LEARNING ENGLISH

A CONTRIBUTION TO OUR PERSONAL FORMATION AND ETHICS

            It is common sense that learning English is essential. Most people will say that English is a very important tool not only for our academic life, but for communication in general. Actually, English is the most spoken second language all over the world. Still, we wonder if people are aware of the deep impact that learning English has on our personal formation.

            The experience that we had in the English classes until the end of our basic education (3º Ciclo) was clearly a reinforcement of our four basic skills as communicators: listening, speaking, reading and writing. It was obviously a very important contribution not only to our performance in English, but to all the other subjects as well. We could gradually improve our speech by adding logic and a deeper meaning to our utterances, and that helped us to grow up and feel more mature. We could learn the difference between being formal and informal and also about the importance of reading. Actually, it was through literature that we developed special interests in other artistic fields, such as cinema, painting or music. Some of us enjoyed working on the individual portfolio, which is a very good way to develop some important virtues, like organisation and perseverance.

             Learning English at a higher level, such as the Secondary (10º, 11º and 12º) has been a very rewarding experience since we realise that it is no longer simply learning the language, but shaping our character as persons. Along with the contents and aims of the syllabus, we can also develop a few more virtues, such as objectivity, responsibility, optimism and sense of humour (particularly when facing the results of a written test…). It is obviously a clear contribution to our personal formation as individuals, and it even helps us to think critically about issues that require an ethical approach.

            The social and cultural dimension of the English syllabus takes us to the discussion of topics such as The Technological World (Man versus machine, Virtual Worlds), Social Changes (Family, Education and Human Relationships), Work, Mass Media and Global Communication (Internet, Communication and Ethics – Info Manipulation), Young People in the Global Era (Values, Attitudes and Behaviours - Consumerism), and Bioethics (Gene manipulation and Cloning). Throughout the 12º, we will deal with topics such as Citizenship, Multiculturalism, Cultures, Arts and Society (Literature, Cinema and Music in the 21^st century) and Native Cultures (Native Americans, The Maoris, etc.).

            Moreover, the English subject is taught with methodologies and resources whose cultural dimension adds to our motivation so much to the extent of saying: “Learning English is for life!”

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68 Branco, 238 Eugénio, 302 Pires, 407 Miguel, 451 Fernandes