Questões de Concursos SELECON

Por Luiz Claudio Ferreira - As crianças já vulnerabilizadas socialmente estão mais suscetíveis a riscos no ambiente digital depois de decisão da empresa Meta de redução das normas de moderação das plataformas. A avaliação é do pesquisador Pedro Hartung, diretor de Políticas e Direitos das Crianças do Instituto Alana.

"A internet aumenta as vulnerabilidades que já existem no ambiente offline", explicou em entrevista à Agência Brasil.

Ele identifica que a internet se transformou em um "campo minado" para crianças e adolescentes. E reitera que, quando as plataformas não são pensadas para sobrepor ou superar essas violências, acabam reforçando e ampliando as desigualdades.

"Crianças negras, periféricas e meninas estão muito mais sujeitas a essas violências no mundo digital não só pela reprodução dessa violência social, mas pelo aumento dessa violência", afirmou Pedro Hartung.

O pesquisador lamenta a falta de participação das grandes empresas em debates, como o que ocorreu nesta semana, em uma audiência pública na Advocacia-Geral da União (AGU) com pesquisadores e representantes da sociedade civil para elencar argumentos sobre o tema.

Ele sublinha que o ano de 2025 marca os 35 anos do Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente (ECA) e o país se vê em desafi os para enfrentar o que ele chama de "colonialismo digital". E alerta para o fato de que o afrouxamento da moderação das redes Instagram e Facebook, da Meta, por exemplo, eleva a chance de crimes nas redes. "A gente não está falando somente de dimensões ligadas a uma manifestação de uma opinião".

Como saída, ele identifica a necessidade de o Estado aplicar a lei e também da implantação de uma política de educação digital.

Lamentavelmente, as empresas e as plataformas digitais que operam no Brasil não estiveram na audiência. Escolheram não estar e contribuir para o debate com a perspectiva delas, com as informações que elas têm, para a gente criar um espaço de busca de soluções. Sem dúvida alguma, como está agora, não podemos admitir. O Congresso Nacional já vem trabalhando há alguns anos, na verdade, em projetos de lei para clarifi car e detalhar a proteção e a segurança de todos nós, inclusive de crianças no ambiente digital. O STF, recentemente, estava julgando o marco legal da internet, especialmente a constitucionalidade do artigo 19 [que aponta que a empresa somente poderá ser responsabilizada por danos se, após ordem judicial específi ca, não tomar providências]. Agora chegou a vez do Executivo assumir a sua responsabilidade de monitorar e fiscalizar o cumprimento da legislação que já existe e que garante, no caso de crianças e adolescentes, prioridade absoluta na proteção dos seus direitos.

Esse problema de moderação de conteúdo é uma falha da indústria como um todo, de todas as plataformas, de maior ou menor grau. É um verdadeiro campo minado para crianças e adolescentes, de exposição a conteúdos indevidos e muitas vezes ilegais e criminosos.

O que era ruim vai ficar ainda pior. Porque a Meta, por mais que ela tenha respondido que essas mudanças não chegaram ainda ao Brasil, sem dúvida alguma é uma mensagem do setor e é um posicionamento ideológico dessas empresas do entendimento de que o espaço da internet não teria lei. É uma mensagem muito ruim para todo o setor e, na verdade, para todos nós como sociedade.

Infelizmente, a internet que hoje a gente utiliza não foi a pensada pelos criadores da rede. Essa internet de hoje representa o verdadeiro campo minado para crianças e adolescentes no mundo, especialmente no Brasil, onde regras protetivas são menos aplicadas pelas mesmas empresas. O que já era ruim vai fi car muito pior. Vai fi car muito semelhante ao Discord, onde não tem uma moderação ativa de conteúdo e abre possibilidades para uma distribuição de informação que pode ser muito prejudicial para a saúde e integridade de crianças e adolescentes. Nós estamos falando aqui, por exemplo, de um crescimento de imagens advindas de violência contra a criança, que podem ser utilizadas, inclusive, para ameaçar crianças e adolescentes. Um crescimento, por exemplo, de cyberbullying, e também a exposição não autorizada da imagem em informações pessoais de crianças e adolescentes, ou conteúdos que ou representam ou são mesmo tratamento cruel e degradante, discurso de ódio, incitação e apologia a crimes.

Aqui a gente não está falando somente de dimensões ligadas a uma manifestação de uma opinião. A gente está falando aqui de crime muito severo que crianças e adolescentes estão submetidos por uma internet não regulada. Já vi casos de plataformas sem moderação ativa de conteúdo em que cenas advindas de violência pessoal, que a gente chamaria de pornografia infantil e de violência, circulando livremente. A plataforma sem moderação de conteúdo gera muito mais riscos para a violência contra a criança e o adolescente. E os nossos filhos e filhas, netos, sobrinhos, sobrinhas, vão estar muito mais sujeitos a esses perigos e violências.

Fonte: https://www.jb.com.br/brasil/educacao/2025/01/1054036-internet-viroucampo-minado-para-criancas-e-jovens-diz-especialista.html. Excertos. Acesso em 27/01/2025

Read the following text:

Read the following text:

The movement towards a more meaningful approach to the teaching of English as a foreign language in Brazilian regular schools reached its climax in the 20th century with the publication of the Brazilian National Curricular Parameters (PCN) for the teaching of foreign languages at basic education level. Since then, the community of teachers has been divided into those who welcomed the contents, views and propositions of the document, and the ones who believed that the suggestions it contained were inappropriate. At the center of this controversy was the importance given by the official policies to the teaching of reading, as opposed to an approach, borrowed from private language institutes, which historically favored a focus on the oral skills.

A brief overview of the recent history of ELT in Brazilian regular schools

During the 1970s, the so-called audiolingual method, based on behaviorist and structuralist assumptions, was still considered the only scientific way of teaching a foreign language. Its emphasis on the oral skills and on the exhaustive repetition of structural exercises seemed to work well in the contexts of private language institutes. Those contexts were characterized by the gathering of small numbers of highly motivated students per class, a weekly time-table superior in the number of hours to the one adopted in regular schools, and plenty of audiovisual resources. Questionable in itself, both because of its results (which in time were revealed to be less efficient than believed, especially in terms of fluency) and its theoretical assumptions, the method ended up being adopted by regular schools due to its positive reputation at the time. The failure of the methodology in this context would soon become evident, generating extreme frustration both amongst teachers and students.

From the 1980s on, with the spread of ideas connected to the so-called communicative approach and the growth of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), the community of researchers and teachers interested in the context of regular schools started reviewing the assumptions and logic of English Language Teaching (ELT). Recognizing that each and every school discipline needs to justify its presence in the curriculum socially and educationally, this movement identified the skill of reading as the most relevant one for the students attending the majority of Brazilian regular schools.This understanding was achieved by considering not only the possibility of real use outside school, but also the role this approach could play in the achievement of other educational goals, such as the improvement of student's reading abilities in Portuguese as a mother tongue. This movement reached its climax with the publication of the Brazilian National Curricular Parameters (PCN) for the teaching of foreign languages at basic education level by the end of the 1990s. The document recommended the focus on the teaching of reading within a view of language as discourse. However, it did not close the door on the teaching of any other skill, as long as the context made it possible and relevant.

This understanding was achieved by considering not only the possibility of real use outside school, but also the role this approach could play in the achievement of other educational goals, such as the improvement of student's reading abilities in Portuguese as a mother tongue. This movement reached its climax with the publication of the Brazilian National Curricular Parameters (PCN) for the teaching of foreign languages at basic education level by the end of the 1990s. The document recommended the focus on the teaching of reading within a view of language as discourse. However, it did not close the door on the teaching of any other skill, as long as the context made it possible and relevant.

Another important characteristic of the Parameters that should not be overlooked is their emphasis on teacher's autonomy. This emphasis can be seen clearly in the fact that no content or method is imposed upon the teachers. What one can find are suggestions and relevant information for teachers to make their own decisions, taking into consideration the context within which they work. In other words, the Parameters do not force any teacher to limit their focus on the teaching of reading, if they believe they can go further than that.

To be or not to be: professional identities and beliefs

When asked why they were against the focus on reading, most teachers who take this position, told me that they considered the teaching of reading to be "not enough". Most of them also added that if the teaching of reading was designed to fit a context where one cannot effectively teach the oral skills, then we should not adapt ourselves to that context, but rather demand the improvements that would make more feasible the teaching of the so-called four skills.

Let us consider these statements more closely. The first one is about quantity, that is, by teaching "only" the reading skill, the teacher would be denying her/his students the opportunity for learning all the other skills. They would be denied the opportunity for learning to speak English, which is, after all, assumed to be the real goal of teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL).

Reasonable and democratic as it may seem, such an argument fails to take into consideration at least one extremely relevant issue: the fact that in Brazil there are virtually no reports of successful teaching of the four skills in contexts other than the private language institutes. Before the mid-1980s, several different attempts were made to make ELT work out at regular schools, but only those which completely changed the characteristics of the classes (making them look almost exactly like the small, homogeneous classes of the private institutes) were able to achieve some (questionable) level of success. In other words, the integrative approach to ELT, with its claim of teaching the four skills, focusing especially on the oral skills, has never been successful in our regular schools, including most of the private ones, with very few exceptions. If that is indeed the case, then it makes very little sense to speak of giving our students more or less of something that they never really had. And even if we are to speak in such terms, then it is extremely clear (at least for those who tried it) that the communicative teaching of one skill is definitely better (and more) than the pantomime of allegedly teaching the four skills, which was never successful in the context of Brazilian schools.

Where do we go from here?

Any attempt to establish new policies for the teaching of EFL at Brazilian regular schools should start with the recognition that the PCN were a very important step towards meaningful foreign language education in this context. Without such recognition, there will always be the suspicion that the old beliefs connected to the professional identity of the teacher as an instructor are coming back.

Surely, we do not want to teach only reading forever. But sound attempts to go forward in enhancing the relevance of our teaching should start with the discussion of the three groups of reasons that justified the propositions of the PCN. The focus on reading was considered the most adequate for the majority of our schools because of practical considerations about our working conditions, social relevance, and educational relevance.

As far as practical conditions and educational relevance are concerned, virtually no major change has occurred in order to justify reframing our teaching. However, in what concerns social relevance, it is undeniable that the growth of the Internet has provided a new context for the use of the English language outside schools. For that reason, it is my belief that skills other than reading may now be taught in our classes without representing a return to a rationale that is alien to our schools. The teaching of writing in the context of Internet genres and practices is definitely necessary, if we want our students to have their own voice, becoming able to project their own local identities in global contexts.

Adapted from: ALMEIDA, Ricardo Luiz Teixeira de. Scielo Brazil – Revista Brasileira de Linguística Aplicada - https://www.scielo.br/j/rbla/a/ nNz3Jtj85xmms8MnNfwRpMn/?lang=en. Accessed: 05/02/2024.

Read the following text:

Read the following text:

The movement towards a more meaningful approach to the teaching of English as a foreign language in Brazilian regular schools reached its climax in the 20th century with the publication of the Brazilian National Curricular Parameters (PCN) for the teaching of foreign languages at basic education level. Since then, the community of teachers has been divided into those who welcomed the contents, views and propositions of the document, and the ones who believed that the suggestions it contained were inappropriate. At the center of this controversy was the importance given by the official policies to the teaching of reading, as opposed to an approach, borrowed from private language institutes, which historically favored a focus on the oral skills.

A brief overview of the recent history of ELT in Brazilian regular schools

During the 1970s, the so-called audiolingual method, based on behaviorist and structuralist assumptions, was still considered the only scientific way of teaching a foreign language. Its emphasis on the oral skills and on the exhaustive repetition of structural exercises seemed to work well in the contexts of private language institutes. Those contexts were characterized by the gathering of small numbers of highly motivated students per class, a weekly time-table superior in the number of hours to the one adopted in regular schools, and plenty of audiovisual resources. Questionable in itself, both because of its results (which in time were revealed to be less efficient than believed, especially in terms of fluency) and its theoretical assumptions, the method ended up being adopted by regular schools due to its positive reputation at the time. The failure of the methodology in this context would soon become evident, generating extreme frustration both amongst teachers and students.

From the 1980s on, with the spread of ideas connected to the so-called communicative approach and the growth of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), the community of researchers and teachers interested in the context of regular schools started reviewing the assumptions and logic of English Language Teaching (ELT). Recognizing that each and every school discipline needs to justify its presence in the curriculum socially and educationally, this movement identified the skill of reading as the most relevant one for the students attending the majority of Brazilian regular schools.This understanding was achieved by considering not only the possibility of real use outside school, but also the role this approach could play in the achievement of other educational goals, such as the improvement of student's reading abilities in Portuguese as a mother tongue. This movement reached its climax with the publication of the Brazilian National Curricular Parameters (PCN) for the teaching of foreign languages at basic education level by the end of the 1990s. The document recommended the focus on the teaching of reading within a view of language as discourse. However, it did not close the door on the teaching of any other skill, as long as the context made it possible and relevant.

This understanding was achieved by considering not only the possibility of real use outside school, but also the role this approach could play in the achievement of other educational goals, such as the improvement of student's reading abilities in Portuguese as a mother tongue. This movement reached its climax with the publication of the Brazilian National Curricular Parameters (PCN) for the teaching of foreign languages at basic education level by the end of the 1990s. The document recommended the focus on the teaching of reading within a view of language as discourse. However, it did not close the door on the teaching of any other skill, as long as the context made it possible and relevant.

Another important characteristic of the Parameters that should not be overlooked is their emphasis on teacher's autonomy. This emphasis can be seen clearly in the fact that no content or method is imposed upon the teachers. What one can find are suggestions and relevant information for teachers to make their own decisions, taking into consideration the context within which they work. In other words, the Parameters do not force any teacher to limit their focus on the teaching of reading, if they believe they can go further than that.

To be or not to be: professional identities and beliefs

When asked why they were against the focus on reading, most teachers who take this position, told me that they considered the teaching of reading to be "not enough". Most of them also added that if the teaching of reading was designed to fit a context where one cannot effectively teach the oral skills, then we should not adapt ourselves to that context, but rather demand the improvements that would make more feasible the teaching of the so-called four skills.

Let us consider these statements more closely. The first one is about quantity, that is, by teaching "only" the reading skill, the teacher would be denying her/his students the opportunity for learning all the other skills. They would be denied the opportunity for learning to speak English, which is, after all, assumed to be the real goal of teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL).

Reasonable and democratic as it may seem, such an argument fails to take into consideration at least one extremely relevant issue: the fact that in Brazil there are virtually no reports of successful teaching of the four skills in contexts other than the private language institutes. Before the mid-1980s, several different attempts were made to make ELT work out at regular schools, but only those which completely changed the characteristics of the classes (making them look almost exactly like the small, homogeneous classes of the private institutes) were able to achieve some (questionable) level of success. In other words, the integrative approach to ELT, with its claim of teaching the four skills, focusing especially on the oral skills, has never been successful in our regular schools, including most of the private ones, with very few exceptions. If that is indeed the case, then it makes very little sense to speak of giving our students more or less of something that they never really had. And even if we are to speak in such terms, then it is extremely clear (at least for those who tried it) that the communicative teaching of one skill is definitely better (and more) than the pantomime of allegedly teaching the four skills, which was never successful in the context of Brazilian schools.

Where do we go from here?

Any attempt to establish new policies for the teaching of EFL at Brazilian regular schools should start with the recognition that the PCN were a very important step towards meaningful foreign language education in this context. Without such recognition, there will always be the suspicion that the old beliefs connected to the professional identity of the teacher as an instructor are coming back.

Surely, we do not want to teach only reading forever. But sound attempts to go forward in enhancing the relevance of our teaching should start with the discussion of the three groups of reasons that justified the propositions of the PCN. The focus on reading was considered the most adequate for the majority of our schools because of practical considerations about our working conditions, social relevance, and educational relevance.

As far as practical conditions and educational relevance are concerned, virtually no major change has occurred in order to justify reframing our teaching. However, in what concerns social relevance, it is undeniable that the growth of the Internet has provided a new context for the use of the English language outside schools. For that reason, it is my belief that skills other than reading may now be taught in our classes without representing a return to a rationale that is alien to our schools. The teaching of writing in the context of Internet genres and practices is definitely necessary, if we want our students to have their own voice, becoming able to project their own local identities in global contexts.

Adapted from: ALMEIDA, Ricardo Luiz Teixeira de. Scielo Brazil – Revista Brasileira de Linguística Aplicada - https://www.scielo.br/j/rbla/a/ nNz3Jtj85xmms8MnNfwRpMn/?lang=en. Accessed: 05/02/2024.