A formação continuada de professores de inglês da rede municipal de Maceió: trajetória e resultados

Abstract

This dissertation presents as a central theme the continued formation for teachers of English of municipal public schools in Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil. This process is designed for teachers who work from the fifth to the eighth grade of elementary school. The research had the objective of investigating the process of institutionalization of this sort of teacher formation during the years from 1996 to 2006, as well as investigating its configuration at that moment, with the purpose of establishing its trajectory and the results that such process has brought to the teaching of English Language in municipal schools of Maceió, at least in the sense of some methodological definition that could make possible a renewal of English teaching. This study utilized a type of ethnographic research methodology with interviews, questionnaires, class observation, observation of teachers study sessions, documental analyses and bibliographical research. This research also used a case study when observing the practice of two teachers chosen as representatives of both the ones who benefited from the Continued Formation, thus renewing their lessons, and the ones who did not benefit from it, consequently maintained the same performance. The theoretical foundation was based in the legal aspects related to the compulsory nature of the Continued Formation (Law 9394/06), besides the study of factors concerned to the role of Foreign Language in school curriculum, in this case the English Language. The author also studied the historical evolution of Foreign Language teaching in Brazil and the evolution of the University Course of Languages which is the main English teacher s agent of formation. Finally, the work presents some issues related to the evolution of language teaching methodologies and the beliefs and myths which interfere in foreign language teaching in school tradition.