Questões de Concursos Língua Inglesa

The Epic of Gilgamesh, from ancient Mesopotamia, is often cited as the first great literary composition, although some shorter compositions have survived [….].

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The large majority of humankind is more or less fluent in 2 or even more languages. This raises the fundamental question how the language network in the brain is organized such that the correct target language is selected at aparticularoccasion. Here we present particular behavioral and functional magnetic resonanceimagingdata showing that bilingual processing leads to languageconflictin thebilingual brain even when the bilinguals' task only required target language knowledge. This finding demonstrates that the bilingualbrain cannot avoid language conflict, because words from the target and nontarget languages become automatically activated during reading.Importantly,stimulus-based languageconflictwas found in brain regions in the LIPC associated with phonological and semantic processing,whereasresponse-based language con whereas flict was only found in the pre-supplementary motor area/anterior cingulate cortex when language conflict leads to response conflicts.

Index terms: event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging, interlingual homographs, lexical decision, pre-supplementary motor area and anterior cingulated, response conflict.

(Adapted from: https://academic.oup.com/cercor/article/18/11/2706/296045)

Stanford linguists and psychologists study how language is interpreted by people. Even the slightest differences in language use can correspond with biased beliefs of the speakers, according to research.

One study showed that a relatively harmless sentence, such as “girls are as good as boys at math,” can subtly perpetuate sexist stereotypes. Because of the statement’s grammatical structure, it implies that being good at math is more common or natural for boys than girls, the researchers said.

Language can play a big role in how we and others perceive the world, and linguists work to discover what words and phrases can influence us, unknowingly.

Source: https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2019/08/the-power-of-language-howwords-shape-people-culture

Read Text I and answer question.

Text I

Stat: Young Americans have been securing the bag since the pandemic, largely thanks to their portfolios popping off. The combined wealth of adults under forty has shot up 80% since 2019, compared to 10% for people 40–54 and 30% for the over-55 set, according to economists at the New York Fed. That’s in part because they were poorer than their elders to start with, so they got more Covid stimulus cash that they put into stocks, which have since had a good run. But money from stocks leaves young people exposed to a volatile asset, since the market…doesn’t always go up.

(Source: https://www.morningbrew.com/daily/issues/slime-bowl)

Birth of Venus is one of the most famous paintings in the world. It was painted by Alessandro di Mariano Filipepi, known as Sandro Botticelli, who was an Italian painter of the Florentine School that emerged in the early Renaissance period. In mythology, Venus wasconceived when the Titan Cronus castrated his father, thegod Uranus, whose severed genitals fertilized the sea.

Venus was conceived when the Titan Cronus castrated his father, the god Uranus, whose severed genitals fertilized the sea. Venus is an arrestingly beautiful figure with her delicate skin and soft-flowing curls fresh from the sea. Historically, this is the most important depicted nude since classical antiquity.

Apart from its artistic quality, Birth of Venus is noteworthy for having been the first known Tuscan work of art to be painted on canvas, which is now standard but was then revolutionary, with paintings customarily done on more expensive wood panels. It was restored in 1987 to heighten the bright vividness of the painting as it first appeared, an effect achieved by the use of lustrous alabaster powder and gold leaf.

(Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica — adaptation.)

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In May 2023, the U.S. Department of Education released a report titled Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Teaching and Learning: Insights and Recommendations. The department had conducted listening sessions in 2022 with more than 700 people, including educators and parents, to gauge their views on AI. The report noted that “constituents believe that action is required now in order to get ahead of the expected increase of AI in education technology – and they want to roll up their sleeves and start working together.” People expressed anxiety about “future potential risks” with AI but also felt that “AI may enable achieving educational priorities in better ways, at scale, and with lower costs.

AI could serve – or is already serving – in several teachingand-learning roles, for instance: instructional assistants: AI’s ability to conduct human-like conversations opens up possibilities for adaptive tutoring or instructional assistants that can help explain difficult concepts to students. AI-based feedback systems can offer constructive critiques on student writing, which can help students fine-tune their writing skills. Some research also suggests certain kinds of prompts can help children generate more fruitful questions about learning. AI models might also support customized learning for students with disabilities and provide translation for English language learners; and teaching assistants: AI might tackle some of the administrative tasks that keep teachers from investing more time with their peers or students. Early uses include automated routine tasks such as drafting lesson plans, creating differentiated materials, designing worksheets, developing quizzes, and exploring ways of explaining complicated academic materials. AI can also provide educators with recommendations to meet student needs and help teachers reflect, plan, and improve their practice.

Along with these potential benefits come some difficult challenges and risks the education community must navigate. For example, both teachers and students face the risk of becoming overly reliant on AI-driven technology. For students, this could stifle learning, especially the development of critical thinking. This challenge extends to educators as well. While AI can expedite lesson-plan generation, speed does not equate to quality. Teachers may be tempted to accept the initial AI-generated content rather than devote time to reviewing and refining it for optimal educational value.

In light of these challenges, the Department of Education has stressed the importance of keeping “humans in the loop” when using AI, particularly when the output might be used to inform a decision. As the department encouraged in its 2023 report, teachers, learners, and others need to retain their agency. AI cannot “replace a teacher, a guardian, or an education leader as the custodian of their students’ learning,” the report stressed.

Adapted from: https://www.educationnext.org/a-i-in-education-leap-into-new-eramachine-intelligence-carries-risks-challenges-promises/

For years, research into the best instructional approaches for students identified as English learners has pointed to the concept of translanguaging.

Identified by bilingual education researcher Ofelia García, it’s both a skill set and a total shift in the way language is thought of, used, and taught in K-12 classrooms where multiple languages are honored and addressed, even as English remains the dominant language of instruction, said Marybelle Marrero-Colon, the associate director of professional development for the Center for Applied Linguistics.

Researchers are looking into how it can be applied to formal assessments, such as state standardized tests on which English learners might struggle to demonstrate their academic proficiency because they are tested in an unfamiliar language.

Translanguaging is the ability to move fluidly between languages and a pedagogical approach to teaching in which teachers support this ability.

In translanguaging, students are able to think in multiple languages simultaneously and use their home language as a vehicle to learn academic English.

A student could be reading an article about the solar system in English, but in their brain, they are also thinking and making connections in Spanish. They might annotate in Spanish or first write down reading comprehension responses in Spanish and then figure out how to provide the responses in English, said MarreroColon. […]

Teachers can engage in a variety of activities that deliberately encourage translanguaging, ranging from providing vocabulary in multiple languages to collaborative translation opportunities. The goal is to get students translanguaging as a practice that can be leveraged toward supporting literacy outcomes and engagement, as well as other academic endeavors.

For example, two students could be assigned to solve a word problem, and one might be stuck on a word in English. The two students can then use an equivalent word in their home language to make sense of what the word problem is asking of them, Phillips Galloway said.

Or in group activities, students can be prompted to share with the rest of the class how something taught in English would make sense in Spanish by highlighting similar and different grammatical structures between the two languages, Marrero-Colon said.

“When you translate, you don’t have to do it word for word. You’re really trying to capture the feeling of that text,” MarreroColon said.

Once teachers start doing these activities, research has found that students who have not spoken before start speaking and students who were not as engaged in text-comprehension activities suddenly are, she added. That's occurring because they are being encouraged to use their home language in class to think about language use overall.

Adapted from https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/what-is-translanguagingand-how-is-it-used-in-the-classroom/2023/07

Developing literacy skills in a foreign language can begin as early as foreign language instruction begins. Although some EFL programs delay literacy instruction for young learners and only focus on oral language development, studies have shown that it is not necessary, or even recommended, to take this approach. First, it is widely known that literacy skills in the native or first language (L1) can be transferred to reading and writing in a foreign language, such as English. Remember that “One only has to become ‘literate’ once” (Shin and Crandall, 2014, p. 160), so English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers can tap into students’ understanding of print and strategies for making meaning from text that originate in their L1 as a starting point for building literacy in English. Even further, research supports that literacy skills can be transferred bidirectionally—that is, both ways between L1 and L2—and the language of initial literacy does not necessarily need to be the L1. Even preschool-age children who are not yet literate in their L1 can still engage in early literacy activities that build reading readiness and phonemic awareness. Teachers can read big books with print aloud and use songs and rhymes to focus on the sounds of English. They can also engage students in writing readiness exercises like tracing, connecting the dots, and coloring. These are fun and effective activities for building early literacy with young EFL learners.

Although EFL teachers usually have limited time in class, sometimes only 3–5 hours a week, they should incorporate literacy instruction and not just oral skills development for young learners, especially because learning to read is also proven to assist in oral language development.[…] If students progress faster when reading is part of language instruction, EFL teachers of young learners should use a curriculum that integrates all four language skills and provides a balanced approach to literacy instruction.

Note: Shin, J. K., & Crandall, J. A. (2014). Teaching Young Learners English: From Theory to Practice. Boston: National Geographic Learning/Cengage Learning.

Given the panorama of English instruction in Brazil, particularly in the states of Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso, and considering the results of the surveys conducted with universities and teachers in both states, some conclusions and recommendations could be drawn.

Nationally, English instruction has been gaining importance and visibility through curriculum reform and the new model of upper secondary school. It is an enormously significant achievement that, for the first time, English has become mandatory in all public and private schools from 6th grade onward. The BNCC offers clarity on the competencies and abilities that students should develop at each education level. However, if, on the one hand, making English compulsory was an important step, on the other hand, the implementation of this policy is still incomplete. The main issue is the limited amount of instructional time in English in the national curriculum guidelines. As the cases of Mato Grosso and Minas Gerais illustrate, the result is that students have insufficient exposure to the language, with only two classes per week in secondary schools and one class per week in upper secondary. Under these conditions, it is unlikely that learners will develop full proficiency in the language, and teachers will have the instructional time to focus on all the necessary competencies and abilities required by the BNCC.

Another important consideration is the link between initial training for English teachers and how it interacts with the routines and challenges of the classroom. There is room for improvement when considering the mismatch between the programs of study at universities and the pedagogical practice required of English teachers and strengthened ties and communication between State Education Departments and the teacher training programs at universities.

Universities face additional challenges, such as the low English proficiency of students in the initial training courses. Initial training institutions face difficulties in thoroughly preparing future teachers regarding language proficiency and the pedagogical elements related to being an effective teacher. In this sense, the situation can create a vicious cycle; students leave schools with a low proficiency level in English, and those who decide to take the initial training courses to become English teachers and enter universities cannot fully develop proficiency as pedagogical competencies. Therefore, they enter schools not fully prepared to be teachers and face all the challenges of a classroom.

Another critical challenge is class size and the heterogeneity of students’ ability levels, which could limit teachers’ ability to implement some pedagogical practices, such as working with practicing speaking. This is not only a challenge faced by English teachers, but all teachers and that policymakers need to keep in mind. In addition, teachers commonly work in more than one school at a time and sometimes teach other subjects to meet the required hours of instructional time stipulated in their contracts.

The surveys with teachers demonstrated that many have never participated in a professional development session specifically designed for English teachers. For those who have, not all considered the helpful training to improve their knowledge and practice. This points to the fact that more attention needs to be paid to the continuous training courses offered to English teachers. These training courses should be frequent and address specific challenges, taking into account the pedagogical issues and areas that English teachers identify as most critical.

Briefly, it is important to highlight the windows of opportunity that have been opened in Brazil with the BNCC and the new upper secondary model. Through their education ministries, state governments have made significant efforts to adapt their regional curricula to the competencies and abilities listed on the BNCC and implement the first pilots and designed pathways for upper secondary schools. It remains a question of how the rest of those two processes will be implemented, but there are positive signs that English may gain more importance at a national level. At least in Minas Gerais and Mato Grosso, there is already a movement to increase the importance of the discipline.

While Minas Gerais has developed a few specific training courses for English teachers focused on improving their pedagogical knowledge through the program “Pathways for Educators” and intends to create a training pathway for upper secondary students focused in English, Mato Grosso has implemented English in all primary schools in the state and launched the program “More English,” with resources to help teachers and students. Those efforts are aligned with the national reforms and illustrate the political willingness of states to promote more actions to improve teachers’ and students’ proficiency in English.

In these states and, to some extent, at the national level, the foundations have been set to put English instruction in the spotlight as a crucial discipline to the integral development of students. However, much work and resources are still needed to realize this goal. Therefore, the following recommendations are intended to advise decision-makers at universities and State Education Departments.