beyond the uk and the usa: the presence of english …

337 http://ufrgs.br/revistabemlegal REVISTA BEM LEGAL • Porto Alegre • v. 10 • nº 1 • 2020

BEYOND THE UK AND THE USA: THE PRESENCE OF ENGLISH AROUND THE WORLD

1. INTRODUCTION

This task sequence was designed as a final project for the discipline of Didática da

Língua Inglesa. Thus, this class plan was done under the orientation of my professor,

Anamaria Welp. However, as it was not a Practicum discipline, it was never put into

practice inside a classroom. For the fulfillment of this project, the teacher should to be

able to print or send the activities to the class via email, so they would have the

possibility to use the printed material or their cellphones to complete the tasks. In

addition to that, in the absence of digital media, the students will be encouraged to

watch the prescripted video on their cellphones.

Target Public: 6th grade (public or private context).

Required Time: 6 hours/classes.

Language of Instruction: As in 6th grade the students have their first contact with

English, it is expected that Portuguese is the main language of instruction. However,

the teacher should not only slowly introduce more and more words and sentences in

English, but also use “classroom language” in English with their students.

Theme: English Around the World.

Genre: Email.

Linguistic Resources: Pronouns; Verb to be; Countries & Nationalities.

Skills to be Developed: Evoke student’s background knowledge; Help the students to

understand and be capable of discussing the topics raised in class; Help the students to

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understand and be capable of expressing meaning through imagetic, graphic and

linguistic resources; Promote linguistic reflection.

Objectives: Emphasize the use of English not only in different countries but also by

different people (as First and Second Language), showing the students that most

people who speak English are non-native speakers. In addition, motivate a discussion

about the concept of English as a Lingua Franca in order to raise linguistic awareness.

In this way, we hope we can bring the English Language closer to the students,

demystifying the use of “good” English only by North-American or European countries.

Finally, instigate the students to read, write and talk in English in English classes, that

is, to promote the use of the language here and now, helping the learners to develop

literacy in English as well as participating in a literate world.

2. DEVELOPMENT

First Moment: Expose the students to the fact that English is spoken by many

countries other than they are used to see on the media.



Source: Made by the authors. Maps took from google. Access in December 1st, 2019.



Second Moment: Talk about the danger of stereotypes or, as Chimamanda Ngozi

refers to, the “single story”.

[After finishing the previous exercises, the teacher should give the students a copy of

the material for the second part of the class. He/she should conduce the exercises

orally, asking the students what is written on the paper. A brief explanation of who is

Chimamanda is also recommended.]



Source: Made by the authors. Lecture available on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQk17RPuhW8.

Access in December 1st, 2019.

Third Moment: Discuss the concept of English as both Second Language and Lingua

Franca in order to raise linguistic awareness and bring the subject closer to students’

reality.

[Again, the teacher should give the students a copy of the material for the third part of

the task sequence. However, in this exercise, the teacher should also print the

celebrities’ photos and stick them on the board and, then, ask the students question

number 1.]


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQk17RPuhW8


Source: Made by the authors.

Source: Made by the authors. Images took from google. Access in December 1st, 2019.



Source: Made by the authors. Images took from google. Access in December 1st, 2019.




Fourth Moment: Make the students familiar with the email genre.




[At this moment, the teacher should tell the students they not only have to answer the

questions but also be prepared to report to the class what they have found.]


Fifth Moment: This moment consists of the final production. The students will be given

the opportunity to use the linguistic resources they have learned, as well as the chance

to talk about something personal they like, promoting the use of English here and

now.

[As the beginning of other tasks, the teacher should give the students a copy of the

material they are going to use in this part. This final exercise is an active one, which



means the students will have to mobilize their knowledge in order to produce a written

text. This will probably be somewhat difficult for them, so the teacher should be

prepared to pay extra attention to his/her students’ needs. It is important that the

teacher show himself/herself as open as possible to help the students, as well as affirm

to them they are in a safe space where mistakes are okay.]



Email Sample


3. References

GARCIA, O.; JOHNSON, S. I.; SELTZER, K. The Translanguaging Classroom: Leveraging

Student Bilingualism for Learning. Philadelphia: Caslon, 2017.

GIBBONS, Pauline. Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning. 2 ed. Portsmouth:

Heinemann, 2015.

LUSTIG, Robin. Can English remain the 'world's favourite' language?. BBC News, 2018.

Disponível em: <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-44200901>. Acesso em:18 de

novembro de 2019.

LYONS, Dylan. How Many People Speak English, And Where Is It Spoken?. Babbel

Magazine, 2017. Disponível em: <https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/how-many-

people-speak-english-and-where-is-it-spoken>. Acesso em: 18 de novembro de 2019.



NORDQUIST, Richard. English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). ThoughtCo, 2019. Disponível

em: <https://www.thoughtco.com/english-as-a-lingua-franca-elf-1690578>. Acesso

em:18 de novembro de 2019.

RIO GRANDE DO SUL (ESTADO). Referencial curricular lições do Rio Grande: linguagens

códigos e suas tecnologias: língua portuguesa, literatura e língua estrangeira moderna.

Porto Alegre: Secretaria de Educação, 2009. v. I.

SCRIVENER, Jim. Learning teaching. 3 ed. Oxford: Macmillan Education, 2011.



Giulia Ungaretti Fauri é graduanda do curso de

Licenciatura em Letras - Português/Inglês e suas

respectivas literaturas na Universidade Federal do Rio

Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Já foi monitora da cadeira de

Leituras Orientadas I e participou como Pibidiana no

Programa Institucional de Bolsas de Iniciação à Docência

(PIBID) no subprojeto de Inglês. Atualmente, é bolsista

pelo Programa Institucional de Bolsas de Iniciação

Científica (PIBIC) no grupo de pesquisa “Sociedade,

História e Memória nas Literaturas de Língua Inglesa” sob

orientação da Profª. Drª. Sandra Sirangelo Maggio.


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