A aprendizagem de inglês mediada por jogos eletrônicos do tipo MMORPG

Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) are role-playing games that, through the Internet, can integrate thousands of players interacting at the same time in at least one virtual world. This way, these games can provide, further than fun, a greater familiarity with the additional language and opportunity to improve the linguistic proficiency in a real context. Hence, what is proposed in this study is extended knowledge about the learning of an additional language mediated by MMORPGs for teachers to know how, if relevant, to present, use or encourage this practice to their students. Based on this major purpose, we seek to answer the following research questions: (a) what distinguishes the learning profile of the gamers and non-gamers; (b) if MMORPGs can, through a hybrid and systematic approach, assist the development of proficiency of the additional language and (c) what the think-aloud protocols show about the learning mediated by the MMORPG Allods Online. Following an experimental method (NUNAN, 1997), 16 students of the curricular component Reading and Writing Practices in English Language have comprised the control group and 17 students of the same class formed the experimental group and were submitted to a pre and post-test adapted from the Key English Test (KET) by the Cambridge University (2008). The tests were conducted before and after a period of 5 weeks of 3 hours of practice with Allods Online a week (experimental group), and classes of the curricular component (both groups). A quantitative analysis of the questionnaires about the exposure to English profiles of the participants, a quantitative analysis of the tests scores and a qualitative analysis of the thinkaloud protocols collected during the experiment were conducted based on the theories of (a) motivation (GARDNER, 1985, WILLIAMS & BURDEN, 1997, BROWN, 2007, HERCULANO-HOUZEL, 2005); (b) active learning (GASS, 1997, GEE, 2008, MATTAR, 2010); (c) interaction and collaborative learning (KRASHEN, 1991, GASS, 1997, VYGOTSKY, 1978); (d) situated learning (DAMASIO, 1994; 1999; 2003, BROWN, 2007, GEE, 2003) and (e), tangential learning (PORTNOW, 2008; MATTAR, 2010). The results indicate that the participants of the experimental group (gamers) seem to be more engaged in tangential English learning activities, such as playing games, listening to music in English, communicating with foreigners and reading in English. We also deduced that the period of experiment possibly generated positive results on the gamers proficiency scores, mainly in the parts related to orthographic development, reading and comprehension, writing with focus on content and orthographic accuracy. Lastly, the think-aloud protocols presented evidences that the gamers have engaged in active English language learning, they have interacted in English with other players, and learned linguistic aspects through the experience with the MMORPG Allods Online

O gênero joke em atividades de inglês: uma proposta intercultural de ensino-aprendizagem para o ensino médio

Our research has arisen from the interest of aligning English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classroom practice to current discussions in the ambit of learning and teaching Foreign Languages (FLs). Because of the need to integrate the linguistic development to the development of notions clung to the practice of citizenship, we have adopted a cultural perspective. We have noticed jokes as a fertile ground for discussing cultural aspects in classroom. Considering such factors, our research question is: how to explore cultural aspects in jokes for the elaboration of EFL activities which aim for the development of intercultural competence and interaction? Therefore, our general goal is to explore cultural aspects in jokes for the elaboration of EFL teaching and learning activities and our specific goals are: (I) to study official suggestions (LDB, 1996; PCNEM, 2000; PCN+EM, 2002; OCEM, 2006) regarding culture at foreign languages teaching and learning, (II) to select 05 (five) jokes and analyze them focusing on their cultural aspects, (III) to identify possible interpretations for jokes; (IV) to elaborate EFL activities which grant a privilege to jokes cultural aspects. This investigation is descriptive and documental and relies on qualitative paradigm (CHIZZOTTI, 2010; FLICK, 2009; CHAROUX, 2006; BOGDAN; BIKLEN, 1994; 1992). The corpus is constituted by jokes taken from Internet sites and by official documents (LDB, 1996; PCNEM, 1998; PCN+EM, 2000; OCEM, 2006). For the elaboration of activities we have chosen a weaker version of Content-based instruction (CBI), in which contents are cultural aspects in jokes and we have undertaken a reflection on methods, approaches and perspectives, among which there are notions about post-method and CBI, which talk to EFL learning and teaching. For theoretical support we have some discussions about FL methods and approaches (BELL, 2003; KUMARAVADIVELU, 2003; WESCHE; SKEHAN, 2002; PRABHU, 1990), a cultural perspective (KRAMSCH, 1998, 1996, 1993; BYRAM; FENG, 2004), some works in Linguistics about jokes (POSSENTI, 2010, 1998; CHIARO, 1992); notions about implicit (MAINGUENEAU, 2004, 1996; CHARAUDEAU; MAINGUENEAU, 2012) and about ambiguity (KEMPSON, 1977; CHARAUDEAU; MAINGUENEAU, 2012; TRASK, 2011), having the adoption of such categories emerged from the analyzes of some jokes

O impacto das tarefas de aprendizagem mediadas pela lousa digital interativa na motivação situacional de aprendizes de inglês

Some authors have suggested that learning tasks conducted in L2 classes can motivate learners in different ways. Similarly, Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) have already been linked as drivers to engagement and enthusiasm in L2 classes, which may cause some impact on affective variables that influence learning (e.g. motivation). This crosssectional mixed-methods study aims to understand how situational motivation caused by learning tasks mediated by the IWB impact participants. We seek to answer the following research questions: (1) How does motivation as a personality trait of the learner relate to his/her additional language learning performance?, (2) How does the type of learning task mediated by the IWB impact the learner s motivation?, (3) How does motivation vary along the learning task mediated by the IWB? and (4) What is the relation between the learning task motivation and the learners perception about the task mediated by the IWB? Data collection lasted four months with 29 learners from a private language school. The instruments used were the following: (a) an initial questionnaire (adapted from the Attitudes/Motivation Test Battery by GARDNER, 2004), (b) situation-specific on-line scales to assess learners motivation in three moments: before, during and after the task, and analyze how motivation varies along the task; (c) class observations and field notes resulting from these observations, (d) participants end-of-course grades to understand the connection between academic success and their motivational profiles and (e) a final questionnaire with the qualitative purpose to know learners perceptions about the tasks mediated by the IWB. Our theoretical framework is based on Task-Based Learning and cognitive aspects present in tasks (WILLIS, 1996; SKEHAN, 1996), theories on motivation and second language learning (GARDNER, 2001; DÖRNYEI e OTTÓ, 1998; DÖRNYEI, 2000; 2002) and conceptions about L2 learning mediated by technology (GIBSON, 2001; OLIVEIRA, 2001; MILLER et al, 2005). Our results do not point out to a significative correlation between learners end-of-course grades and their motivational profiles. However, they indicate that there is some variability in situational motivation along the tasks, even among learning tasks from the same type. Furthermore, they show that learners report different perceptions for each learning task and that the impact of the IWB on participants did not have a large proportion

Representações de professores de língua inglesa de Natal-RN: um estudo sistêmico-funcional

Teaching and learning representations have been more and more investigated in the Brazilian applied linguistics field, as it allows the understanding of the teachers representations and how they conceive the learning process. This practice facilitates the planning of actions to improve the educational system. This study aims at identifying, interpreting and discussing some representations related to the identity and professional view of English as a foreign language teachers in different school contexts of Natal-RN. The theoretical and methodological foundation for this research is Halliday s Systemic- Functional Linguistics (1994; HALLIDAY; MATHIESSEN, 2004; EGGINS, 1994, among others). Our goal was to reveal the teachers representations embedded in their language, mainly through the ideational metafunction, as language is the tool we use to express ourselves about the external world (events, qualities, things, etc) and the internal world (thoughts, beliefs, feelings, etc). The research corpus is made of 21 teacher narratives, generated from a questionnaire sent to the teachers, who were divided in two groups: Group 1 (public schools teachers) and Group 2 (private schools and English course teachers). Most of the participants seemed to be satisfied with their professional choice. Many of them see the job as a challenge and an opportunity to transmit knowledge. All of them affirmed that the English teacher is a professional, for different reasons; however, the low professional appreciation was a recurrent aspect among the studied narratives. When asked about where they work, the private school teachers seemed to be more satisfied with the teaching-learning process than the ones from the public schools. We believe that the data analyzed in this study is important to show how some English teachers from Natal-RN see their profession. The results might be used in continuing education courses as food-for-thought in group discussions, as it is extremely important to emphasize and stimulate this practice

A linguagem da reflexão de uma professora de Língua Inglesa: um estudo de caso sob a perspectiva do sistema de avaliatividade

Research about teacher education, carried out in the area of Applied Linguistics (AL), reveals the importance of reflective practices in the professional development of teachers. With the aim of contributing to this area, we present this case study conducted at a technical school in Natal, RN. The corpus of the study is formed mainly from the teacher‟s discourse, generated during a stimulated recall session and the instruments used to collect the data: an initial questionnaire, a video recording of a class and the text transcript of the stimulated recall session. The central objective is to understand the way in which the reflection-on-action (SCHÖN, 1983, 1987) can contribute to raise the awareness of an English as a Foreign Language teacher (EFL) about her actions in the classroom. With this proposal, we begin our discussion presenting the origins, the presuppositions and characteristics of the concept of reflection according to Schön (1983, 1987), and supported by other authors (PERRENOUD, 2002; GÓMEZ, 1995; IMBERNÓN, 2009, among others); of critical reflection (LISTON e ZEICHNER, 1993; PIMENTA, 2002; DUTRA e MELLO, 2004, among others); and of the process of critical reflection (SMYTH, 1992). To evidence the reflections that emerge in the teacher‟s discourse, we found support in the theories and methods of Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG), which was initially proposed by Halliday (1985, 1994), Halliday and Hasan (1989), Halliday and Matthiessen (2004) and followers, such as, Eggins (1994), Thompson (1996), among others. We focus mainly on the subsystem of Attitude, an integral component of the system of discourse resources, Appraisal, presented by Martin (2000), Martin and Rose (2003, 2007), Martin and White (2005). The results reveal that the actions of the teacher in the classroom reflect not only her professional experiences, but also her values and concepts about teaching/learning languages. The results also show the teacher‟s awareness of the need for changes in her practices. Faced with these findings, we believe that this study reveals important concepts that can direct teacher educators to rethink new ways of approaching teacher training courses. In addition, it also reveals the importance of discourse analysis based on a systemic functional approach.

Processos cognitivos que operam na configuração de narrativas: uma pesquisa exploratória dos fenômenos que subjazem à compreensão de textos

This paper investigates the cognitive processes that operate in understanding narratives in this case, the novel Macunaíma, by Mário de Andrade. Our work belongs to the field of Embodied-based Cognitive Linguistics and, due to its interdisciplinary nature, it dialogues with theoretical and methodological frameworks of Psycholinguistics, Cognitive Psychology and Neurosciences. Therefore, we adopt an exploratory research design, recall and cloze tests, adapted, with postgraduation students, all native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese. The choice of Macunaíma as the novel and initial motivation for this proposal is due to the fact it is a fantastic narrative, which consists of events, circumstances and characters that are clearly distant types from what is experienced in everyday life. Thus, the novel provides adequate data to investigate the configuration of meaning, within an understanding-based model. We, therefore, seek, to answer questions that are still, generally, scarcely explored in the field of Cognitive Linguistics, such as to what extent is the activation of mental models (schemas and frames) related to the process of understanding narratives? How are we able to build sense even when words or phrases are not part of our linguistic repertoire? Why do we get emotionally involved when reading a text, even though it is fiction? To answer them, we assume the theoretical stance that meaning is not in the text, it is constructed through language, conceived as a result of the integration between the biological (which results in creating abstract imagery schemes) and the sociocultural (resulting in creating frames) apparatus. In this sense, perception, cognitive processing, reception and transmission of the information described are directly related to how language comprehension occurs. We believe that the results found in our study may contribute to the cognitive studies of language and to the development of language learning and teaching methodologies

O computador no ensino de lígnua inglesa no CEFET/RN

The present study has as goal to analyze the aplicability of the computational technology as mediator in the english-speaking teaching in the Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica do Rio Grande do Norte-CEFET/RN. The object of study was centered in the use of the computer incorporated in the teaching of English by four institution groups. The research was ruled metodologically in the study of case, adopting a qualitative and quantitative boarding of interpretative-reflexive mark. We support ourselves on a bibliographical literature revision that cares of the use of the computational technology matter into the class-room, aiming an education new practice, regarding the current reality conceptions in what we live in the technological education. We also use a referencial for a pedagogical action, trying to offer subsidies for a practice that provides the knowledges generation through the interaction, aiming a subject reflexive and critical education. For materialization of this study, we used esrutuctured action, as interviews for the teachers and students, besides the observations of the dayly in class-room, in order to get the necessary datas for analysis. During this study, we oserved that the use of the computer, while pedagogical support instrument in the english-speaking teaching, has acted like mediator of the teaching-learning process. The results demonstrate use of the computer use has been each more a practice adopted by other institution languages teachers. The conclusions confirm the hypothesis showed at the beginning of the work and evidence that the teachers are warden of forming thinking, reflexive and critical subjects. For that, they need to be prepared to face situations in which they can take the pedagogical practice to tune with the technological advances, consequently providing an effective technological education

A criança com transtorno do espectro autista (TEA) e o professor: uma proposta de intervenção baseada na experiência de aprendizagem mediada (EAM)

The presence of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in regular schools has increased and with it, the need to develop interventional strategies that enhance their learning. One of the tools that can facilitate this process is Mediated Learning, defined as an interaction style where the teacher selects, modifies, enhances, and interprets environmental stimuli in order to promote student learning. In recent years several studies have used the Mediated Learning Experience Scale (MLE; Lidz, 1991) as a tool to assess the mediator behavior. These studies have suggested that the EAM Scale can provide important guidelines for planning educational interventions, particularly those involving students with special needs. In order to extend these findings, this study aimed to evaluate the effects of an intervention based on the Mediated Learning Experience on social / academic skills of a child with ASD, enrolled in the 4th grade of a regular elementary school. This collaborative study was held in the city of Parnamirim, state of Rio Grande do Norte, in 2014. A 9-year old boy with ASD and his teacher participated in the study. The research used a quasi-experimental A-B design (baseline and treatment) to evaluate the teacher's behavior. Qualitative procedures were also used to analyze the dyad´s responses. Teacher and student behaviors were observed in three school routines during baseline. Based on the results of this phase, a training program was designed for the teacher. Dyad behavior was analyzed again after training in the same routines. The results of this phase showed qualitative and quantitative changes in levels of teacher mediation. Additionally, data indicated that the child enhanced his social and academic skills during the intervention.

O jornal televisivo e o ensino/aprendizagem integrado de português língua materna e francês língua estrangeira

Pour beaucoup de chercheurs, il y a une crise à l école et dans l enseignement/apprentissage des langues qui est provoquée par un enseignement cloisonné et décontextualisé de la réalité. Dans ce type d enseignement/apprentissage, le livre scolaire a une présence si hégémonique qu il est la source quasi exclusive du discours pédagogique et on ne fait que très rarement usage des langages du quotidien des apprenants. Le langage télévisuel est un de ces langages qui pourraient être utilisé pour ciliter enseignement/apprentissage d une langue vivante, variée et en situation, car il permet l exploration de tous les composants de la compétence de communication. En même temps, ce langage pourrait servir à sensibiliser les apprenants à une éducation aux médias. Le journal télévisé peut favoriser un enseignement/apprentissage intégré de la langue maternelle et de la langue étrangère, grâce à son format, similaire dans plusieurs cultures, et à son importance en tant que reflet des valeurs socioculturels des sociétés. Ces qualités sont très favorables pour stimuler le transfert des compétences entre la langue maternelle et la langue étrangère, pour qu on puisse enseigner et apprendre une langue, et connaître une culture. Le journal télévisé est vu comme une source d information et son analyse en classe peut contribuer à la formation d un apprenent/citoyen actualisé, critique et conscient des problèmes et des répresentations des sociétés

Didática do plurilinguismo: efeitos da intercompreensão de línguas românicas na compreensão de textos escritos em português

This exploratory study aims to present some readings as Doyé (2003), Carrasco Perea (2003), Melo Araújo e Sá (2004), Chavagne (2009) and Alas-Martins (2010; 2011) which helped to confirm some ways for showing that a plurilingual environment can enable a trend in improving the understanding of written texts in the mother tongue, and can collaborate on a better perception of the world around a person with all their different nuances. The study describes the methodology and some results of our doctoral research that resulted in the insertion of the experimental discipline called Intercomprehension of Romanic Languages (ILR) in the curriculum in the city of Natal / RN / Brazil, and it was justified because of high functional illiteracy degree among young people up to 15 years old according to the educational data from IBGE research on 2010. The results were verified through an experimental action-research which was characterized by Lewin (1946); Nunan (1992); Thiollent (1994) and Trip (2005) in two schools: Professoara Terezinha Paulino de Lima (municipal school) and Professora Ana Julia de Carvalho Mousinho (State of Rio Grande do Norte), with 95 students from the final years of primary education. The corpus of this research was subjected to a series of condensed techniques like the nonparametric test from Kruskal and Wallis (1952) and the parametric test ANOVA as an effort to provide statistical significance to the analysis of the results indicated in the book of ILR activities. The research presented some skill views about reading comprehension of written texts according to perspective of Ringbow (1987), Giacobbe (1990), Alarcão (1991; 2009a and 2009b), Corder (1992), Castellotti (2001) and Degache (2003), and the possibilities of transfer these skills for learning Portuguese as pointed out by Meissner, Klein and Stegmann (2004); it indicates a positive trend towards the understanding of LM according to analyzing the scores of written tests and texts by participants in solving tasks

Estilos de aprendizagem sob a ótica da Psicologia Evolucionista

Among a variety of learning conceptions, David Kolb´s Experiential Learning Theory proposes four different learning styles: diverging, characterized by orientation towards people and multi-perspective vision; assimilating, concerned with ideas and abstract concepts as well as theory formulation; converging, expert in dealing with technical tasks and problem solving; and accommodating, risk taker and good at getting things done. Interesting correlations have been pointed out between Kolb s learning styles, professional careers and genders. With respect to behaviors, specific cognitive skills and interests, sex differences are widely known, and explained by Evolutionary Psychology as the result of distinct selective pressures acting on each gender. The aim of this research was to assess adolescents learning styles and their relation with interests on school and career choices, analyzing possible gender differences. We distributed questionnaires to 221 senior high school students to research their preferences for school disciplines, professional activities and career choices. The Learning Style Inventory specified the learning style of each individual. Our results showed a high frequency of reflective styles, with predominance of females as diverging and males as assimilating. Concerning school and professional interests, there were correlations between styles oriented towards the abstract and technical interests. Moreover, females preferred disciplines related to languages and interpersonal activities while males preferred disciplines related to science and technical activities. There were more males in exact science and engineering careers, and more females in social science and applied social science. Correlations found between learning styles, school and professional interests corroborate Kolb´s propositions, and the findings about gender differences are supported by Evolutionary Psychology theories

Um framework conceitual para apoiar a instrumentação da avaliação formativa da aprendizagem em jogos digitais

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

Aprendizagem da língua japonesa apoiada por ferramentas computacionais: estudo e desenvolvimento do jogo Karuchā Ships Invaders

The use of technology tools for teaching and learning has grown increasingly in our daily life. In this context, a branch that has had tremendous growth is the area of teaching and learning language through computational tools. The study of CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning), accomplished in this research, aims to evaluate existing tools in this context, focused specifically on the Japanese language; and from this study, accomplish the development of a new computational tool that can assist teaching/learning of the Japanese language. As results, we present a wide survey on the subject in various technologies/devices, as well as the complete development process of a new tool, the Karuchā Ships Invaders game, that proposes to teach basic concepts of the language, blended with entertainment, and still, focusing on the Brazilian students of Japanese language audience. We will present all the concept phases of the game and its evolution through the research, as well as an interface evaluation. Still, we present proposal and validation of a method to evaluate motivational aspects of computational tools with educational focus, and results extracted from an experiment accomplished with prospective users

Saberes docentes na organização do ensinio-aprendizagem: uma construção reflexiva com professoras do ensino fundamental

The present study has the objective to analyze with teachers from Elementary School the knowledge mobilized in the organization of the teaching-learning process, and its implications in the exploitation of that process. The investigation was developed with two teachers from the first years of the Elementary School, from a public school in Pau dos Ferros-RN. It adopts as basis the notion of knowledge as a set of individual and social relations that the individuals maintain with the world and with themselves, in the teaching and learning relation. (CHARLOT, 2000). It considers yet that the knowledges are immediate processes, reconstructed and mobilized by the practice of reflection, in dialogical and interactional contexts in contact with others. (BAKHTIN, 2002, 2003; VYGOTSKY, 1991, 2004, 2005). The collaborative approach was the theoretical and methodological background that oriented the investigative-educative process. By choosing a collaborative research as basis of the investigative pathway, it starts from the knowledge that the critical and collaborative reflection developed with the teachers from the first years of the Elementary School contribute to explicitate and resignify the meanings assigned to the knowledges that these teachers mobilize in the organization of the teaching-learning and its implications in this process. The results of the reflexive and investigative process developed with the teachers demonstrate that the familiar, scholastic, academic, professional, and the work knowledges lived, constitute the consciousness of being a teacher, and that these knowledges implicate in the dynamics of the process of teaching-learning, but not always the teachers take consciousness about these knowledges. The critical and collaborative reflection, mediated by the actions of describing, announcing, facing and reconstructing allowed to the participants of the research to realize the knowledges of themselves and of the other, the difficulties and possibilities in the organization of the teaching-learning process

Escrita colaborativa com google docs: flash fiction, noticing e aprendizagem de inglês como L2

Google Docs (GD) is an online word processor with which multiple authors can work on the same document, in a synchronous or asynchronous manner, which can help develop the ability of writing in English (WEISSHEIMER; SOARES, 2012). As they write collaboratively, learners find more opportunities to notice the gaps in their written production, since they are exposed to more input from the fellow co-authors (WEISSHEIMER; BERGSLEITHNER; LEANDRO, 2012) and prioritize the process of text (re)construction instead of the concern with the final product, i.e., the final version of the text (LEANDRO; WEISSHEIMER; COOPER, 2013). Moreover, when it comes to second language (L2) learning, producing language enables the consolidation of existing knowledge as well as the internalization of new knowledge (SWAIN, 1985; 1993). Taking this into consideration, this mixed-method (DÖRNYEI, 2007) quasi-experimental (NUNAN, 1999) study aims at investigating the impact of collaborative writing through GD on the development of the writing skill in English and on the noticing of syntactic structures (SCHMIDT, 1990). Thirtyfour university students of English integrated the cohort of the study: twenty-five were assigned to the experimental group and nine were assigned to the control group. All learners went through a pre-test and a post-test so that we could measure their noticing of syntactic structures. Learners in the experimental group were exposed to a blended learning experience, in which they took reading and writing classes at the university and collaboratively wrote three pieces of flash fiction (a complete story told in a hundred words), outside the classroom, online through GD, during eleven weeks. Learners in the control group took reading and writing classes at the university but did not practice collaborative writing. The first and last stories produced by the learners in the experimental group were analysed in terms of grammatical accuracy, operationalized as the number of grammar errors per hundred words (SOUSA, 2014), and lexical density, which refers to the relationship between the number of words produced with lexical properties and the number of words produced with grammatical properties (WEISSHEIMER, 2007; MEHNERT, 1998). Additionally, learners in the experimental group answered an online questionnaire on the blended learning experience they were exposed to. The quantitative results showed that the collaborative task led to the production of more lexically dense texts over the 11 weeks. The noticing and grammatical accuracy results were different from what we expected; however, they provide us with insights on measurement issues, in the case of noticing, and on the participants‟ positive attitude towards collaborative writing with flash fiction. The qualitative results also shed light on the usefulness of computer-mediated collaborative writing in L2 learning.