English for tourism : contribution to language use through mobile learning

Tourism is growing and is becoming more competitive. Destinations need to find elements which demonstrate their uniqueness, the singularity which allows them to differentiate themselves from others. This struggle for uniqueness makes economies become more competitive and competition is a central element in the dynamics of Tourism. Technology is also an added value for tourism competitiveness, as it allows destinations to become internationalised and known worldwide. In this scenario, research has increased as a means to study Tourism trends in fields such as sociology and marketing. Nevertheless, there are areas in which there is not much research done and which are fundamental: these are the areas concerned with identities, communication and interpersonal relations. In this regard, Linguistics has a major role for different reasons: firstly, it studies language itself and through it, communication, secondly, language conveys culture and, thirdly, it is by enriching language users that innovation in Tourism and in knowledge, as a whole, is made possible. This innovation, on the other hand, has repercussions in areas such as management, internationalisation and marketing as well. It is, therefore, the objective of this thesis to report on how learning experiences take place in Tourism undergraduate English language classes as well as to give an account of enhanced results in classes where mobile learning was adopted. In this way, an alliance between practice and research was established. This is beneficial for the teaching and learning process because by establishing links between research based insight and practice, the outcome is grounded knowledge which helps make solid educational decisions. This research, therefore, allows to better understand if learners accept working with mobile technologies in their learning process. Before introducing any teaching and learning approach, it was necessary to be informed, as well, of how English for tourism programmes are organised. This thesis also illustrates through the premises of Systemic Functional Linguistics that language use can be enhanced by using mobile technology in Tourism undergraduate language classes.

Stress no estágio pedagógico: estudo comparativo entre Portugal e Brasil

A formação inicial de professores possui caraterísticas muito próprias e a complexidade envolta sobre o período de estágio na prática pedagógica, requer um olhar aprofundado sobre as questões subjacentes ao stress tanto no estagiário, como no supervisor e orientador. A presente investigação inter e multicultural, pretende conhecer junto a estes três atores as principais fontes indutoras de stress e seus sintomas no decorrer do período de estágio pedagógico, as estratégias de coping e a satisfação com o suporte social. Desenvolvemos três estudos de cariz comparativo entre Portugal e Brasil, em oito Instituições de Ensino Superior (4 de Portugal e 4 do Brasil) numa amostra total de 1.194 indivíduos. O primeiro de índole qualitativa envolveu 24 professores supervisores e orientadores de estágio, os quais identificaram as principais causas de stress que permitiram a construção do questionário “Avaliação do stress do professor/orientador de Estágio Pedagógico” (ASPOEP). Contamos no segundo estudo com uma amostra de 204 docentes (122 orientadores e 82 supervisores) no exercício da supervisão pedagógica e no terceiro estudo com 966 estagiários (476 Portugal e 490 Brasil). Nestes dois últimos estudos, para a identificação dos fatores de stress, os supervisores responderam ao questionário ASPOEP e os estagiários ao questionário ASAE (Avaliação do stress do aluno estagiário). Foram ainda utilizados os questionários de “Avaliação dos sintomas de stress”, o de “Estratégias de coping” e para a análise do suporte social fizemos uso da “Escala de satisfação com o suporte social”. Na análise dos dados foi utilizado o SPSS, tendo sido realizadas as estatísticas descritivas e inferenciais. Os resultados globais evidenciam o estágio pedagógico como uma fonte indutora de stress. Nos supervisores de estágio, a sobrecarga de trabalho, as relações interpessoais, o desempenho do estagiário e sobretudo a estrutura e acompanhamento do estágio, marcaram os fatores de maior stress, que foi mais evidente no gênero feminino e na população brasileira. Entre estagiários, a insegurança e a indisciplina são os fatores de maior stress, sobretudo no gênero feminino de Portugal. O stress apesar de moderado para a maioria da amostra, evidencia índices de stress elevado em 10,7% dos docentes e 19,1% dos estagiários portugueses e 23,8% dos docentes e 12,7% dos estagiários brasileiros. Os sintomas cognitivos são os mais evidentes nestas duas populações estudadas, porém nos casados e com filhos existe evidência significativa de sintoma comportamental. A estratégia de coping centrada no indivíduo foi mais prevalente, porém evidencia-se que os brasileiros e também os pais com filhos apresentam significativo coping centrado no outro. O suporte social da amizade e da intimidade foram os que demonstraram maior satisfação, sendo assim eficaz na manutenção de um stress moderado. Os portugueses apresentam maior satisfação com o suporte social que os brasileiros. Ficou evidente que a satisfação e as estratégias de coping contribuem de forma positiva na diminuição dos sintomas de stress, bem como a satisfação com estágio diminui os níveis de stress. Sugere-se que na formação de professores sejam integrados programas de formação sobre gestão e controlo do stress para supervisor, orientador e estagiário, bem como devem ser propostas mudanças a nível curricular, ligado à estrutura e acompanhamento do estágio, para que este possa ser um período de desenvolvimento de competências profissionais, alicerçadas no bem-estar para todos os intervenientes.

Digital storytelling: student ID in higher education

Identity achievement is related to personality, as well as cognitive and interpersonal development. In tandem with the deep structural changes that have taken place in society, education must also shift towards a teaching approach focused on learning and the overall development of the student. The integration of technology may be the drive to foster the needed changes. We draw on the literature of multiple subject areas as basis for our work, namely: identity construction and self-representation, within a psychological and social standpoint; Higher Education (HE) in Portugal after Bologna, college student development and other intrinsic relationships, namely the role of emotions and interpersonal relationships in the learning process; the technological evolution of storytelling towards Digital Storytelling (DS) – the Californian model – and its connections to identity and education. Ultimately we propose DS as the aggregator capable of humanizing HE while developing essential skills and competences. Grounded on an interpretative/constructivist paradigm, we implemented a qualitative case study to explore DS in HE. In three attempts to collect student data, we gathered detailed observation notes from two Story Circles; twelve student written reflections; fourteen Digital Stories and detailed observation notes from one Story Show. We carried out three focus groups with teachers where we discussed their perceptions of each student prior to and after watching the Digital Stories, in addition to their opinion on DS in HE as a teaching and learning method and its influence on interpersonal relationships. We sought understandings of the integration of DS to analyze student selfperception and self-representation in HE contexts and intersected our findings with teachers’ perceptions of their students. We compared teachers’ and students’ perspectives, through the analysis of data collected throughout the DS process – Story Circle, Story Creation and Story Show – and triangulated that information with the students’ personal reflections and teacher perceptions. Finally we questioned if and how DS may influence teachers’ perceptions of students. We found participants to be the ultimate gatekeepers in our study. Very few students and teachers voluntarily came forth to take part in the study, confirming the challenge remains in getting participants to see the value and understand the academic rigor of DS. Despite this reluctance, DS proved to be an asset for teachers and students directly and indirectly involved in the study. DS challenges HE contexts, namely teacher established perception of students; student’s own expectations regarding learning in HE; the emotional realm, the private vs. public dichotomy and the shift in educational roles.