Relatos de Aprendizes de intercâmbio: a construção da Identidade e a aprendizagem de língua Inglesa

Abstract

Brazil had a 494% growth in the number of students who student exchange between 2003 and 2013. The experience of the exchange has been new for many young people who never imagined having this opportunity in life. The present work aims to investigate the problem of (re) construction of identity in the process of learning English language (EL) by means of reports from exchange students. So the research questions are: How does English language learning during students exchanges influence the construction of learners' identity issues? How does experiencing a new cultural and linguistic context alter the exchangeist's perception of himself or herself? how is this possible process of self-discovery perceived by them? The mother tongue (MT) inscribes the subject in the world, and it is through it that it goes through an "inaugural and definitive experience" becoming a talking and autonomous subject (CAVALLARI, 2011, p. 320), however in learning of EL, the relation between learner and language is different, the apprentice often feels 'unable' to express himself and to perceive himself in this new language. Observing EL learning in an exchange context in order to understand the impact of this experience on identity issues becomes even more relevant. The work is based on texts by Rajagopalan (2003), Moita Lopes (2006), Revuz (1998), Signorini (1998), among others. Data were collected through the reports of ten exchange students. Based on an interpretative methodology, the case study used questionnaires, learning memorials and the focus group as tools to observe learners' expectations and frustrations throughout the learning process. The aim is to assess how this experience affected and influenced the (re) construction of the identity of these apprentices