Interação e mediação: um binômio nas práticas de leitura em sala de aula

Abstract

During these last decades, Portuguese language teaching has been the center of the discussion on the necessity of school education improvement in our country. In fact, this discussion focuses on the development of reading and writing skills among our students. Considering more specifically reading practices in elementary schools, this dissertation deals with the issue of teacher mediation in reading activities in Portuguese language in two teams of students in elementary school (5th grade) in two municipal schools, in the town of Arapiraca, State of Alagoas, Northeast of Brazil. The main objective of the work is to analyze the mediation quality of the teacher, during the interactional process which occurs during reading activities in the classroom. This research has been guided by the following questions: How does teacher mediation help students with the construction of meaning in reading? Which is teacher‟s real aim when he/she uses texts in the classroom? Which reading approach does the teacher have in mind, even unconsciously, when he/she leads students to read in the classroom? To carry out his research, the author used a qualitative methodology based on ethnographic principles and techniques, such as questionnaires, interviews, audio recordings and documental analysis. Theoretical foundation was based on some principles of Bakhtin‟s discursive and dialogic theory; some constructs of Vygotsky‟s socio-interactional learning theory, and subsidies from sociocognitive perspective of reading, especially those ones which consider teacher‟s mediation a form of conducting children to read. Finally, the author recognizes that the relevance of this work is related to the teacher‟s role as mediator, and his endeavor to help students in their way to become readers.