POR UMA ABORDAGEM CRÍTICA NA ELABORAÇÃO E USO DE MATERIAIS DIDÁTICOS: UMA EXPERIÊNCIA (TRANS)FORMADORA

Abstract

Among the many aspects surrounding language education, we bring to the foreground teaching materials, defined here as anything used in the classroom to facilitate the teaching and learning of a language, whether in an informative, instructional, experimental, motivational, or exploratory way. (TOMLINSON, 1998). According to Siqueira (2012), teaching materials are the materialization of what is done in the process of teaching and learning a language. However, Gray (2013) states that materials such as commercially produced textbooks are powerful cultural artifacts that can serve certain purposes, ways of living, linguistic varieties and set of values of specific social groups. Teaching materials can serve to spread existing ideologies and power relations in society related to social class, race, and gender. From this perspective, the research, a case study, aims to investigate the perceptions of pre-service teachers of English regarding aspects of language education, especially, the development and use of teaching materials for teaching English from a critical perspective (GIROUX, 1983; FREIRE, 1987; DARDER, ET AL. 2009; AKBARI, 2008; CROOKES, 2013). For this purpose, seven pre-service teachers, enrolled in the Teaching Practicum, curricular component of an undergraduate course for teachers of English at a public university in Bahia, therefore, in full teaching practice were invited to participate in this study. Participants answered questionnaires about teaching materials, were interviewed and had their classes observed during two academic semesters. In addition, they participated in a workshop on teaching materials from a critical teaching perspective and participated in a reflective session. The interpretation of the information generated in the field was carried out using the triangulation of the data and submitted to the researcher’s interpretation, aiming at the search for categories of analysis that could help reach the objective of this investigation. The results point to the use of codes (FREIRE, 1987; WALLERSTEIN; AUERBACH, 2004) and the principle of dialogue (FREIRE, 1987; 2004; WALLERSTEIN; AUERBACH, 2004; CROOKES, 2013). as determining elements for the implementation of a problematizing approach (WALLERSTEIN; AUERBACH, 2004) or Freirean education (originating from Paulo Freire's thought) for teaching English. However, for such practice to be effective, there is a need for a critical teaching posture (CROOKES, 2013) on the part of pre-service teachers or a work philosophy (ALMEIDA FILHO, 2008) aligned with the principles of a critical pedagogy, a condition that can be achieved through formative-reflective experiences.