O ensino de língua inglesa e as novas tecnologias: a relação entre o dizer e o fazer do professor

Abstract

Studies on teachers beliefs have brought about great contributions to Applied Linguistics, especially when it comes to their influence on teaching practice. Based on our conception of the term, according to which beliefs can be inferred either from the teacher s words or from his/her actions, this study aims at investigating the interrelation between what teachers say and do, as for the influence of new technologies on English language teaching and learning, as well as identifying the factors which combine for the establishment of this interrelation. For this purpose, we confront the verbalizations of the teacher s beliefs and the beliefs inferred from their actions. Our investigation takes place in a language school, and is based on the participation of the pedagogical coordinators and four teachers from the forementioned institution. The data collecting process includes the use of questionnaires, interviews, class observation accompanied by field notes, and the analysis of the pedagogical institutional material. Grounded on a qualitative-interpretive perspective, the research adopts a contextual approach to the investigation of teachers beliefs. Our theoretical framework includes studies about teachers beliefs, English language teaching and learning processes, the role of technologies on these processes, and the interrelation between the reflective teacher and the use of new technologies. The main outcomes point to a relationship of dissonance between what three of the teachers say and do, and to a relationship of consonance, in one case. The articulating factors for this fundamentally dissonant interrelation are encompassed in four classes of factors: contextual, experiential, cognitive and affective. The first ones, which reveal a preponderant influence in comparison to others, include institutional beliefs, access to the resource, time, social constraints, workmates and the teaching method adopted by the institution. As for experiential and cognitive factors, only one of each has been inferred, which, respectively, refer to: teaching experience length and the teacher s academic background. Finally, the two affective factors revealed by the data analysis, consist of the fear of the new as well as of the fascination for the new .