A (re)categorização de frames no processo ensino-aprendizagem de alemão

Abstract

This paper purports to identify the frames which are activated by cultural-stereotypes that students possess before initiating the target-language study. It also seeks to verify what role does common sense play in creating these images, as well as to investigate if and how any recategorization (frame change) process has taken place during learning. This study is theoretically underpinned by the concept of culture according to Hall (1989); Eagleton (2005); Bennett (1998) and Kramsch (1998); the concept of frames according to Fillmore (1982), Ferrari (2011); and the notion of categorization by Ferrari (2011) and Abreu (2010). This study adopts an interpretational research methodology and uses three different tools to collect data: questionnaires, interviews, and textbook analyses. It is hoped that this investigation may lead to the elucidation of three research questions: 1) what are the students’ pre-established categories, which shall be answered by analyzing the activation of the most frequent frames; 2) what role common sense plays in the creation of the participants’ mental images; 3) whether these images have suffered any modifications during the teaching-learning process