Departamento de Letras, PUC-Rio
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Estudos da Linguagem
Linha de pesquisa “Discurso, práticas cotidianas e profissionais”
Palestras
Profa. Dra. Cristina Pinto da Silva
Instituto Politécnico do Porto
4 de junho, das 15h às 17h, sala L114
“Das palavras que dormem na sombra: Análise de diários de professores”
A escrita e análise de diários sobre o quotidiano da sala de aula são técnicas bastante utilizadas na
formação de professores. As vantagens de tais narrativas são óbvias, já que permitem a reflexão,
tanto para quem as escreve como para quem as lê, sobre a sala de aula e a impresciência do
processo de ensino/aprendizagem. Após uma breve leitura comparativa de pequenos extractos dos
textos Diário, de Sebastião da Gama (1958, edição póstuma) e Diary of a Language Teacher, de
Joachim Appel (1995), os participantes refletirão sobre a seguinte questão ‘Será que, malgré tout, ser
professor é enfrentar os mesmos desafios e saborear as mesmas vitórias?’
6 de junho, das 19h às 20h30, sala L140
“Hidden voices: Uncovering learners’ theories in the English Language classroom”
In this session, I will present two sets of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) materials devised for
1st year students from the Institute of Accounting and Administration of Oporto (ISCAP), where they
are asked to work and reflect on two issues pertaining to their role as students in general and
language learners in particular – motivation and group work.
These materials were planned according to the notion I strongly endorse that any classroom is a
social event, co-constructed by participants who bring to the encounter varying expectations,
preferences, and views on what is entailed in teaching and learning in a classroom context. However,
I will argue that learner-centred research often tends to portray learners as a homogeneous mass
and gloss over individual differences and, most importantly, that such a skewed perspective is often
abetted by published materials, teaching practices and even the general ethos of most schools.
I will further claim that this state of affairs can be very detrimental to learners’ full development
and success. I will put forward that any constituent of the classroom, be it learner motivation, task
format or any other issue that teachers or learners may find relevant or puzzling can be addressed
while going about the usual business of learning a foreign language, in keeping with the tenets of
Exploratory Practice. In other words, tried-and-tested language tasks can be used to deepen
participants’ understanding of the cognitive, social, interactional and managerial dimensions of the
classroom.
Finally, I will make the case for the potential benefits of raising learners’ (and teachers’)
awareness of the teaching/learning process as a means to enhance students’ motivation and
autonomy, which will, in turn, help them succeed in their academic pursuits.