Interação na aula de línguas adicionais através do uso de tecnologias digitais

Abstract

According to Vygotsky (1998), learning is the result of the interaction between an individual and their environment or other individuals, initially occurring on a social level before becoming internalized. Funk et al. (2014) define interaction in the teaching of additional languages as all communication processes that take place within the classroom, whether among individuals or between individual(s) and materials. During the COVID-19 pandemic, digital technologies were essential for conducting classes as they became the primary means for students to interact with materials, teachers and fellow students. While many researchers had advocated for the application of these tools in education since the beginning of the millennium (Kenski, 2007; Kumaravadileu, 2001; Leffa, 2006; Paiva, 2006), many teachers began using them only during this period, when their entire work routine had to be adapted to the virtual environment. This sudden necessity revealed the low level of digital literacy among educators (Cardoso, 2021a; Rabello, 2021a), who had to learn to use digital tools amidst the emergency. Given this context, the goal of this research is to understand how the pandemic period influenced the changes in classrooms after the return to in-person teaching, considering the learnings during emergency remote teaching, as well as reflecting on teacher training for the use of digital technologies in the teaching of additional languages. This dissertation aims to investigate how the German Language department of two universities in Rio de Janeiro used digital technologies in additional language classes during the COVID-19 pandemic to encourage interaction and how/if they are using them after returning to in-person activities. This qualitative-interpretative research, based on an ethnographic approach, uses field notes, questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews as research techniques. It was expected that after the period of emergency remote teaching, teachers and students would be using digital technologies more frequently in additional language classes, both in in-person settings and for asynchronous activities. However, the results indicate that although the use of digital technologies in asynchronous moments is greater than before the pandemic, in in-person classes they have returned to a complementary role, serving mainly as virtual folders