Questão 2408712

Text 6 – Questions 46 to 49

English Learning in Brazil

Statutory and the National Curricular Guidelines make the teaching of a foreign language at elementary and high school compulsory. However, teachers and experts acknowledge that English teaching - both public and private - is unable to provide students with a usable level of English. They identify similar reasons to those that cause other problems in basic education: the lack of language teaching equipment and over-filled classrooms. There are also fundamental problems with the amount of time set aside for teaching English and it is hard to find adequately qualified teachers. In these conditions English teaching is reduced to the basic rules of grammar, reading short texts and learning to pass multiple choice exams for university admittance.

Even government officials admit that English teaching in basic education has many shortcomings. The National Curricular Guidelines (which outline the curriculum for each subject) are well articulated, but cannot be applied fully in practice. Officials have pointed out that there are no language labs in schools as there is little funding available for them.

Learning English in Brazil: Understanding the aims and expectations of the Brazilian emerging middle classes. British Council, 2014.

About the teaching of English in Brazilian private schools, the text says that: