O uso do hipertexto na aula de língua inglesa: promovendo o desenvolvimento da oralidade por meio de novas práticas de linguagem

Abstract

This research aims at investigating the use of hypertext in the English Language classroom. The central argument of the study is to promote the development of the oral language through new language practices, because with the advances offered by the development of new information and communication technologies (NICTs), especially the Internet, there is a transformation in today´s society, also called the information society. This change reflects a need for the school, students and teachers, different from the one we had some time ago, since the NICTs take the educational processes beyond the walls of the school and they promote new ways of acquiring and producing knowledge, besides promoting new ways of interaction among the individuals emphasizing the necessity of developing the oral hability in English, for a good performance in both personal and professional activities. In this sense, we understand that the school becomes responsible for promoting new language practices, new literacies, mainly the digital literacy. But there is a lack of studies that show alternatives of changes in teaching and learning methodologies in order to meet this new generation of learners. Thus, in order to combine technology to the process of teaching and learning the English language and seeking to minimize the gap presented by Xavier (2005), regarding the lack of research that shows effective results of the use of hypertext in education, we chose using hypertext as a resource to promote oral English language in an extracurricular course offered to students of a language and literature course. In this qualitative research of ethnographic base, we used a questionnaire, focus group interviews, self-reports and field notes as instruments of data collection, in order to answer the following guiding questions: 1) What is the student´s perception on the hypertext as a resource to develop the oral ability? and 2) Does the use of the hypertext and, consequently, of the Internet help to develop the digital literacy and the new roles of students and teachers in the information society? The data obtained revealed that the hypertext, through its characteristics of non-linearity and hypermodality, was effective in promoting the development of the oral language in English, and it also allowed the development of digital literacy at the same time that it led to the development of the new roles of teachers and students to act in today's society - the information society.