INGLÊS PARA FINS ESPECÍFICOS: CONHECER A NECESSIDADE DOS ALUNOS, SELECIONAR TEXTOS AUTÊNTICOS E AVALIAR

Abstract

Nowadays the English language proficiency in technological courses is considered of high importance since the market demands professionals who need to master the English language in addition to the specific knowledge of their working area. The English teacher presents the challenge of seeking a teaching approach that arouses students’ interest in the subject and exploits its use in the work environment. In order to face this challenge, it was attended the online course English For Specific Purposes, Aligning Context With Practice And Materials (ESP) offered by Oregon University. The course offered the teachers better understand about ESP and provided them with new teaching approaches, material preparation and continuous assessment. The goal of this study was to identify students’ needs from FATEC Bauru in relation to the English Language in order to offer them a better learning approach. First it was selected a target group of thirty (30) students, twenty-five (25) men and five (5) women, all enrolled in the subject English V of  Database course. The application of a questionnaire, and its later analysis enabled us to identify the types of texts and subjects that awakened the student’s interest in learning the language. After that, new materials were selected, including authentic texts that contemplated the area of Information Technology (IT). Finally, educational activities have been developed taking into account the presented students’ needs. A growing and continuing student participation in the class activities were observed, as they recognized in the proposed tasks, daily situations experienced at work. It is concluded that the effective participation of the students in the classroom is directly associated with their interest in it. To meet the students’ needs is the first step followed by selecting authentic texts that allow them to achieve communicative competence in English.