Gêneros textuais em salas de aula de língua inglesa do ensino fundamental em João Pessoa

Abstract

This study aims at investigating the use of genres for English as a foreign language teaching in elementary schools in the public school system. It is an exploratory study that took place at three public schools in João Pessoa, selecting an English teacher in each one as participants. Through questionnaires and field observations, the performances of the three teachers were analyzed in classroom to understand how they deal with the application of genres in their pedagogical practices, based on the recommendations found in the state of Paraiba Curriculum Guidelines for Foreign Languages (2010). The analysis, both of the responses to the questionnaires, and of the observations show that, in fact, the work with genres can generate results that might contribute to the improvement of English language teaching. It is also true that, in general terms, the public schools investigated do not offer an appropriate environment for students to achieve the aims proposed by the Guidelines until the end of elementary School in the subject English, concerning the work with text genres in classroom. In addition to that, there is some resistance from the part of the teachers to abandon some traditional practices, which only view language as a code. However, it is possible to notice some steps towards a more up-to-date teaching and learning process, aligned with the study of text genres and capable of promoting a real development of language capacities among students.