Centro de Estudos de Línguas (CEL) : a abordagem presente na prática docente na consolidação do curso de inglês

Abstract

With the challenge of preparing our students for their role in a global Market, it is a high priority teaching them a second language in order to raise the percentage of speakers, who master the English language. In São Paulo, recent investments have enabled the expansion of the number of Language Teaching Centers (CEL) as well as the introduction of English language as one of the options. Our concern in this context is to understand how educational performance and collateral factors might contribute in the teaching process and the foreign language learning. Starting with the question: “How does the teacher approach can influence the development of the proposed activities with the provided support material of the English course?”, we proceeded to investigate the CEL English classroom, in order to understand the teaching activities and the teacher's relationship with the material. Based on Almeida Filho (1993, 2011), Barcelos (2006a) and Abrahão (2002), an ethnographic-based study was conducted. For data collection, we have used semi-structured questionnaire for the teacher, semi-structured questionnaire for the student, interview with the teacher and teacher observation as instruments in order to see how the teaching action influences the English course offered at CEL. These instruments have allowed us to perform the triangulation of data and its analysis. The results suggested that the teacher's relationship with the course support material it is still attached to the old-fashioned teaching guided by traditional approach, in spite of the training they have gone through. The results have showed that the teacher's approach is prevalent in the consolidation of the support material and guidance for the students. If we are to expect for a new language teaching practice, focused on significant teaching, also contemporary and communicative, an urgent condition is to offer the teachers training courses that bring them to reflection on theories and methodologies in contemporary language teaching. In order to provide both teacher professional development and the improvement of foreign language teaching in basic education.