Portuguese Language for Immigrants and Refugees in IFRS - Bento Gonçalves Campus

an instrument for access to citizenship

Abstract

The theme of this article is the Portuguese Language Course for Immigrants and Refugees offered by the Federal Institute of Science and Technology of Rio Grande do Sul - Campus Bento Gonçalves. The course was taught by students of the Supervised Internship - Extension Projects of the Degree in Literature Course. The objective of the extension action is to meet the demand of immigrants and refugees who need the Portuguese language for communication and integration into Brazilian society. As a methodology, the undergraduates developed teaching materials and taught classes to the target audience from the perspective of teaching Portuguese as a Host Language (PLAc). The topics of the classes covered essential communication situations, such as personal presentation, job interviews, financial activities and medical care, for example. The materials were developed by the undergraduate students taking into account the methodology of association between images and words, considering the vocabulary, pronunciation and phonetic difficulties of the participants. The evolution of immigrant students and the feeling of belonging to the academic community were noticeable throughout the course. On the other hand, contact with the target audience was enriching for the graduates as future education professionals. The action was in line with what advocates the curricularization of extension, in a transformative interaction between the Higher Education Institution and other sectors of society, as well as meeting one of the pillars of Higher Education Institutions: the inseparability between teaching, research and extension.