Relação entre dois livros didáticos e os documentos oficiais de língua inglesa na rede pública : o que a análise de abordagem revela?

Abstract

Our purpose in this qualitative-interpretative documental research is to investigate the relation that can be established between the underlying approach of two English language teaching coursebooks used in São Paulo State´s public schools, more specifically, the Notebooks of São Paulo State and Keep in Mind, both for the 6th grade. The purpose is to also investigate the principles stated in the official documents which are the basis for the English teaching in Brazil and in the State, for instance, the National Curriculum Parameters (1998) and the English as Foreign Language Curriculum Proposal of São Paulo State (2008). The establishment of this relation would only be possible by analyzing primarily the approach of the English language teaching coursebooks, one at a time, through their proposed activities and, later, by verifying if these approaches are coherent with the conceptions found in the official documents. The central argument of this study is our need to help teachers comprehend the documents that influence the English language teaching as well as to evaluate the coursebooks available to teachers. We assume that teachers shouldn´t be mere implementers (DIAS, 2009) but they need to develop their critical eye towards the theoretical bases that underlie those proposals because through their understanding, teachers can create/ adapt the coursebook according to the needs of their specific context (CUNNINGSWORTH, 1984; RICHARDS, 2005). The data analysis revealed that the coursebooks have different approaches and the official documents are only partially reflected in them, showing that there is incoherence between the theoretical bases of official documents and the theory underlying the proposed activities of both the Notebook and Keep in Mind. These findings can present problems to teachers as they must work with two different approaches in two very diverse coursebooks. Keywords: coursebooks, approach, English language, English as a Foreign Language Curriculum Proposal of São Paulo State, National Curriculum Parameters for Foreign Language.