The professional development of pre-service English language teachers plays a fundamental
role in the context of contemporary Brazilian education, such as, for example, in preparing
future teachers for the development of lifelong learning skills, namely, good communication,
critical thinking, digital literacy, among others, just to name a few. Such teacher development
can help the teacher to better identify, critically and reflectively, the needs and interests of
students, and enable personalized learning, through each student's life projects. Therefore, this
research aimed to present an educational process based on project-based learning (PBL),
mediated by the use of WebQuest, for pre-service English language teachers. Grounded in the
principles of the qualitative research approach and using the action research method, the
educational process, entitled “WebQuest: project-based learning in English language
teaching”, was planned, applied and evaluated in the context of the degree subject
“Technologies in the teaching and learning of foreign languages”, in the English language
teaching major, at the Faculty of Modern Foreign Languages (Faculdade de Letras
Estrangeiras Modernas - FALEM), at the Federal University of Pará (Universidade Federal do
Pará - UFPA). The results of the evaluation of the educational process demonstrate its
effectiveness in contributing to the pre-service English language teachers' professional
development, by creating conditions for meaningful learning about PBL, mediated by the
potential of WebQuest, both as a technological resource and as a methodology. It should be
noted that this educational process was evaluated by student-participants in the research and
by expert teachers. Furthermore, by integrating PBL and WebQuest, the educational process
gained aspects of innovation and replicability. It is concluded that this research can contribute
to the advancement of knowledge in the field of study of PBL in the Brazilian context of
teaching and learning the English language, with regard to curricular integration, teacher
development and the incorporation of digital technologies in PBL.
|
