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American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS)
ISSN (Print) 2313-4410, ISSN (Online) 2313-4402
© Global Society of Scientific Research and Researchers
http://asrjetsjournal.org/
Educational Public Policies on English Language Teaching
in Brazil Based on Neuroscience and Psychology of
Human Development
Isabelle Lorena Alves de Souza Neves
a*
, Felipe Oliveira Neves
b
a
Graduate degree in Letters, Linguistic; Degree in Letters - Portuguese and English; Psychology Graduate
Student Gurupi University-Unirg
b
Anesthesiologist / Lecturer in medical semiology
a
Faculty of Applied Social Sciences of Marabá – FACIMAB, Court 08 Lot 01 - Loteamento Novo Progresso, s/n
São Félix, Marabá – PA
b
University José do Rosário Velano in Alfenas, Minas Gerais-Brazil
a,b
University of Gurupi-UnirG - Av. Rio de Janeiro, Nº 1585 - St. Central, Gurupi - TO, 77403-090, Brazil
a
Email: isabellealvesneves002@gmail.com
b
Email: felipenevesdami@gmail.com
Abstract
The present study aims to reflect on the teaching of the English language in the initial grades of public and
private network schools, it is considered that the offerings in public schools occur from the second phase of
Elementary School, while in private school begins in Early Childhood Education. Through the qualitative
method, it is sought to emphasize the relevance of the English Language and to point out the importance of
insertion of this Language still in early childhood, to contribute to the fight against educational inequality in
Brazil. It highlights in this bibliographic study questions pertinent to neuroscience as well as learning. The
theoretical and methodological basis used in the research is based on theories of scholars such as Guyton and
Hall, Watson, Skinner, Battro, Wallon and Vygotsky. The results showed that the early childhood learning
process is flawed due to the moment the English Language is offered in public schools and the first step towards
the reversion of this panorama may be through reflection with the attempt to change the current scenario.
Keywords: Reflection; English Language; Offer; Learning; Basic Education.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Corresponding author.
American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2021) Volume 76, No 1, pp 12-19
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1. Introduction
Learning has been studied for decades and researchers have tried to construct theories that can decipher this
process. The importance of this reflection is indisputable, since it is a resource for acquiring new knowledge and
is considered one of the main functions of human beings and, although it is an explored field, it is one of the
greatest challenges for Education in Brazil. In the age of globalization, the importance of learning foreign
languages is undeniable and priority is given to English, which, although not the most widely spoken language
in the world, is the dominant language due to its powerful influence on the world economy. It is the most
commonly used language for intercultural communication and offers more cultural and leisure channels.
Speaking and writing English have become prerequisites for many job and study opportunities and should be
understood as a new possibility to see, understand the world and build meanings. In this perspective, it is
obvious that English is inserted since early childhood education, because English is of great importance in many
aspects of the world market, as the market is highly competitive and innovative. This language started to be
considered a priority in the contemporary world and brought benefits for learning English, in addition to
Portuguese, knowledge of the English language is also necessary. This term is used to refer to the language
process involved in the language. This work is called "language learning". This process is supported by the
theory of the American linguist Steven Krashen, who defines learning as derived from the conscious process of
formal knowledge. "This type of language is a learning that can only be achieved through intellectual effort
1
.
1
According to Krashen, a person can develop competence in a second language in two ways: through acquisition
or through learning. The acquisition of a language occurs through a subconscious process, similar, if not
identical, to the way in which children develop their ability in the first language and learning (learning) refers to
the conscious knowledge of a second language, the knowledge of rules, being aware of them and being able to
talk about them [7]. The problem that guides this work is based on the problem of Brazil waking up to insert
English in the educational curriculum. From the sixth year of elementary education in public schools, the
Ministry of Education (MEC) made important changes to the national education foundation and foreign
language requirements. Despite these regulations, the English level of these students is not satisfactory. On the
other hand, in private schools, English teaching has been used since early childhood education, which offers
opportunities for children from small to large to have contact with English. Therefore, we start from the
following question: Is there a difference in the level of English proficiency between students from public and
private schools? It can be considered that the existence of this hypothesis is due to the fact that both parties
provide the time for this language, and this form of reasoning exists, therefore, the objective of this research is
to directly promote research and possible changes related to the beginning of the stimulus. The first step towards
a country with a more equal education. The methodological path to achieve these goals is guided by learning
methods, such as behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism and social constructivism, as well as neuroscience
concepts, in order to emphasize the best time to provide knowledge to human beings. It is hoped that this
research will help to understand this fact exposed, thus providing a way for political authorities, teachers and
professionals in the region to reflect on English in public basic education.
1.1. Public policies on education
In line with the philosophy of educational work, the LDB - National Education Guidelines and Bases Law
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provides the student with the theoretical framework to achieve, in practice, the effectiveness of teaching the
English Language. According to this law, better known by the acronym LDB, the teaching of at least one
foreign language must be applied compulsorily from the sixth year of schooling and extends to high school in
public and private schools. found in article 26, 5th paragraph LDB [4], while in private schools the Foreign
Language is offered since Early Childhood Education. Therefore, public school students fall behind on their
first exposure to the language, as most private schools offer learning in some areas of academic knowledge,
including encouraging the use of English since early childhood education. BNCC - The National Public
Curricular Base stipulates: “All Brazilian students must have the opportunity to enroll during school life and
stipulates that English should be taught at school with a “character formation” [2]. About this, the PCNs -
National Curriculum Parameters of the Foreign Language, from a pragmatic perspective, that: The development
of communicative skills, in more than one language, is essential for access to the information society. In order
for people to have more equal access to the academic world, the business world and the world of technology,
etc., it is essential that foreign language teaching be understood and implemented as teaching that offers
indispensable work tools [17].
1.2. Reality of english language teaching of public and private schools
It is known that there are problems in Brazilian Education, the reality experienced in the classrooms points out
some negative factors, among them are: low salaries, frustrated teachers who run into daily classroom
difficulties, parents who do not participate in their children's education, among many other aggravating factors.
Private schools are part of an education provided by a private for-profit entity and although the state straits
standards of education they have no universal character, so they become more autonomous. Public schools, on
the other hand, because they are government-sponsored institutions must offer teaching directly stipulated by the
government, according to the Law governing it. From Narrative 14 in the book “English in public schools DO
NOT work: one issue, multiple looks”, a student reports his experience in public school and who was looking
forward to the first contact with the English language in elementary school and points out, through testimony,
his disappointment with the teaching of the English language in the public school, exposing frustration in the
face of the teaching/learning of the language in the public institution. “We had the illusion that we were going to
learn English at school, an illusion destroyed that same year, when I realized that spending the whole year
studying the alphabet would not lead me to the realization of my desire to speak at least a few words in the
language of the songs that I liked to hear.” [18]. The narrator exposes his disappointment of waiting so long to
study the English language and carry this frustration to high school, where he proved that he would not learn
English.
1.3. Neuroscience: early childhood, a great opportunity for learning
According to [10], children are able to learn more than one language even in their first years of life. To insert
this knowledge in early childhood (children under six years of age), it would be convenient to stimulate a
Foreign Language from an early age, for familiarization with the language.
According to Figueiredo,
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The age of the individual is one of the factors that determine how a language is learned. But opportunities for
learning, motivation to learn, and individual differences are also determining factors for learning success [19].
It is known that the development of the nervous system begins with intrauterine life and ends in pre-adolescence
with the lateralization of the center of the spoken word. This development provides the child with more effective
learning than the adult, this is related to the sensory, affective, cognitive and assimilation capacity. According to
Guyton and Hall, the Wernicke area is a region of the human brain responsible for knowledge, interpretation and
association of information, more specifically the understanding of language, as the quote explains: The sensory
area of the dominant hemisphere for interpretation of language is Wernicke’s area, and this is closely associated
with both the primary and secondary hearing areas of the temporal lobe. This close relation probably results
from the fact that the first introduction to language is by way of hearing. Later in life, when visual perception of
language through the medium of reading develops, the visual information conveyed by written words is then
presumably channeled through the angular gyrus, a visual association area, into the already developed
Wernicke’s language interpretative area of the dominant temporal lobe [6]. Some memories can only last a few
seconds, while others can last for hours, months or years. To discuss this point [6] are based on common
memory classifications (short-term memory, medium-term memory and long-term memory), in which they
explain the need to integrate memory for switch from short-term memory to long-term memory. Studies show
that to increase the transfer of short-term memory to long-term memory, repetition is necessary. Guyton and
Hall state:
Psychological studies have shown that rehearsal of the same information again and again in the mind accelerates
and potentiates the degree of transfer of short-term memory into long-term memory and therefore accelerates
and enhances consolidation [6]. It is true to say that you can learn other languages at any age, but children in
early childhood are in the early stages of learning, so they are more likely to learn another language. Scientific
research published by BBC News Brasil (British Broadcasting Corporation), proves that there are critical
periods in the organization of certain higher functions by the nervous system. The published report [3] BRIGGS
(2013) exposes research in which British and American scientists discovered that there is a critical window of
formation in the brain between children aged two and four years, during which it is open to a certain type of
experience for language improvement and language skills are shown to develop very quickly in early childhood.
The experiment was carried out with more than 100 children, with normal brain development. "The immersion
of children in a bilingual environment before the age of four offers a better chance for them to become fluent in
both languages, the research suggests." Explains the researcher who led the research, Jonathan
O'Muircheartaigh, from Kings College. Thus, the insertion of the English language in early childhood would be
interesting to obtain better results, due to the human brain developing most of the connections between neurons.
1.4. Learning approaches
According to Oliveira [11], “learning is a process of building knowledge, of developments and skills and of
acquiring and/or changing behaviors and attitudes” and [8] defines learning as “any relatively permanent change
in behavioral potential”. We learn because we are empowered and our brain is designed to assimilate
knowledge. Many philosophers, educators, scientists, psychologists, among other professionals, are dedicated to
unveiling how learning occurs, from behaviorism, cognitive theories and neuroscience.
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In the face of studies on language learning and acquisition, there are several questions and theoretical
approaches capable of guiding the investigation of learning phenomena. Among these strands, one can argue
according to some authors who played respectable roles such as Watson and Skinner's Behaviorism, Piaget's
constructivism, Vygotsky's Constructivism partner, Wallonian Psychogenetics, among others. These authors
seek in their work how learning and acquisition take place and structure these processes in stages, ranging from
birth to adulthood. In the first half of the last century, Behaviorist theories scientifically explain human
behavior. At the beginning of the twentieth century, it branched out in some areas that defended similar ideas,
but with divergences. The father of Methodological Behaviorism, John Watson and Frederic Skinner creator of
Radical Behaviorism believes that human behavior is defined by stimulus - answers.
According to Skinner himself,
If psychology is a science of mental life - of the mind, of conscious experience - then it must develop and
defend a special methodology, which has not yet been done successfully. If, on the other hand, it is a science of
the behavior of organisms, human or otherwise, then it is part of biology, a natural science for which tested and
very successful methods are available. The basic question is not about the nature of the material from which the
world is made or whether it is made of one or two materials, but the dimensions of the things studied by
psychology and the methods relevant to them [13].
According to Watson,
“Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll
guarantee to take anyone at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select — doctor,
lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants,
tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.” At the end of the 1960s, Constructivism emerged,
Behaviorism was further expanded, Constructivists did not completely contradict Behaviorism they amplified
the Behaviorist equation and cognition (reasoning) was added to studies, in addition to stimuli, responses,
reinforcements and punishments of Behaviorism. Following Claparède who states that “Intelligence is an
adaptation” [1], Jean Piaget defines assimilation and accommodation as the process of this “adaptation”. It
would be assimilation, “I) the organism irrevocably unsets and ends up destroying itself. II) the organism
accommodates itself to the new environment and manages to produce a new adaptive cycle.” And
accommodation, “the result of the pressures exerted by the environment” [1] . In this way, there is a
transformation of the subject under the action of the elements of the environment, a structure is modified or
created and shows a more qualitative than quantitative approach to the reasoning of assimilation according to
Piaget's philosophy. The child needs to be stimulated since teaching should promote development. The main
question for Piaget is how do you move from a state of lesser knowledge to a state of greater knowledge?
According to Piaget, knowledge is built internally and learning depends on the level of development of the
subject, in an interactionist view of learning through the balance between assimilation and accommodation. “On
this order of knowledge acquisition, learning can be introduced, that is, it can provoke an acceleration of the
acquisition processes.” [1]. According to Jean Piaget's Constructivist idea, the child goes through stages to
acquire and build knowledge. Relevant factors for cognitive development are listed, which first passes through
American Scientific Research Journal for Engineering, Technology, and Sciences (ASRJETS) (2021) Volume 76, No 1, pp 12-19
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the biological factor, later through experiences and social interactions and ends with the balance of actions.
Piaget explains genetic epistemology internally, without depending on scientific frameworks. "The activity of
the subject and the construction of his representation of things is studied with reference to a supposed external,
objective and stable reality, which is the real as researched by current science." [1]. For [15], there is “an exact
coincidence between the child's level of evolution and age. The succession of ages is the succession of progress.
Every moment of childhood is a time of addition”. Learning is associated with the development of individuality
as an affective and cognitive unit of the subjects. Through a succession of stages and conflicts, the study of
human development is carried out. An individual's interaction with the biological world does not depend on his
mental maturity but on his ability to interact with the existing culture between the subject and the environment.
A young child may not be ready to learn grammatical rules, but he can develop listening and pronunciation.
According to Vygotsky, organism and environment exert reciprocal influence, therefore the biological and the
social are not dissociated. In this perspective, the socio-interactionist is seen as someone who transforms and is
transformed in the relations produced in a given culture [12]. In this way, Vygotsky developed the Zone of
Proximal Development (ZDP) is the “level that it reaches when solving problems with the help of another
person” [14]. You cannot teach a one-year-old to read, or a three-year-old to write. In this way, the analysis of
learning is simplified to determine the level of development that various functions must achieve to make
learning possible. When the child's memory is developed enough for him to remember the letters, when his
attention can be focused on an extraordinary task, when his mind is mature enough to allow him to understand
the connection between symbols and sounds, He started teaching children [14].
2. Methodology
This article is a descriptive study since it describes characteristics of a phenomenon, it is a qualitative approach
and bibliographic surveys are adopted as a procedure, in order to develop an understanding of the opportune
moment to stimulate a second language, focusing on the fertile period of human learning. According to [9], the
study carried out is suitable for the bibliographic perspective because it is also characterized as basic research,
as it aims to demonstrate learning approaches for the progress of Education in Brazil.
For Moresi, bibliographic research:
“It is the systematic study developed based on material published in books, magazines, newspapers, electronic
networks, that is, the material accessible to the general public. It provides analytical tools for any other type of
research, but it can also be exhausted in itself [9]”. To carry out this, the bibliographic survey was based on
analyzes of the literature already published in the form of books, magazines, separate publications, written and
electronic press, made available on the internet. Thus, it consists of the basic resource for the studies of course
completion works, through which the theoretical understanding of the subject is sought. Thus, it relies on
theoreticians and scholars in the field of learning in order to investigate the late supply of the English language
in public schools in relation to private schools.
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3. Final results and considerations
Awareness is a powerful resource to identify and modify undesirable consequences in Education and this must
be an intellectual exercise developed by academics and teachers. This study aspires to the qualification of
Education in Brazil through progressive education. It is noticed that the theories under study support effective
learning, although none of them specify how the acquisition of the English language works, it is up to the
mediator to choose the best teaching/learning strategy, and it is also found that several factors influence the
acquisition of the English language. It is also considered that several factors can cause the competence gap
between these students, among them: Teacher didactics, adopted methodology, social level, etc. According to
empirical data that during the classroom through college internships, PIBID (Teaching Initiation Program) and
as a language course teacher, the difference between the English language competence of public-school students
and the private network, since it was observed that most students do not have language skills and difficulties that
leave gaps that block them from internalizing knowledge. That said, the objective proposed in this study was
achieved insofar as it reflects on the moment of the insertion of the English language in Brazilian public schools,
where there is a difference in relation to private schools. Thus, this study sought to answer the following
question: Is there a difference in English language competence between students from public and private
schools? The answer to this question was found in the literature presented in this study and prove that there is a
difference to stimuli in early childhood, as they provide greater reasoning skills and facilitate language learning.
Even if a child is not able to learn the norms of a language, exposure to this stimulus will have benefits, since
the brain develops very fast. The concepts cited in this study show that the hypothesis was proven due to the fact
that early childhood was the best time to insert knowledge. It is considered, therefore, that this study makes
possible the possibility of deepening knowledge through research with third-year students of High School, who
do not study in a language course for analysis of English language competence in order to establish a parameter
between them. Awareness is a powerful resource to identify and modify undesirable consequences in Education
and this must be an intellectual exercise developed by academics and teachers. This study aspires to the
qualification of Education in Brazil through progressive education. Finally, it was possible to perceive that the
theories studied attest to the support for effective learning, although none of them affirms which is the best for
this process to happen, it is, therefore, at the discretion of the mediator the best strategy according to the needs
and objectives of your students.
References
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2013. BBC News Brasil. Available at:
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Accessed on: 12 Nov. 2018.
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