Fomento da autonomia na aprendizagem de inglês por meio do aconselhamento linguageiro: um estudo de caso sob a perspectiva ecológica

Abstract

This study aims at investigating the way in which language advising can contribute to the processes of autonomy development under the light of the Ecological Approach. In order to do so, I review the main concepts of those three theoretical groundings. The practices of language advising, which is a support offered to learners with the intent to foster their autonomy, are discussed from the lenses of the Ecological Approach – a new paradigm of postmodern Science which analyses its objects considering their complex character. (GIBSON, 1986; CUTTING, 1993; VAN LIER, 2004). It focuses on the investigation of the perceptions actors have of the elements in the environment, determining its affordances and constraints. The concepts presented by this approach might grant a new perspective to the study of autonomy and language advising. The research methodology which I use to guide this research is the Case Study. I describe the learning trajectory of an English learner. The instruments of data collection were the goals list, a document of the research group I belong; the recording of the advising sessions; the learning narrative and the learning journals written by the participant. The results show that the perception, interpretation and action over the affordances of the environment can be important parameters to autonomy fostering and assessment; and also that the language advisor may be a rich source of learning opportunities for language learners.