Brazilian Public Schools Suffer from Poor Quality English Teaching

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The use of English as a social practice – that applied to basic communication needs, such as introducing oneself, ordering products from a store or keeping a short conversation – is not yet the main focus of foreign language teaching in the public network, according to research released by the British government agency British Council.

Only two of the Brazilian states surveyed met all the criteria required for quality teaching in English: Paraná and Pernambuco. São Paulo and the Federal District lagged behind, albeit above the Brazilian average. Pará, Amapá, Goiás, Mato Grosso, and Alagoas do not show up in the study. The other states reported median or insufficient performance under criteria of the British Council, the United Kingdom’s international agency for education and culture.

Called ‘Public Policies for the Teaching of English’, the survey assesses the panorama that will undergo the changes in the Brazilian Education Guidelines and Bases Law next year. According to the text of the Common National Curriculum Base (BNCC), approved in 2018, the teaching of the English language will become part of the curriculum as a compulsory subject.

Challenges

The research points out two deficits in the development of language teaching in public schools: the lack of qualified teachers and the focus on grammar teaching to the detriment of social language teaching. “Since the discourses are organized into historically constructed and dynamic social practices, their teaching through practice brings greater meaning to students,” explains Cíntia Toth Gonçalves, senior manager of English at the British Council.

According to the School Census of the National Institute for Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (INEP) of 2017, only 45 percent of the 62,000 English teachers in the public network have a degree in foreign language studies. Paraná and Sergipe are the only states with more than 70 percent of the teachers qualified in modern English or foreign languages.

“This is a difficult situation, but not unique in the world. In the Brazilian context, it is crucial that efforts are also focused on the initial training of future teachers so that they may be prepared to meet the demand of the BNCC,” says Cintia.

Source: Agência Brasil