As questões de números 52 a 55 verificam conhecimentos relativos à cultura e a escritores dos países de língua inglesa. Em cada uma delas, assinale a alternativa correta.

As questões de números 31 a 35 referem-se ao texto a seguir.

Teaching Children Literacy Skills in a Second Language

by ANNE EDIGER

In recent years, there has been increased focus on the teaching of reading and other literacy skills to children, both in North America and abroad. Part of this may relate to the recognition that reading is probably the most important skill for second language (L2) learners in academic contexts, and part of it may come from an increase in the numbers of children worldwide who are learning English as a second or foreign language (hereafter ESL or EFL). It may also be a result of the recent implementation of standards in much of public education in the United States and Canada, a movement built upon the belief that basic literacy instruction should be a fundamental component of public education.

Another possible factor contributing to an increased focus on literacy instruction to children in EFL contexts may be the growing numbers of countries that are moving toward making English language instruction mandatory from a younger age. Given the portability of books and other reading materials (as well as the increasing availability of reading material over the Internet), reading is gradually being recognized as a valuable source of language input, particularly for students in learning environments (as in some EFL contexts) in which fluent speakers of English are generally not available to provide other kinds of language input.

Notions of literacy are expanding as well. Although many different definitions of literacy can be found in the literature on the subject, and reading still seems to be primary to most of them, the teaching of writing and oral skills is increasingly being integrated with reading instruction for both native English speakers (NES) and English language learners (ELLs). Many of the new standards, both for ELLs and NES children, also integrate expectations for the development of all four language skills — reading, writing, listening, and speaking. In fact, increasingly, the large-scale standardized tests ask students to bring together all of these skills, requiring students to demonstrate competence in synthesizing information from multiple sources, or bringing information they have heard or read into written.

_{(Marianne Celce-Murcia (ed.), Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language. Adapted)}

TEXT I

Building Blocks: The First Steps of Creating a Multicultural Classroom

Discovering diversity takes creativity, extra effort, diligence, and courage on the teacher's part. A

multicultural classroom must thrive on these differences and use them as a foundation for growth and

development. Differences command work, resolution, openness, and understanding. Teachers who

address these differences and add them to the curriculum will succeed in creating a multicultural

5 classroom that will advance the educational goals of all students.

(...) Teachers in multicultural classrooms must be open to their students and put forth the effort

needed to get to know their students inside and outside of class. If a teacher is hesitant about being

open, the class will reciprocate and the students will become estranged from one another and the

teacher. In order to be open, teachers must be interested in their students, fearless, willing to try new

10 and different things, sure of themselves in order to avoid taking things personally, and non-

judgmental of his or her students (Canning 196). Also, openness is not making assumptions and being

prepared for the unexpected (Canning 199). (...)Many cultures have many different mores and

folkways. Teachers must be open to what the students are doing and find out why they do what they

do. This openness will create communication in the class, which will ultimately develop into a

15 classroom that is learning, understanding, and culturally fluent.

In addition to openness, teachers must know the learning patterns of the students in their class.

Teachers must understand the learning patterns of the students who grew up in a culture other than

their own. Teachers who open themselves up to cultural difference will effectively handle culture

clash while teachers who assume that student A is rude and student B is dumb will close

20 communication in the classroom and destroy any hope of having a multicultural classroom. The best

way to handle culture clash is to be open, knowledgeable, and not be afraid to talk about the cultural

differences in class no matter what discipline the teacher is teaching (Jones 12). An open teacher will

create an open class and an open class will have open lines of communication that will create a positive

and beneficial learning environment for everyone.

25 (...) Gloria Boutte and Christine McCormick suggest six basic principles for teachers to use when

evaluating their culturally diverse classroom, these are, "1) building multicultural programs, 2)

showing appreciation of differences, 3) avoiding stereotypes, 4) acknowledging differences in

children, 5) discovering the diversity within the classroom, 6) avoiding pseudomulticulturalism"

(140). Showing appreciation of differences is very important because a teacher who does not show

30 appreciation of all the differences in their class will not get the chance to attempt any of the other five

principles. Teachers need to pay attention to their verbal and nonverbal language when he or she

responds to students who speak differently. For example, if a child reads, "Dere go the sto-man", the

teacher should avoid interrupting the student to provide the correct English version. Instead, the

teacher should thank the student for reading and then model the correct English version when she or

35 he speaks. However, the most important thing to remember about all classrooms is the premise that

every child is unique. All children are different and beautiful in their own way, no one student should

feel excluded from the class.

(...) Creating multicultural classrooms is a growing priority for all teachers and administrators. This

includes restructuring classroom evaluation and punishment techniques, but, more importantly, it

40 includes embracing difference and opening up the classroom for communication.

Larri Fish of Siena College

Read Text 4 and answer the question.

Text 4

Exploring Identity-based Challenges to English Teachers’ Professional Growth 

Heather Camp 

Minnesota State University-Mankato

   Research on pre-service teacher education indicates that identity construction is an important facet of becoming a teacher. To establish oneself as a teaching professional, a person must craft a teacher identity out of the personal and professional discourses that surround him/her. This idea is consistent with contemporary theories of identity construction, which posit that the self is discursively constructed, made and remade by the various discourses that encompass the person. Such discourses -- “pattern[s] of thinking, speaking, behaving, and interacting that [are] socially, culturally, and historically constructed and sanctioned by a specific group or groups of people” (Miller Marsh 456) -- are constantly intermingling, wrangling for ideological power and dynamically shaping one another. To construct an identity, an individual must integrate these diverse discourses, weaving them together to form a dynamic but cohesive sense of self. On one hand, this twining process has the potential to promote psychological development, leading to the attainment of “an expanded, integrated self, more diverse and richer in the possibilities for action that these multiple identities afford” (Brown 676). Yet, it also may produce identity destabilization and fragmentation, leading to uncertainty, distress and stymied psychological growth.  

   New teachers are confronted with the task of adopting new discourses, and of forging relationships between old and new strands of their identities. Succeeding at this process facilitates the development of a secure and satisfying professional sense-ofself: research indicates that the attainment of an integrated identity helps teachers transition into and find satisfaction within the teaching profession, teach effectively, and nurture students’ self-development. Further, it suggests that attaining a cohesive identity better prepares teachers to champion educational reform. 

    Yet, research also suggests that accessing this array of rewards can be difficult. As teachers seek to integrate their teacherly roles with other discourses that contribute to their sense of self, they may encounter identity conflicts that work against a sense of identity cohesiveness. Encountering such conflicts can lead to emotional turmoil and stunted professional growth, even leading some student teachers (and practicing teachers) to leave the teaching profession altogether.

     Growing awareness of the importance of professional identity construction and the psychological labor it demands has led to an upsurge in scholarship on pre-service teacher identity formation. […] This scholarship has drawn attention to the complexity of identity construction for pre-service teachers and offered educators insights into how they might support these students through this important work. 

Adapted from http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/ viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=wte

Read Text 2 and answer the question. 

Text 2

Here are four passages from an article on awareness of English as a lingua franca (ELF):

1) “Few will deny that research in the area of English as a lingua franca (ELF) has significantly contributed to our understanding of many different facets of communication involving non-native speakers of English. Such studies have added valuable insights to the growing research in the domain of critical applied linguistics and critical pedagogy and have prompted many scholars to problematize all aspects of English language teaching, learning, testing, curriculum designing, etc.”

2) “It is important at this stage to distinguish between the critical and the transformative perspective in ESOL teacher education. While they both share the element of reflection, they are different in a crucial way, although the former has often been seen as an umbrella term that subsumes the latter.”

3) “Critical pedagogy is invaluable in our attempt to understand the complex processes of the global spread of English and the intricate ways in which it continues to be localized and relocalized (Pennycook, 2010). It has the tools to help teachers appreciate the complications of context and the various underlying and often hidden discourses, from learner identity construction in the ESOL classroom (Norton and Toohey, 2011) to language testing (Shohamy, 2004) to the politics of pedagogy in the ‘classroom as a microcosm of the larger social and cultural world’” (Pennycook, 2001: 138).

4) “The value of an ELF-aware transformative perspective to ESOL teacher education lies in its power to help teachers define ELF for themselves and for their teaching contexts. In this way, teachers are involved in the co-construction of ELF and, in particular, in the development of one or more pedagogical frameworks for ELF. To achieve this, teachers have to have an informed awareness of the ELF construct, a critical awareness of their own deeper convictions about essential aspects of language, communication, and language teaching/learning, and the capability to bring about sustainable change in their teaching.” 

From Sifakis, N. C. (2014). "ELF awareness as an opportunity for change: a transformative perspective for ESOL teacher education". Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 3/2: 317-335