“Do you learn English at school?” “Sort of”: perceptions on foreign language teaching-learning in public schools

Abstract

Inserted in the area of critical reflective professional education, this study presents the results of an investigation conducted by pre-service teachers in the context of their future teaching practicum, the public school. The research, qualitative interpretative in nature, proposed by the Teaching Practicum discipline of the Language Arts Course, in the distance mode, of the Federal University of Santa Catarina, seeks for a further understanding of the school context through the perception of their actors on the teaching-learning of English as a foreign language, with a view to elaborating socially situated lessons and educating the critical reflective practitioner as well. The corpus, collected during the first semester of 2012, consisted of semi-structured interviews and informal conversations with the participants, field notes and the study of the Educational Policy Project of the investigated context. The study identified inconsistencies between the theoretical proposal of the school Educational Policy Project, regarding the teaching-learning of English as a foreign language, and the participants’ perceptions of this process in practice, and pointed out a fertile terrain for pedagogical interventions. Based on the results, the study suggests a holistic approach to the teaching-learning of English as a foreign language, departing from socially relevant themes for the teaching practicum in the investigated context, and validates the critical reflexive model of education proposed by the Teaching Practicum discipline.