentar uma visão geral da história do ensino de inglês nas escolas públicas brasileiras, discutindo suas funções e relevância educacionais, os desafios enfrentados por professores e alunos, bem como as crenças e debates relacionados ao tema (cf. Almeida, 2012;Assis-Peterson, 2003;Moita Lopes, 1996; Tílio, 2012) -incluindo uma primeira tentativa de prover um panorama das cidades brasileiras envolvidas na implementação do ensino de língua inglesa nos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental; em seguida, pretendo discutir criticamente o projeto do Rio de Janeiro para o ensino de inglês nos anos iniciais. Tal discussão é necessária não apenas porque pode nos ajudar a compreender melhor os riscos de se adotar um único método (e seus materiais) para se e nsinar…”