The foreign Languages National textbook program (PNLD) and oral production in English didactic books

This work aims at investigating how oral production is approached in an English textbook approved by the PNLD (National Textbook Program – 2011: Foreign Languages) as compared to the guidelines which the PNLD itself establishes. Among the data collected, the current study focuses on the analyses of a section which is specifically devoted to the development of oral production skills. Based on documentary research and assuming a sociocultural view of language, we discuss to what extent the tasks presented in the textbook contribute to the formation of English speakers capable of responding/reacting properly to the various oral genres circulating in their social practices. The results show that texts created exclusively for educational purposes predominate, and the oral approach seems grounded in a still traditional view of language teaching