A integração dos dispositivos móveis no ensino e na aprendizagem da língua inglesa: investigação com alunos e professores de um curso de extensão da UFMA

Abstract

Mobile technologies such as smartphones, tablets and wireless Internet are increasingly present in people’s lives, transforming the way they do their activities. These devices are able to assist in the accomplishment of the most varied tasks and have been used into educational environments, consensually or not, bringing with its use new possibilities to the teaching practice. It is in this context that the concept of mobile learning (also known as m-Learning) arises. In the field of language learning, the idea has been mainly explored by mobile app developers. In educational institutions, however, it has found different opinions, even though it has the potential to expand learning spaces and opportunities. Taking into account the potentialities of this concept and the consequent need for investigations into its application, this research aimed to investigate to what extent and how teachers and students of a language extension project integrate mobile devices for teaching and learning English as a foreign language. This is an exploratory and descriptive study, which sought to describe the participants' profile regarding the use of mobile devices in their routines and, specifically, in the process of teaching and learning English as a foreign language and to find out the participants' perception regarding integrating these technologies for this purpose. The research was conducted at the Center for Linguistic Culture of the Federal University of Maranhão (NCL/UFMA), an extension course of this university, and the participants were teachers (18) and English language students (98), linked to the institution. As for nature, it is a study with characteristics of qualitative and quantitative research. The research was divided into bibliographic survey stage; collection of participants' profile data by applying questionnaires; conducting student experience; application of post-experience questionnaires; tabulation, analysis and discussion of data. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics with Excel software, while qualitative data were explored with content analysis. This study aims at contributing to describe the reality of the use of mobile devices for educational purposes, raising hypotheses about better use and reflecting on the results generated with this technological integration. The results showed the profile of the institution's teachers and students regarding the integration of mobile technologies in the English language teaching and learning processes and the findings of an experience conducted in two English language groups of students between August and September 2019. It was demonstrated how these technologies are perceived by students and teachers in this context. Thus, this work can contribute directly to the reflections and practices of English language teachers and students and, indirectly, to those interested in mobile learning, language teaching and learning and digital technologies in education.