RELAÇÃO ENTRE PENSAMENTO E LINGUAGEM NA APRENDIZAGEM DA LEITURA E DA ESCRITA EM ALUNOS INICIANTES DO ENSINO SUPERIOR.

Abstract

This study deals with the relationship between thought and language as applied to beginner Third Level students learning of reading and writing. The study is justified, on the one hand, because the development of linguistic competence in reading and writing is vitally important for students success. On the other hand, it is justified by the perception of increasing difficulties in this area among students beginning their university course. The study aimed at identifying the reading and writing difficulties of beginner Third Level students and how these difficulties relate to socio-cultural and pedagogical determiners. Classroom observation, life stories and interviews were used as a means of collecting date in this qualitative research case study. The analysis of how socio-cultural and linguistic aspects interfere in the teaching and learning processes of reading and writing was based on historical and cultural theory, especially on contributions from Vygotsky and Davydov. The research was undertaken with teaching staff and students in three Courses at the Universidade Católica de Goiás (UCG): Psychology, Archeology and Pedagogy, in Portuguese Language, a subject taught during the first semester in all UCG undergraduate courses. It was insured that all three classes represented courses made up of students from different social backgrounds, based on information from the UCG student profile. In each of the three classes, a group of students was selected as subjects of this research. The investigation took place throughout the first semester of 2006. Analysis of the data suggested distinct levels of linguistic competence among the students, which confirmed other research and the teachers own perceptions. The interviews and life stories showed effective echoes of socio-cultural factors, both familiar and pedagogical, in the students learning. In addition, the data pointed towards the need for pedagogical intervention which would help students overcome their difficulties, especially when competence in critical thinking, associated with material content, are added to the development of reading and writing skills. The results of the research indicated pedagogical and didactic proposals in the sphere of learning to read and write which would lead to the formation of actions for critical thinking and learning, aimed at improving cognitive competence.