Horizontes (Jan 2012)
The English teacher education at a private college
Abstract
This paper reports on the results of a qualitative and quantitative research that aimed at reflecting upon the teacher education process of (Portuguese/English) Letras senior students. The study was carried out at a private college in the south of the state of Espirito Santo. The theoretical basis for this research is taken from studies on teacher education in the field of Applied Linguistics. The results show that students (1) are unfamiliar with foreign language acquisition theories and teaching methodologies, (2) perceive the subject English Teaching Practicum as a moment of training, and not of education, (3) assert that this subject is dogmatically and non-reflectively taught, and (4) consider the English Teaching Practicum irrelevant to their education process.