Aquisição de vocabulário técnico em língua inglesa em cursos de graduação do IFPA – Campus Castanhal

Abstract

Mastery of technical vocabulary in English is important for undergraduate students because research and studies are often published in English and knowledge of specific words that are part of the metier of certain fields can help students to better understand these studies and research. In addition, knowledge of technical vocabulary in English facilitates students' communication with colleagues from other countries and to disseminate their research in international events and journals. In this sense, given the great importance that this demand imposes, the present research aims to investigate whether the amount of exposure to the English language offered in the undergraduate courses of the Castanhal campus of the Federal Institute of Pará is sufficient to promote the adequate acquisition of technical vocabulary among students. For this, the PPC - Pedagogical Course Planning - of two undergraduate courses of the IFPA Castanhal campus, Agronomy and Food Engineering, were consulted to verify the English language hours in the curricular matrix of those courses. As data collection methodology, a form with structured questions was applied to four classes (one of Food Engineering and three of Agronomy) to trace the profile of the students of the classes investigated, and two multiple-choice test models were used to verify the level of knowledge of the students in relation to English. The results obtained showed some situations that deserve careful reflection when drawing up or updating the Course Plans, with regard to the English language: around 94% of the students give great importance to the language, but an equally significant number admits not studying the foreign language outside the school environment. As for the results of the tests, they revealed that about 89% of the students do not have a satisfactory mastery of vocabulary related to subjects related to the agroecological profile of the campus or of text interpretation of the same theme. The low percentage of students who obtained regular or good concepts indicates the need for more contact with English, so that they can begin to recover this gap in knowledge. Therefore, the product proposed is a lexical tool, a bilingual illustrated guide, which contains, in addition to technical vocabulary of the main agri- food processes of the IFPA Castanhal campus (Beekeeping, Worm farming, Cattle farming, Pig farming and Dairy production), photographs, illustrations, links to download complementary materials and videos, and QR codes to provide these accesses through cell phones. It is a tool guided by the technicians of the sites investigated, and which is expected to be useful not only for students of undergraduate courses, but for anyone else interested in acquiring a little technical vocabulary in English, of the processes and procedures that are required for the development of the program.