Celpe-Bras como orientações curriculares: Um olhar sobre os cursos de PLA para estudantes PEC-G

This article aims to discuss the impact of the Celpe-Bras examination on the teaching-learning process of Portuguese as an Additional Language (PAL) within the context of the Exchange Programme for Undergraduate Students (PEC-G). In so doing, a study was conducted to investigate curriculum development and curriculum enactment for PAL within seven of the twelve public universities in Brazil where, in 2015, PEC-G students were offered PAL courses. Such investigation focused on the following issues: (1) the theoretical perspectives on which curriculum development had been based; (2) the pedagogical and linguistic goals which had been established for the curriculum; and (3) the extent to which those theoretical perspectives and linguistic-pedagogical goals had been conveyed through practice itself. Nine PAL co-ordinators and ten PAL teachers participated in active in-depth semi-structured personalised interviews. Through a deductive, inductive and abductive analysis, it was possible to conclude that both the theoretical perspectives and format of the Celpe-Bras examination had informed and/or shaped curriculum development and curriculum enactment for PAL within the investigated contexts. Furthermore, the Celpe-Bras examination had also influenced the decisions regarding the linguistic resources and pedagogical goals to be prioritised for the PAL course for PEC-G students. Such decisions were represented by the selection and/or development of pedagogical materials and promoted, to a certain extent, by all those involved in the teaching-learning process – PAL programme co-ordinators, PAL teachers and the PEC-G students themselves.