Normalização de dispositivos móveis no processo de aprendizagem de inglês : um estudo à luz da complexidade

We live in a world inherently influenced by technology and in which education is immersed in realities made possible by the support of digital technologies, such as electronic mobile devices. Thus, the general aim of this study lies in mapping and analysing the influence of mobile devices on teaching, especially with reference to learning the English language. The specific aims are to investigate how the use of mobile devices is present in the research participants’ practices, consider whether such use is beneficial, according to the students, to the English language learning as well as mapping how the use of mobile devices favours the normalisation stage, taken in this research as a complex process.The theoretical background of this study includes the premises of the Paradigm of Complexity, especially concerning the acquisition of a second language, as well as the precepts of Normalisation, which is related to the total integration of digital technologies into the English teaching and learning process in such a way that they become invisible, and the theories of language learning mediated by computers and mobile devices. Methodologically, this is an ethnographic qualitative research and its context is a language institute located in the Triângulo Mineiro region. In addition to students from five groups in the institution, two teachers and an administrative assistant participated in the survey. Data was collected through an online questionnaire, learning reports produced by students and interviews with teachers and administrative staff. The analyses indicate that mobile devices are present in the daily practices of English learners, but these uses, in most cases, are carried out through the teacher's encouragement. Moreover, despite having positive sayings on the role of digital technologies in the process of English teaching and learning, there is, among students and teachers, a dichotomy between saying and doing about the learning contexts considered valid. Additionally, the use of mobile devices in the English learning process is not yet established as a normalised issue because the process of integration of technology in teaching is still ruled by traditional uses of the technology. I conclude that the use of mobile devices in the English learning process is still not normalised, because even if students use their mobile devices every day, they generally do not realize the affordances of such use as possibilities to learn English.

Tradução e adaptação transcultural do domínio função física do Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System – PROMIS® - versão para a língua portuguesa

In 2004, the National Institutes of Health made available the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System – PROMIS®, which is constituted of innovative item banks for health assessment. It is based on classical, reliable Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs) and includes advanced statistical methods, such as Item Response Theory and Computerized Adaptive Test. One of PROMIS® Domain Frameworks is the Physical Function, whose item bank need to be translated and culturally adapted so it can be used in Portuguese speaking countries. This work aimed to translate and culturally adapt the PROMIS® Physical Function item bank into Portuguese. FACIT (Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy) translation methodology, which is constituted of eight stages for translation and cultural adaptation, was used. Fifty subjects above the age of 18 years participated in the pre-test (seventh stage). The questionnaire was answered by the participants (self-reported questionnaires) by using think aloud protocol, and cognitive and retrospective interviews. In FACIT methodology, adaptations can be done since the beginning of the translation and cultural adaption process, ensuring semantic, conceptual, cultural, and operational equivalences of the Physical Function Domain. During the pre-test, 24% of the subjects had difficulties understanding the items, 22% of the subjects suggested changes to improve understanding. The terms and concepts of the items were totally understood (100%) in 87% of the items. Only four items had less than 80% of understanding; for this reason, it was necessary to chance them so they could have correspondence with the original item and be understood by the subjects, after retesting. The process of translation and cultural adaptation of the PROMIS® Physical Function item bank into Portuguese was successful. This version of the assessment tool must have its psychometric properties validated before being made available for clinical use.