Who were the teachers? Memories of a university language center

• Grant number: 19/19223-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2019
• End date: January 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Education - Educational Teaching and Learning
• Principal Investigator: Rozana Aparecida Lopes Messias
• Grantee: Sofia Helena Miranda da Silva
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Letras (FCL-ASSIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Assis. Assis , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research proposal focuses on actions developed at the Center for Languages and Teacher Development (CLTD) of UNESP Assis/SP (founded in 2010). In this center, Language Arts undergraduates teach foreign language classes under the tutoring of professors. The CLTD offers an average of 30 to 40 language courses per semester in the six languages that are taught in the undergraduate course (English, French, Italian, German, Japanese and Spanish). Within this context, we will systematize and organize boxes of annually filed documents and digital files that were saved in drives and created for the center project. Our aim is to build a quantitative/ qualitative database. The purpose is (a) show the number and the profile of Language Arts students who have been teaching in the Center since its foundation in 2010 to 2018; and (b) to obtain an overview of how many courses were offered annually (from 2010 to 2018) and which language courses were offered. The research questions are: Who were these student teachers? What courses have they taught? and How long were they involved in the CLTD. Methodologically, the study is grounded on critical qualitative research assumptions (CARSPECKEN, 2011). We will seek deeper understanding of the context of the novice language teacher and of the observed space. As a basis for the systematization of the documents we will adopt the assumptions of document analysis. (CALADO and FERREIRA, 2004).