A motivação na aula de língua instrumental: crenças de alunos

Abstract

The objective of this research was to investigate the change of teaching for specific purposes in the students´ believes on teaching/learning of languages and the reflection of these changes in the motivation for learning a new language. The objectives of this study were to map and investigate the beliefs and the motivation before and after the course; verifying if and how the teaching for specific purposes influenced in the beliefs and if the modification of the beliefs influenced in the motivation of the students towards learning Spanish as a foreign language. The Socio-interactionist theory was used as theoretical foundation, as well as teaching for specific purposes, the beliefs and the motivation. The collection of data for the research was carried out during the classes of two editions of the project Espanhol para Viagens, through a pre and post-questionnaire, interviews and observations. The data analysis showed that the beliefs and the motivation of the students influenced and suffered influence of the teaching/learning of Spanish for specific purposes, in such a way that some beliefs were redefined and others came up. In the course of the analysis, some beliefs related to the Spanish language were identified, that consider it an easy language to learn, because of its similarity to Portuguese. At the same time, the students believe that this similarity can cause confusion to the learner. Regarding interaction, the students believe that it favors communication between teacher-learner/learner-learner, which is an essential point for learning Spanish as a foreign language. We consider that the direct contact with Spanish in the classroom and the constant interaction with the teacher were determining aspects for the redefining of the students´ beliefs and for the increase of motivation during the classes of the course.