As emoções no processo de aprendizagem de língua inglesa: uma perspectiva sociocultural para o ensino de línguas para fins específicos

Abstract

This research about language teaching for specific purposes aims at investigating the emic perspective of language learning through collaborative tasks in a blended learning (BL) context. To support this research we adopt a sociocultural perspective, and understand language learning as a result of mediation and social interaction among individuals, artifacts and language (VYGOTSKY, 1978,1986; JOHNSON 2009; LANTOLF, 2001). We adopted a methodology of action-research and had collaborative tasks as a starting point; we applied such tasks in order to propose alternatives to the teaching of languages for specific purposes and examine the students own perspectives about their learning process. In our theoretical perspective, we believe the learning opportunities in the classroom should consider both the cognitive and the affective dimensions (HALL, 2003) and that the understanding of emotions and beliefs involved in the learning process can bring about important contributions to its understanding. We undertook semi-structured interviews before and after the implementation of the collaborative tasks and the recording of the interactions of the students during the lessons. Our tasks also intended to use a BL perspective under the definition of Sharma (2010) that such approach is based on an ideal blend of traditional and virtual learning, that is, it is an attempt to promote a more efficient learning experience. It should be noted that, by tasks, we understand pedagogical activities that require the resolution of problems in a collaborative way (SWAIN e LAPKIN, 2001) and that present specific objectives (ELLIS, 2000; SWALES, 2000). Our results indicate that the tasks promoted collaboration among students and that could also be verified by the reinforcement of the students’ beliefs about the importance of interaction and of their classmates in their language learning process. Therefore, we perceived that the students’ and the teacher’s actions influenced upon students’ emotions and beliefs. We have also observed that the emerging emotions were diverse and we have also analyzed the role of these emotions in the students’ learning processes. This research brings a new perspective on how to examine emotions in the learning process suggesting a systematic way to analyze them through the students’ self-reports based on Scherer (2005) and the Geneva Emotion Wheel. We also verified that the use of technology was regarded as a generator of interest by some students. Finally, it was possible to observe that the collaborative tasks promoted collaboration among the students and, thus, we could highlight the importance of working with collaborative tasks in courses of language for specific purposes.