Linguagem da interação: integrando habilidades sociais na formação de professores de língua estrangeira

Abstract

This paper's objective is to investigate the contributions of the presence of Educational Social Skills (ESS) in the repertoire of foreign language future teachers. As Social Skills are grounded on social interaction, exactly what is intended in a Foreign Language (FL) classroom, the presupposition is that nothing would be more efficient than a teacher equipped with the right skills for the construction of healthy and potentially interactive environments. We approach Social Skills with emphasis on the ESS class, both terms originating from Social Psychology theories. To analyze such benefits two types of questionnaire with teachers and students from three graduate classes (Spanish, French and English) at Universidade Federal da Paraíba were formulated and applied. The leading results indicate consequences perceived by the students, both positive and negative, depending on the teacher’s skills performance, observing the benefits of the ESS as educational tools. In this sense, we suggest its inclusion on the courses' syllabus of the participants, since we corroborate the hypothesis of more effective teaching from teachers using ESS, because it improves the interaction between teacher and students. It is worth noting that besides the benefits the area offers to FL teaching, ESS are also an excellent parameter for the formation of the human subject, a relevant point in Brazilian educational laws and documents.