Questões de Concurso Público SEED-PR 2021 para Professor - Inglês

    There is ample evidence that reading not only strengthens second language vocabulary, but also expands it as readers meet words, or the same word, in different contexts. After all, that is the way lexical vocabulary is acquired in real life, through hearing it in our first languages.

    Apart from learning vocabulary, learners also learn new structures, which can form a strong scaffolding both for learning other new structures and introducing grammatical items to a class.

     In listening to each other read, discuss points in groups, debate, or answer and their rationale, second language learners will sharpen both listening and speaking skills.

     There is no magic bullet, no single explanation for what teachers can do to ensure that their students learn to read a second or foreign language. Practice and plenty of it may be the only way out. 

J. Kembo. Using short texts to teach English as second language. Rongo University, Kenya. Universal Journal of Educational Research 4(12): 2735-2743, 2016 (adapted).

    It was Maria’s first day at school, her first week in the United States. Her middle school in San Francisco was the biggest building she’d ever seen. It was bigger than the entire Best Buy store she’d walked through in awe on her first day in the city.

     Eventually, Maria found her way to class, a special setting for Spanish-speaking newcomers. There she would practice English words for colors and numbers, learn how to introduce herself and how to say thank you. By eighth grade she was moved into mainstream classes, where she struggled. It didn’t help that her math teacher started each class by saying, “Okay, my little dummies.” He spoke really fast. Maria never raised her hand in his class.

     One day Maria stopped by the administrative office, looking for someone to help her with multiplication. She took her spot in line behind a middle-aged woman who chatted with her in Spanish as they waited. Maria said school was really hard for her. The woman told her not to worry. “Latinas usually don’t finish high school,” she said. “They go to work or raise kids.”

     The woman was right, statistically speaking, and Maria’s middle-school experience all but ensured she’d join the 52 percent of foreign-born Latinos who drop out of high school. She graduated from eighth grade without learning to speak English. She had a hard time writing in Spanish and didn’t know how to multiply.

Internet: <www.motherjones.com> (adapted).