The Role(s) of the Digital Genre Educational Discussion Forum in Pre-Service Education of Teachers of English

The education of teachers of English may be perceived from the perspective of the engagement of the future professionals with different literacy practices which they have to face in their daily activities. Information and communication digital technologies (ICDT) are part of several social practices which are constitutive of a new generation and at the same time exclude others who still do not have effective access to them (CGI.BR, 2011). Current paper analyzes the role(s) of educational discussion forum as a professional formation instrument for future teachers of English based on the engagement of one pre-service teacher in an elective unit course in Foreign Modern Languages – English, at a government-run university in the north of the state of Parana, Brazil. Results show the (res)signification of the future teacher within the space provided by the educational discussion forum and indicate the dynamics of the (re)construction of professional knowledge based on the use of the above-mentioned tool.