Motivations and professional expectations of postgraduate Letters students (German Language and Literature) in Brazil

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the motivations and professional expectations of the students in the Postgraduate Course in German Language and Literature of a Brazilian public university in the State of São Paulo. The research was carried out based on a questionnaire answered by 20 postgraduate students from master and doctoral programs of that institution in 2017, in order to identify the reasons that led them to choose this career and their perspectives of professional development in the area. The theoretical basis is derived from the perspective of the student beliefs studies (Silva 2007; Barcelos 2001), more specifically from the studies of students' beliefs about learning foreign languages. The research methodology corresponds to a hybrid paradigm (Mayring 2015; Kuckartz 2014; 2016), with qualitative and quantitative research characteristics. The results indicate that the participants in the investigated context are largely young people, with the majority wishing to work in higher education in their area of study. However, even if their program meets their expectations in general, there are some concerns about the difficulties faced by current Brazilian education, which is expressed through a low appreciation of the role and function of teachers.

Keywords:
Students’ beliefs; postgraduate course in German language and literature; professional goals and motivations