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READ TEXT I AND ANSWER THE FIVE QUESTION THAT FOLLOW IT

TEXT I

National Assessment Reform: Core Considerations for Brazil

Education has been an integral part of Brazil’s success story. With expanded access to basic education and improvements in literacy rates, young Brazilians are entering today’s workforce with higher levels of education than previous generations. This educational progress has contributed to and benefited from the economic growth that helped improve living standards and, during the first decade of the millennium, lifted more than 29 million people out of poverty. Trend data from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) reveal that Brazil’s increasing school participation rates have been realised alongside progress in education quality. This is a remarkable achievement considering that many of the new students progressing through the education system come from disadvantaged backgrounds and often lack the socio-economic support that helps enable learning. Nevertheless, PISA also reveals that the overall performance of Brazil’s education system is well below the OECD average and other emerging economies, such as parts of China and the Russian Federation. One reason for this is Brazil’s high share of students who do not achieve baseline proficiency, or Level 2 in PISA. Results from PISA 2018 show that 50% of Brazilian students failed to reach Level 2 in reading, meaning they can only complete basic tasks. Brazil’s share of low-performers was even higher in Mathematics and Science (68% and 55%, respectively). At the other end of the spectrum, few students in Brazil were able to answer more difficult PISA questions, like inferring neutrality or bias in a text, which require skills that are increasingly important in today’s world. The new approach to education, set out in the BNCC, aims not only to ensure that all students achieve basic cognitive skills but also develop the higher-order skills needed to solve complex problems of everyday life.

Adapted from: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/333a6e20- en.pdf?expires=1728831657&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=CD292865CAA9F4B A019D2FE4378B5D2D

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TEXT 1

English Language Teaching in Brazil:

A Gap in Policy, Problems in Practice

Only three percent of Brazilians are estimated to speak English despite the status of this language as a mandatory subject in grades 10 to 12 of basic education and preferred foreign language in grades 5 to 9. The widespread concept in the Brazilian society that speaking English is beneficial to individuals because it provides access to the globalised world does not seem to be enough to promote the actual learning of the language by the majority of the population, and it is argued here that this fact has to do with a gap in the foreign language teaching policy documents: the 2015 National Education Guidelines and Framework Law (LDB 2015), the Brazilian National Curriculum Parameters for Primary Education (PCN-EF), and the Brazilian National Curriculum Parameters for Secondary Education (PCN-EM). These documents do not prescribe the necessary conditions for English Language Teaching (ELT) to take place effectively, but, instead, provide suggestions for teachers on how to adapt to the status quo, which means focusing on reading to the detriment of the other aspects of the English language due to a number of factors ranging from a lack of resources to a large number of students per class.

Both PCN-EF (Brazil, 1998) and PCN-EM (Brazil, 2000) present progressive ideas about how a foreign language should be taught in the basic education classroom. Such ideas include a social interactionist view of language, which aligns with contemporary research in second language teaching and means a shift from the traditional grammar-translation method largely employed in Brazilian schools in previous decades. The Parameters also recommend interdisciplinary work, the implementation of cross-curricular themes, formative assessment in addition to summative, a value of students’ prior knowledge and position as critical subjects, and, thus, an approach to teaching as negotiation that aims to educate students for the full exercise of citizenship, which includes the notions of respect for difference and diversity that can be promoted by the teaching and learning of foreign languages.

However, the Parameters fail in pointing out the necessary conditions for this teaching and learning process to occur. For example, they acknowledge that reading and writing should be focused on to the detriment of listening and speaking due to the difficulties faced by the teacher in basic education (Brazil, 1998): large classrooms, lack of appropriate resources including class and preparation time for the teacher and opportunities for the students to be exposed to the language outside the classroom, and, in many situations, teachers’ lack of knowledge of the subject matter. Instead, what they should do is to actively propose that a smaller number of students sit in English classes – as it was allowed by LDB 1996 and continues to be so by LDB 2015, that more class and preparation time be granted the teacher, that schools have English resources that students can access to familiarise themselves with the language, and that better teacher education be implemented.

BATISTA, Fernanda. English Language Teaching in Brazil: A Gap in Policy, Problems in Practice. 2020. Disponível em: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1262339.pdf. Acesso em 30/12/2023 Adaptado.

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No one who speaks English has any difficulty understanding the meaning of a sentence like ‘It’s warm in here’. We all recognise that it is a comment on the temperature in some place or other. But why it is being said, and what the speaker wishes to convey by saying it, depends entirely on two things: the context in which it is said and what the speaker wants people to understand (...) The meaning of language depends on where it occurs within a larger stretch of discourse, and thus the relationship that the different language elements have with what comes before and after them. In other words, speakers and writers have to be able to operate with more than just words and grammar; they have to be able to string utterances together.

Our ability to function properly in conversation or writing depends not only on reacting to the context in which we are using the language, but also on the relationship between words and ideas in longer texts.

Words can also mean more than one thing, for example, ‘book’ (= something to read, to reserve, a list of bets, etc.), ‘beat’ (= to win, to hit, to mix, e.g. an egg, the ‘pulse’ of music/a heart) and ‘can’ (= ability, permission, probability – and a container made of metal). Notice that, in these examples, not only can the same form have many meanings, but it can also be different parts of speech.

With so many available meanings for words and grammatical forms, it is the context the word occurs in which determines which of these meanings is being referred to. If we say, ‘I beat him because I ran faster than he did’, ‘beat’ is likely to mean won rather than physically assaulted or mixed (though there is always the possibility of ambiguity, of course).

(Harmer, 1998. Adaptado)

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No one who speaks English has any difficulty understanding the meaning of a sentence like ‘It’s warm in here’. We all recognise that it is a comment on the temperature in some place or other. But why it is being said, and what the speaker wishes to convey by saying it, depends entirely on two things: the context in which it is said and what the speaker wants people to understand (...) The meaning of language depends on where it occurs within a larger stretch of discourse, and thus the relationship that the different language elements have with what comes before and after them. In other words, speakers and writers have to be able to operate with more than just words and grammar; they have to be able to string utterances together.

Our ability to function properly in conversation or writing depends not only on reacting to the context in which we are using the language, but also on the relationship between words and ideas in longer texts.

Words can also mean more than one thing, for example, ‘book’ (= something to read, to reserve, a list of bets, etc.), ‘beat’ (= to win, to hit, to mix, e.g. an egg, the ‘pulse’ of music/a heart) and ‘can’ (= ability, permission, probability – and a container made of metal). Notice that, in these examples, not only can the same form have many meanings, but it can also be different parts of speech.

With so many available meanings for words and grammatical forms, it is the context the word occurs in which determines which of these meanings is being referred to. If we say, ‘I beat him because I ran faster than he did’, ‘beat’ is likely to mean won rather than physically assaulted or mixed (though there is always the possibility of ambiguity, of course).

(Harmer, 1998. Adaptado)

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Segundo Kramasch (2024), o conceito de competência intercultural recebeu um novo significado por meio do uso de comunicação mediada por computadores (CMC), com o objetivo de promover a interação na L2 entre falantes nativos e não nativos da língua e entre falantes não nativos, e de capacitá-los a ter acesso a e manipular ambientes culturais não nacionais.

O acesso direto a falantes da L2 e a imersão cultural promovida pela CMC realçam a ilusão do imediatismo semiótico e a autenticidade cultural. Entretanto, não conduziu, necessariamente, a uma exploração profunda de diferenças culturais. A comunicação intercultural online enfatizou a participação em comunidades online, a colaboração, a solução conjunta de problemas e o desenvolvimento de identidades híbridas que tanto independem das coações sociais do mundo real, quanto ficam sujeitas às pressões sociais e às coações coletivas das comunidades online. Não é à toa que há um número crescente de linguistas aplicados que estão ávidos a trazer a história, a memória e os aspectos subjetivos da aprendizagem de línguas de volta à sala de aula, bem como uma reflexão sobre o significado de operar entre línguas, a partir do background cultural do próprio indivíduo.

(Kramasch, C. 2024. Adaptado)

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Robots are writing more of what we read on the internet. And artificial intelligence (AI) writing tools are becoming freely available for anyone, including students, to use.

In a period of rapid change, there are enormous ethical implications for post-human authorship — in which humans and machines collaborate. The study of AI ethics needs to be central to education as we increasingly use machinegenerated content to communicate with others.

AI robot writers, such as GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) take seconds to create text that seems like it was written by humans. In September, 2020 GPT-3 wrote an entire essay in The Guardian to convince people not to fear artificial intelligence. As recently as 2019, this kind of technology seemed a long way off. But today, it is readily available.

Of course, there’s the issue of cheating on essays and other assignments. School and university leaders need to have difficult conversations about what constitutes “authorship” and “editorship” in the post-human age. We are all (already) writing with technological devices, even just via spelling and grammar checkers.

(https://theconversation.com. Adaptado)

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The last century of language teaching history, operating within this theory-practice, researcher teacher dichotomy, has not been completely devoid of dialogue between the two sides. We moved in and out of paradigms (Kuhn, 1970) as inadequacies of the old ways of doing things were replaced by better ways. These trends in language teaching were partly the result of teachers and researchers communicating with each other.

The custom of leaving theory to researchers and practice to teachers has become, in Clarke’s (1994) words, “dysfunctional”. What is becoming clearer in this profession now is the importance of viewing the process of language instruction as a cooperative dialog among many technicians, each endowed with special skills, such as program developing, textbook writing, measuring variables of acquisition, designing experiments, and the list goes on.

We are all practitioners and we are all theorists. Whenever that understanding calls for putting together diverse bits and pieces of knowledge, you are doing some theory building. Or, if you have observed some learners in classrooms and you discern common threads of process among them, you have created a theory. And whenever you, in the role of a teacher, ask pertinent questions about Second Language Acquisition (SLA), you are beginning the process of research that can lead to a theoretical statement.

(Brown, H.D. 2006. Adaptado)

READ TEXT II AND ANSWER THE FOUR QUESTION THAT FOLLOW IT.

TEXT IV

Assessment for Young Learners in the English Language Classroom

All forms of assessment have an impact on school and classroom culture – it can drive what is taught and how. The process and outcomes of assessment also affect both the teachers’ and the learners’ understanding and experience of learning. Our most common understanding of assessment is that it summarises attainment. This has an especially strong focus in education where summative assessments, the achievement tests that typically occur at the end of an instructional programme, have guided the emphasis in curricula. In true terms, however, assessment is the process of collecting and interpreting evidence to make judgements about a learner’s performance. Thinking about the process in this way allows teachers to gather evidence as an ongoing activity during the learning programme and, as a result, to identify strengths and weaknesses that inform future classroom content. This formative approach, where assessment forms part of the learning cycle, is able to capture more detailed and nuanced data about a learner’s performance than the broader brush stroke of a summative score and consequently supports deeper and more consequential learning. More importantly, there is an influential argument that, in education, we should not even be doing assessment unless it has an impact on learning, and this goes to the heart of the purposes of assessment.

Adapted from: https://www.cambridge.org/us/files/9516/0217/6403/ CambridgePapersInELT_AssessmentForYLs_2020_ONLINE.PDF

Climate change poses significant challenges to cattle farming, a sector vital to global food security. Among the most pressing concerns is the increasing frequency and intensity of droughts. Reduced rainfall diminishes pasture quality and availability, limiting feed for livestock and increasing water scarcity. This can lead to decreased animal growth rates, reduced milk production, and increased mortality rates. Moreover, prolonged droughts can contribute to desertification, shrinking available grazing land and forcing farmers to adopt costly alternative feeding strategies.

Beyond drought, other climate-related impacts include heat stress, which can significantly impact animal health and productivity. Rising temperatures can exacerbate heat stress, leading to decreased feed intake, reduced fertility, and increased mortality in livestock. Furthermore, extreme weather events, such as heavy rainfall and flooding, can cause infrastructure damage, contaminate water sources, and lead to the loss of livestock.

The cattle farming sector itself contributes to climate change through greenhouse gas emissions, primarily methane produced during animal digestion and nitrous oxide from manure management. Deforestation for pasture expansion also releases significant amounts of carbon dioxide.

To address these challenges, a multi-pronged approach is crucial.

• Genetic selection: Breeding programs focused on developing drought-resistant livestock breeds are vital. and heat-tolerant

• Sustainable feeding strategies: Implementing precision feeding techniques, improving feed efficiency, and exploring alternative drought-resistant forage livestock resilience. feed sources, varieties, such as can enhance

• Integrated farming systems: Integrating crop and livestock production, such as through agroforestry systems, can improve soil health, enhance water retention, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

• Technological innovations: Utilizing technologies such as precision livestock farming, remote sensing for pasture monitoring, and renewable energy sources can improve resource efficiency and redu

Furthermore, strong policy support, including incentives for sustainable farming practices, investments in research and development, and improved access to climate information services, are essential for the long-term sustainability of the cattle farming sector.

Addressing the challenges posed by climate change requires a collaborative effort involving farmers, researchers, policymakers, and consumers. By embracing innovative solutions, prioritizing sustainable practices, and fostering a collective understanding of the importance of climate-resilient livestock production, we can ensure a future when this vital sector continues to thrive while minimizing its environmental impact.

Internet:<conafer.org.br> (adapted).

Read the text by Brown to answer question.

The question of whether or not to distinguish between native and nonnative speakers in the teaching profession has grown into a common and productive topic of research in the last decade. For many decades the English language teaching profession assumed that native English-speaking teachers, by virtue of their superior model of oral production, comprised the ideal English language teacher. Then, Medgyes (1994), among others, showed in his research that nonnative English speaking teachers offered as many if not more inherent advantages. Other authors concur by noting not only that multiple varieties of English are now considered legitimate and acceptable, but also that teachers who have actually gone through the process of learning English possess distinct advantages over native speakers.

As we move into a new paradigm in which the concepts of native and nonnative “speaker” become less relevant, it is perhaps more appropriate to think in terms of the proficiency level of a user of a language. Speaking is one of four skills and may not deserve in all contexts to be elevated to the sole criterion for proficiency. So, the profession is better served by considering a person’s communicative proficiency across the four skills. Teachers of any language, regardless of their own variety of English, can then be judged accordingly, and in turn, their pedagogical training and experience can occupy focal attention.

(Brown, 2006. Adaptado)

How to Exercise While Sítting At Your Computer

Is your work stressing you out? Is your work making you fat? Of course, it is. If you are in a relationship with your work like me (I hate the word "workaholic") , then maybe you are also dealing with some relationship issues like stress and weight gain. Every person who has a desk job does not need to indulge in a tub of ice-cream after a particularly stressful day at work to gain the pounds. In fact, the downside of being a way too dedicated employee is that it will make you fat! The stress to perform plus the inactivity of a desk job will definitely increase your waist size. What's more, you will become lethargic once four hours of inactivity can seriously send your metabolism leveis to an all-time low. If you think that a 30 minute walk every day is enough cardio activity in a week to maintain your metabolism, you are wrong! Yes, I was surprised too! The mathematics of this is that when you perform any cardio activity, it elevates your metabolism rate for a span of time, but not the entire day. Because the rest of the day you are sitting idle on your chair without much activity, the 30 minute walk is not enough, nor is the 1-hour intense workout. What you need to do to keep yourself from pilling on the pounds is to keep your metabolism rate high all day long. For that, you need to break the no physical activity routine from 9 to 5 by exercising while sitting at your desk!

Here are simple exercises that take 5 minutes of your day and prevent you from feeling stiff.

A) Neck: To stretch your neck, slowly flex your head forward and backward, side to side and look right and left. This can be done almost any time to lessen tension and strain. Never roll your head around your neck— this could cause damage to the joints of the neck.

B) Shoulders: Roll your shoulders forward around 10 times, then backward. This helps release the tension off your shoulders.

C) Wrists: Roll your wrists regularly, around every hour or so. Roll the wrists 10 times clockwise, then 10 times counterclockwise. This will help minimize the potential for getting carpal tunnel syndrome if you spend a lot of time typing.

D) Ankles: Roll your ankles regularly. As with your wrists, roll the ankles in a clockwise motion three times, then counterclockwise. This helps improve blood circulation, and prevents that tingling feeling you can get when blood circulation is cut off, also known as "pins and needles".

(Adapted from http://www.buzzle.com and http://www.wikihow.com)