“Eles não aprendem português quanto mais inglês” Moita Lopes, L.P Oficina de Linguística Aplicada Mercado de Letras. pp.63-80

Language learning: a question of skill? Which? Why? What for? A question of aptitude? A question of practice? A question of objectives? A question of culture? You can’t learn English in public schools: a question of ideology? Is it prejudice?

WHICH? Historical reasons Local communities Tradition

WHY?

A linguistic educational experience with quality Social function Objectives socially justifiable Local conditions The need for it to be a relevant communicative experience

Foreign language teaching- learning Learning knowledge and use at the same time: what does this involve? Previous experience in learning the mother tongue

Foreign language teaching- learning – WHY? Enhance knowledge about LANGUAGE by comparisons with mother tongue Make it possible for the learner to construct meanings in the foreign language by making use of: systemic knowledge knowledge of the world knowledge of textual organisation

Making learners aware Previous knowledge Foreign language learning helping the mother tongue Foreign language learning helping awareness of language as social practice

WHAT FOR?

A life experience A personal perspective: social exclusion a liberating force citizenship building A pragmatic perspective A cultural perspective

Foreign language teaching- learning at school: a poor experience

Possible reasons: Language as a product of linguistic analysis Material producers’ interests Teaching-learning theories and methods as fashions Pre-service education

Some myths “Knowing” the native language is a pre-requisite for learning a foreign language Children learn better than adults The four skills as a necessary component of teaching-learning Translation as a pedagogical solution Some languages are more difficult to learn than others There is a “best” method for foreign language teaching-learning

“Knowing” the native language is a pre-requisite for learning a foreign language

Children learn better than adults

The four skills as a necessary component of teaching-learning

Translation as a pedagogical solution

Some languages are more difficult to learn than others

There is a “best” method for foreign language teaching- learning

Concluding remarks There’s no evidence that foreign language learning is a question of aptitude May be it’s a question related to having or not skills related to learning in formal settings, such as the classroom No evidence of aptitude to foreign language learning and social class Lack of academic skills?

Concluding remarks Need for more reflection and research Need for providing support to teachers Need for instruction means suitable to their context Need for making use of socially justifiable skills Need to take into account classroom conditions and psychosocial and political context

Final activity Você tem uma colega que ensina francês em uma escola pública e em curso particular na cidade X. Ela diz que tem de ensinar de dois modos diferentes nesses dois espaços de aprendizagem porque os alunos no setor público não são capazes de aprender uma língua estrangeira. Segundo ela, eles não têm o dom para aprendizagem de línguas. Discutir em pequenos grupos.

One more activity Discutir em pequenos grupos três dos mitos sobre ensino-aprendizagem de língua estrangeira mencionados nesta oficina.

One more activity Em uma turma de iniciantes em inglês, você consegue perceber que alguns alunos são melhores aprendizes que outros. O que você faz para ajudar os alunos que têm dificuldades?