Reinildes Dias

Technologies, literacies in English oral communication and teacher education: an empirical study at the university level

The main purpose of this article is to report data findings and results obtained in a 60-hour course designed for 20 pre-service English teachers in the first semester of 2014. The course integrated technologies and pedagogical practices to improve advanced oral communication skills. The theoretical framework comprised Kalantzis and Cope (2012, 2013) and their work on literacy, the use of technology by Prensky (2010) and Warschauer (2011), blended learning (THORNE, 2003) and genre (KRESS, 2003). The methodology involved critical reflection of teaching practices, blended-learning classes using Moodle forums and class discussions as well as recording of personal introductions, interviews and documentaries. The results showed that our student teachers improved their oral communication skills by means of critical reflection, use of web tools and recording, thus comprehending oral genres in a significant way. Based on our study, we can say that they will be able to implement these instructional strategies in their future teaching practices.

Evaluation of caprine arthritis-encephalitis virus transmission in newborn goat kids

Abstract: Caprine arthritis encephalitis causes considerable losses in goat production. The main form of the caprine arthritis encephalitis virus transmission is through the ingestion of colostrum or milk from infected females. However, some transmissions cannot be explained in this manner. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate transplacental transmission of caprine arthritis encephalitis virus. Blood samples were collected from 283 newborn kids of Anglo-Nubian and Saanen breeds born from seropositive and seronegative goats. Samples were collected immediately after birth and analyzed with agarose gel immunodiffusion and western blot. All samples were negative in the agarose gel immunodiffusion. However, the western blot test demonstrated that four kids were born positive for caprine arthritis encephalitis virus. This result indicates that although in a low frequency (1.4%), there is a possibility of transplacental transmission of small ruminant lentivirus. [Estudo da transmissao do virus da artrite-encefalite caprina em cabritos neonatos]. Resumo: A artrite encefalite caprina causa perdas consideraveis para a producao caprina. A principal forma de transmissao do virus da artrite encefalite caprina e a ingestao de colostro ou leite de femeas infectadas. No entanto, algumas transmissoes nao podem ser explicadas por esta via. Dessa forma, este estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a transmissao do virus da artrite encefalite caprina por via transplacentaria (vertical). Foram realizadas coletas de sangue em 283 crias recem-nascidas das racas Anglo-Nubiana e Saanen, provenientes de progenitores soropositivos e soronegativos. As amostras foram coletadas logo apos o nascimento e analisadas pelas tecnicas de imunodifusao em gel de agarose e western blot. No teste de imunodifusao em gel de agarose, nenhum cabrito foi detectado reagente. Porem, no teste de western blot, quatro cabritos nasceram soropositivos. Esse resultado indica que, apesar de baixa frequencia (1,4%), existe a possibilidade de transmissao via transplacentaria do lentivirus de pequenos ruminantes.

Semiotic inspection intermediated method: a case study with deaf students

Accessibility actions in Distance Education (DE) seek to contribute to the integration of deaf students in higher education. For the actions that can be proposed, it is necessary to be well acquainted of the needs of this target audience in terms of communication, language and interface design. The aim of this study was then to evaluate the communicability of the Virtual UFMG interface, customized in Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) Moodle, using the Semiotic Inspection Intermediated Method (SUM). The application of this method revealed the main communication problems in the Virtual UFMG interface, apprehended the special needs of the deaf in both situations, in the DE context and the VLE Moodle environments. The results from this application also showed the relevant categories of the systems use and also proposed suggestions for the interface improvement. It was then possible to generate indicators on accessibility in distance education written in Portuguese and focused on deaf users, contributing to their accessibility to DE contexts of academic studies.

Inglês instrumental: using strategies to teach English as a foreign language

Although its position seems secure in the majority of Brazilian undergraduate first-year courses of different backgrounds and in technical schools at high-school levei, the teaching-learning process of inglês instrumental has often been the focus of unfounded criticism indicating that a lot ofmisunderstanding still prevails. Apoint to make at the outset is that this process is firmly grounded on sound theoretical and applied research, mainly from the perspectives ofpsycholinguistics, discourse analysis, reading theories, and cognitive science (Bradsford & Johnson, 1979; Dooling & Lachman, 1971; Leahey & Harris, 1989; Nuttall, 1983; Meyer, 1985; Smith, 1988;Rumelhart, 1980; West, Farmer & Wolff, 1991; Widdowson, 1983) and a lot ofresearch has already been developed in our context (Dias, 1986; 1987; 1992; 1993; 1994; Kleiman, 1990a; 1990b; Santos, 1986).

EFL teaching approaches and the role of reading

This paper makes a survey of some theoretical issues related to the scientific study of language and their influence on FL teaching methods. We will lean towards historical and interdisciplinary matters by Fitting the teaching of reading within the broadcr context of second language teaching. We will discuss some important issues — linguistic, psycholinguistic, sociolinguistic —and use them as frameworks to explain the evolution second language teaching has undergone —from a roechanistic approach to a more mentalistic one. This means that language teaching has shifted from a view of language as an automatic phenomenon to a thinking one. In our diachronic orientation — from the 40s and 50s to our days — we mean to show that language teaching has shifted from a formalistic orientation with particular emphasis on language strueture to a more communicative one with a primary concern with the communicative features of language. Attention will be restricted only to the major and more

The Semiotics of written discourse and the dual representation of information in memory: an application of nonverbal elements to FL reading

This dissertation advocates a recurrent and systematic use of nonverbal elements, as well as pictorial information incorporated into the reading lesson, to initiate linguistic activity in the teaching of FL reading. For this purpose, two broad avenues are brought to bear. The first is discourse-oriented and includes an expanded review of the structure of the written text with its two basic semiotic devices, the verbal and nonverbal ones. The second is cognition-oriented and includes a review of two important issues, namely, the information-processing system and the concept of schema. These two cognitive issues inform the view this dissertation adopts of comprehension as an interactive process which involves both text-presented material and the information the reader brings to the reading task in the form of previous knowledge. Still within cognitive psychology another issue is discussed, namely, Paivios dual-coding theory, which provides the specific theoretical basis for the major argument of this dissertation. Paivios theory of memory comprises verbal and nonverbal representations and fits in neatly with the structure of written discourse. All theoretical issues are finally translated into suggestions of activities for each phase of a reading lesson. The underlying purpose is to bridge theory and practice towards a more efficient FL reading methodology for high-school students.