Estratégias de leitura em língua inglesa para estudantes indígenas e quilombolas: uma abordagem intercultural

Abstract

Reading in English is required in higher education, especially in postgraduate courses, even though students arrive at universities without the proper proficiency. In the case of quilombola and indigenous students, who have a specific and differentiated education, there may be even more difficulties. The general objective of this research is to investigate the contribution of reading strategies in English, approached in an intercultural way, in the understanding of texts in English by indigenous and quilombola students at the Federal University of Pelotas. It starts with an intercultural approach (BYRAM, 2008) and the use of reading strategies (OXFORD, 1990). As a result of a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview about language history, it was possible to understand the profile of students who needed reading in English in their courses. Five reading workshops were developed using texts with themes relevant to indigenous peoples and quilombolas, in which two or more reading strategies were addressed. In addition, a reading test was prepared, applied before and after the workshops. We had the participation of an indigenous student from the health area. The results show that not all students need to read in English in their courses, but most consider important to have this knowledge. The workshops provided cultural exchanges and interactions between the text and the participant. It can be understood, through the analysis of the field diaries and the results in the reading test in English, that the intercultural approach helped in the interpretation of the text. Still, it can be concluded that the intercultural approach combined with reading strategies could help indigenous and quilombola people to read in English. This study aims to contribute so that future tutoring and/or reading workshops aimed at indigenous people and quilombolas can use the intercultural approach as a way to bring these students closer to the affirmative actions of the university and, thus, contribute to their permanence in higher education.