The association was officially launched with some ceremony at the December 2003 immersion in Araguaina. Local authorities came in smart suits and ties and I remember, with amusement, eyes being cast askance at the British Council English Language Manager at the time, for attending this ultra formal gathering in rather casual attire. But Michael King was instrumental in securing British Council funding of RS 5,000 to cover the legal and administrative costs of registering APLITINS. Thanks to these origins, APLITINS has always enjoyed recognition and help from SEDUC TO, the Sate Secretariat of Education. To this day, dates for seminars are discussed with the Secretariat and teachers freed from teaching to attend these meetings, as well as very practical help being given in the loan of a mini bus to transport teachers and organisers from Palmas to Araguaina. APLITINS also provides an excellent forum for teacher development activities. Elisa Alcantara, one of the project tutors, now a lecturer at the Federal University of Tocantins UFT in Araguaina, is researching the contribution of APLITINS and other teachers associations to teacher development and I will be interested in reading her findings. Similar research was carried out by Daniela Debacco Project Assistant 2004 at the University of Warwick after which she won a Hornby Award in 2006. Since the end of the Tocantins English Project in December 2004, APLITINS has been the main channel for continuing contact between the British Council and the Tocantins teachers. The association has gone further than may others in Brazil by organizing further training for English teachers. One such course involves training a group of teachers for TKT (Teaching Knowledge Test) in partnership with SEDUC-TO and the Escola Technical Federal in Palmas. Postscript 5 years later Dr Barbara Thornton, writing in August 2004, sounded a note of caution, it is important not to overestimate what can realistically be achieved in the short time that language training has taken place. While, undoubtedly, the level of teachers English has improved, it would be unrealistic for them to be fluent speakers of the language given the number of hours they have studied. One of my favourite visual recollections of the project nicely reflects this point, Figure 1.2 Professor Benigno, Porto Nacional, December 2004. 17 The message on the blackboard reads: Dont forget Tomorrow, will finish this course you might keep to studying during your life go on. Now you dont have Fernanda, Sara and Maristela with you so, be careful. You improve your English yourself. Love, Benign. What remains of all this activity. All the tutors I have contacted recently feel that they were valued, well-paid by local standards and given a chance to develop their professional skills through their work with the Tocantins English Project. Among the school teachers who participated, some have risen to high positions. Professora Maria da Gloria Natividade, a very good student in the Porto Nacional class, is now responsible for the day today administration of English in high schools from her position as a coordinator for SEDUC TO. Rosana Morales, at the Regional Educational Administration in Araguaina is similarly dynamic, well placed and nostalgic about the good old days of the project. Both are active in APLITINS. Virtually all the members of the Board of APLITINS are still people who took part in the project either as students or as tutors. While the British Council has few resources for face to face contact, teachers in Tocantins were recently given a chance to participate in an e learning project. The dropout was high and something of a disappointment both to SEDUC TO and to the British Council. For human, technological and social reasons, teachers may not yet have reached a level where they can cope successfully with international materials and autonomous learning. However, the comparatively low tech course produced by the British Council for teachers in Brazil, English Teachers Portfolio, has aroused interest and it seems new groups are about to be formed in Araguaina and through APLITINS. The American Embassy, in the meanwhile, has sent several Tocantins high school students to the USA as Youth Ambassadors and recently provided short training courses in Texas on US Culture for two members of the Board of APLITINS. Some of the problems mentioned earlier, such as the poor motivation of high school students towards English classes have certainly not been solved, though there is anecdotal evidence that some of the teachers involved with the project are now planning more dynamic classes and making a very serious collective effort.
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