This study aims at articulating language counseling and formative assessment practices in
learning Portuguese as a Foreign Language (PFL) by beginner students who have experienced
a context of immersion in Brazil, in an intensive course to prepare for a certification exam in
which they must achieve the equivalent to B1 level of the Common European Framework of
Reference for Languages (CEFR). The motivation for carrying out this study arose from my
personal experience as a language learning advisor and from an interest in understanding how
regulatory and self-regulatory processes of formative assessment can be enhanced through
counseling practices. However, language learning advising usually takes place outside the
classroom, at the pace desired by the learner, and it is not necessarily linked to the learning
objects of language classes, as it occurs with formative assessment which is exercised towards
learning objectives. The PFL class of the Student-Graduation Agreement Program (PEC-G) of
the Federal University of Para (UFPA) has only seven to eight months to pass the exam. So, it
is a favorable environment to develop research in formative assessment and counseling
practices linked to a pedagogical action. Therefore, this research aims at contributing to a
didactic-pedagogical articulation between regulatory and self-regulatory learning processes as
well as counseling in language learning to foster students’ autonomy. This study is an action
research carried out in a class named pre-PEC-G at the School of Modern Foreign Languages
(FALEM) of the Institute of Letters and Communication (ILC) from February to October
2019, adopting a qualitative interpretative approach. Data, although limited, shows the
benefits obtained from this integration between formative assessment processes and
counseling practices that allowed a significant increase on the cognitive and metacognitive
self-regulation of learners regarding their learning process, and, consequently, enhancing the
development of their autonomy.
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