Textos autênticos em aulas de língua inglesa - analisando o seu uso no contexto da escola pública

Abstract

The present study aims at investigating some aspects involved in teaching English reading through authentic texts, in a public high school, based on my experience as a teacher in such context. The paper, of ethnographic basis, will also consider theoretical postulates in relation to the authenticity of English texts, as well as in relation to the reading theories and to the English for Specific Purposes approach. The authenticity issue in the language classroom is a complex theme, even more so if we discuss the concept of "authentic". This paper, a selfanalysis, aims at carefully studying this concept and the use of such material in reading development in language learning. The research instruments include recordings of classes in video tape, the teacher-researcher s field notes, learners notes, interviews with learners and questionnaires. Data analysis, as it was triangulated, suggests that, according to students as well as teacher-researcher s reactions, the use of authentic texts in the English reading class, considering some aspects of a need for choosing the theme and negotiating meanings at the time of the reading, may contribute to a more meaningful and realistic learning, in this more specific context. Therefore, considering that the teaching and learning process is also based on elements other than just classroom material itself, there are other essential factors to this process, such as critical and reflexive teacher education and his or her conceptions of reading, learners contributions, as well as the content of the proposed activities.