Browsing by Author "Benini Moézia de Lima, Bianca"

This study investigates the linguistic integration practices and strategies in the Brazilian Portuguese courses Módulo Acolhimento (Host Module) at the University of Brasília (UnB). The selected case analyzed is the language course Acolher 3 that it is part of Módulo Acolhimento classes. The courses in Módulo Acolhimento aims to organize and provide Brazilian Portuguese classes to migrants and refugees and promote linguistic, labor, and cultural integration. This study's main objectives are to explore linguistic integration as part of the language policies in Brazil and to analyze the teaching and learning materials used in Acolher 3. The theoretical framework consists of interculturality, multiculturality, integration, and language policy theories. Moreover, the theoretical background is also based on the discussions in the field of Português como Língua de Acolhimento (Portuguese as a welcoming language) and Critical Discourse Analysis. This research's design is a qualitative study, and its methods are participant observation, questionnaires from the key participants, semi-structured interviews, and document review. The sources produced include fieldwork diaries, replied questionnaires, recorded interviews, and the teaching material collected in the course Acolher 3. The study group included people coming from Haiti, Congo, Ghana, Togo, Cuba, and Syria. Their age ranged from 25 to 53 years. Most of the students were from Haiti and spoke French and Haitian Creole (Kreyòl). The results indicate that the linguistic integration practices in Acolher 3 are linked with the learners' individual goals to learn Brazilian Portuguese in Módulo Acolhimento, which were mainly to acquire the language knowledge that could support the participant's employment and everyday life situations. Moreover, the image of Acolher 3 in the integration process is associated with access to the institutionalized and legitimized spaces as well as required documents, such as a language skills certificate. This thesis also shows that the teaching material used in the language course Acolher 3 can demonstrate the obstacles in the integration process of migrants and refugees in Brazil. The main difficulties are the lacking background information about labor rights, Brazilian public healthcare, housing, and learning possibilities. In this teaching context, learning the majority language is associated with acquiring the language norms and the "correct" language variety. The teaching material used in the course includes different text genres, such as chronicles and news reports. Furthermore, the presence of the text genres aims to present linguistic varieties and discuss labor rights and social inclusion. Therefore, the study concludes that the Portuguese knowledge in linguistic integration is linked with the representation of Brazilian culture practices. The teaching material also aims to transmit national cultures and the country's identity in the classroom. For a further research, comparative studies of language policies and linguistic integration of migrations and refugees are suggested. The future investigation could address the language tests, such as the national language proficiency test (in Finnish, Yki) in Finland and the Certificate of Proficiency in Brazilian Portuguese for Foreigners (in Portuguese, Celpe-Bras).