Lingua Franca, Race, and Gender in an English Language Textbook Approved by the PNLD 2020

Abstract

This paper discusses the possible connections between lingua franca, gender and race established in a high school textbook dedicated to the teaching of English and approved by the 2020’s PNLD. Based on considerations from the 2021’s PNLD guide, which categorizes the chosen textbook as adhering to the paradigm of the lingua franca and aligned with Contemporary and Transversal Themes, discusses how gender, race and language are related in the construction of said material. The theoretical-methodological framework adopted covers theoretical presuppositions of decoloniality, discussions about lingua franca and Foucault’s conception of discourse and truth. Shortly, even though the textbook presented numerically relevant content on gender and race, it also assumed a lingua franca perspective aligned with a utilitarian idea of language, causing the hiding of the power relations implied in the production of a lingua franca, as well as in gender and racial relations, perpetuating neoliberal logics and colonialism.

Keywords:
Língua Franca; Gender; Race; Textbook