‘Inglês para o futuro’ : reflexões sobre investimentos de aprendizes e de seus familiares na aprendizagem de língua inglesa

Abstract

The present research focuses on the English language learner as an additional language. Based on the generation of oral and multimodal narratives (BARKHUIZEN; BENSON; CHIK, 2014) of adolescent learners and their guardians, this research aims to understand what drives them to seek and invest in an English course at a private language school. Among the concepts in focus, a mention is made to what is understood as lingua franca, foreign language and additional language, based on Jordão (2014) and Ramos (2021), and how these terms appear in the documents that define the essential school learning (BRASIL, 2018; RIO GRANDE DO SUL, 2009; RIO GRANDE DO SUL, 2018). Then, the focus is on one of the studies that deals with motivation to learn an additional language (DÖRNYEI, 1998). Among other reflections, emphasis is also placed on the notion of investment, initially proposed by Bourdieu (1986), expanded by Norton Peirce (1995) and Norton (2000). Four teenage learners enrolled in an English course at a private language school and their respective guardians participated in the research. Data were generated based on the adolescents' responses to a questionnaire in which they manifested themselves about their school context and their contact with the English language. Then, each learner participated in a semi-structured interview, from which narratives about English in their lives, their expectations and perceptions about English language learning in regular schools and in the English course were obtained. There were also interviews with the adolescents’ guardians, who also indicated their perceptions to the English language for their daughters, complementing the data in focus. The results indicate that there is an economic and emotional investment by the learners and their guardians in relation to the girls’ future. In addition, the social and family contexts seem to be related to the investment made, indicating expectations regarding language learning in the course and in regular school, as well as what this learning can provide.