CAPULANAS NA SALA DE AULA: OS SENTIDOS DA FORMAÇÃO DE EDUCADORES(AS) EM MOÇAMBIQUE

Este trabalho é um registro das histórias de vida de muitas pessoas. As histórias aqui apresentam identidades diferentes: fragmentos vividos e guardados como expressões culturais orais, escritos permeados pela emoção, imagens capturadas pelos encontros, tudo isso organizado e escrito ganha forma e significado com a possibilidade desse trabalho. À medida que os encontros foram oportunizados iniciaram-se outros momentos que se desdobraram em muitos mais. A implantação do Programa Alfabetização Solidária em Moçambique, PASMO, viabilizou que essa experiência fosse investigada para identificar os sentidos da formação de educadores(as) no Brasil e em Moçambique. O objetivo desse trabalho centrou-se no desenvolvimento de nova proposta para a formação de educadores(as) em Moçambique, na África, tendo como tema central os encontros entre profissionais de educação que passaram a transitar por contextos diferenciados, envolvendo países, culturas, línguas e outras formas de comunicação. Ênfase na construção de conhecimento foi dada à cultura local, línguas moçambicanas e oralidade. A inserção de mulheres moçambicanas mostrou-se importante como forma de apropriação e mobilidade social e cultural. Foi no espaço da sala de aula, nos fazeres próprios da docência e no encontro com educadores(as), que se construiu e re-construiu conhecimentos específicos que sinalizaram para novas práticas pedagógicas. Os encontros promovidos pela educação conduziram a caminhos e trilhas da formação de educadores(as), primeiro no Brasil, depois em Moçambique.(AU)

War words:language, history and the disciplining of English

Debates about the nature of literacy and literacy practices have been conducted extensively in the last fifteen years or so. The fact that both previous and current British governments have effectively suppressed any real debate makes the publication of this book both timely and important. Here, Urszula Clark stresses the underlying ideological character of such debates and shows that they have deep historical roots. She also makes the point that issues regarding the relationship between language and identity, especially national identity, become sharply focused at times of crisis in that identity. By undertaking a comparison with other major English-speaking countries, most notably Australia, New Zealand and the USA, Clark shows how these times of crisis reverberate around the globe.

Language against the odds, or rather not:the weak central coherence hypothesis and language

EV is a child with a talent for learning language combined with Asperger syndrome. EV’s talent is evident in the unusual circumstances of her acquisition of both her first (Bulgarian) and second (German) languages and the unique patterns of both receptive and expressive language (in both the L1 and L2), in which she shows subtle dissociations in competence and performance consistent with an uneven cognitive profile of skills and abilities. We argue that this case provides support for theories of language learning and usage that require more general underlying cognitive mechanisms and skills. One such account, the Weak Central Coherence (WCC) hypothesis of autism, provides a plausible framework for the interpretation of the simultaneous co-occurrence of EV’s particular pattern of cognitive strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, we show that specific features of the uneven cognitive profile of Asperger syndrome can help explain the observed language talent displayed by EV. Thus, rather than demonstrating a case where language learning takes place despite the presence of deficits, EV’s case illustrates how a pattern of strengths within this profile can specifically promote language learning.

A discussion of ethnographic research methods and their relevance for the translation process

In recent years, technologically advanced methodologies such as Translog have gained a lot of ground in translation process research. However, in this paper it will be argued that quantitative research methods can be supplemented by ethnographic qualitative ones so as to enhance our understanding of what underlies the translation process. Although translation studies scholars have sometimes applied an ethnographic approach to the study of translation, this paper offers a different perspective and considers the potential of ethnographic research methods for tapping cognitive and behavioural aspects of the translation process. A number of ethnographic principles are discussed and it is argued that process researchers aiming to understand translators’ perspectives and intentions, how these shape their behaviours, as well as how translators reflect on the situations they face and how they see themselves, would undoubtedly benefit from adopting an ethnographic framework for their studies on translation processes.