Portuguese as a Foreign Language: Teaching and Learning in the United States: A Dissertation

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Last updated 16 abril 2025

Portuguese as a Foreign Language: Teaching and Learning in the United States: A Dissertation

This dissertation reviewed the history of foreign language education in the United States relating it to political and economic world events. A quantitative study and a hypothesisgenerating case study revealed the motivation of learners of Portuguese as a foreign language. Portuguese teachers in higher education in the United States were surveyed and three recently published Portuguese textbooks were analyzed. The results showed that the main reasons that motivate students to learn Portuguese as a foreign language are interest in Brazilian culture, plans to travel in a Portuguese-speaking country, familiarity with Spanish language, skills needed to reach professional goals and being part of a Portuguese-speaking community. Faculty currently teaching Portuguese as a foreign language are mostly women with Ph. D. degrees who have experience and training in the field. The analysis of the three Portuguese textbooks looked at their cultural content and showed that there are particular cases where the interpretation of cultural content goes beyond the factual aspect of the situation.