Can a student learn a Foreign Language (usually English and/or Spanish) attending classes at a regular school in Brazil? This question has surfaced lately here in this country and many reasons lead to a capital “NO, STUDENTS ATTENDING REGULAR SCHOOLS IN BRAZIL CAN’T AND WON’T LEARN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE”.
Some of the reasons are:
“Classes are too heterogeneous.”
“There are up to 50 students in a classroom. Impossible to teach a language.”
“Teachers are underqualified and unprepared to teach.”
“A regular school has more important goals than teaching a foreign language.”
“Teachers don’t care.”
“Students lack motivation and/or clear objectives.”
“The textbooks are not ___________. (multiple choice)
a) adequate
b) in sufficient number
c) up-to-date
d) interesting
e) all of the above
“Students cannot fail English classes. They are automatically approved to the next grade.”
“English or Spanish taught as foreign languages have been devalued as school subjects. Not as important as Maths, History or Portuguese.”
“It’s impossible to teach a foreign language using the students’ mother tongue 90% of the time.”
Phew! The list is long. Should I continue? But I guess you get the gist.
The situation is so bad that some Brazilian congressmen have raised their voices proposing the end of the teaching of foreign languages at public schools due to their failure in reaching any positive results.
Well, let me tell you of my own experience growing up in Brazil and attending public schools from 1st grade to university.
Back in 1976 I was in 5th grade and according to the Ministry of Education, that would be the year for me to start learning a foreign language. Unfortunately, there were few foreign language teachers, and my school didn’t have an English teacher that year. In 6th grade we finally got an English teacher – we would have classes twice a week (each lasting 45 minutes). The teacher very wisely chose not to use a textbook – everything was based on copying from the blackboard and/or dictation. I must say that it was my best contact with English for the next 3 years. In 1978 we moved house and school, in the 7th and 8th grades the new teacher (new to me) used the same basic textbook that her students in 5th grade were using. Needless to say, I had learned more without a textbook. My wife, at roughly the same time – also studying at a state-run school, had her first contact with French (they had no English teachers available, either) but she says that much of the foundation of French grammar she learned in that first year. Both she and myself learned way more than the verb to be or “être”.
The goal and the expectations back then were different from today. Now the emphasis is on oral communication. Back then, we had to learn the grammar and to be able read and write for academic purposes.
But the key factor was that we were lucky to have as our very first foreign language models, teachers who cared, who were motivated and who had a teaching method imperfect as it might have been.
Could I speak English when I started high school? With the exception of isolated words, no, I couldn’t. But I was able to read and interpret basic texts which qualified me to proceed with my studies at university.
Can one learn a Foreign Language at a regular school?
Yes, if both teacher and students reach a consensus on their goals and motivation. And if the Ministry of Education reestablishes the teaching of foreign languages as a relevant discipline and not just one more public policy that looks good on paper but is void of any relevance in real life.
Cheers,
Mo
The Americanoid Blog 