ABSTRACT
This paper aims to discuss decolonial English Language Education with literature produced by black and indigenous writers. English language classrooms have been traditionally guided by principles that underscore systemic knowledge through an overemphasis on grammar in line with the Grammar Translation Method (QUEVEDO-CAMARGO; SILVA, 2017QUEVEDO-CAMARGO, Gladys; SILVA, Gutemberg (2017). O inglês na educação básica brasileira: sabemos sobre ontem; e quanto ao amanhã? Ensino e Tecnologia em Revista, Londrina, v. 1, n. 2, p. 258-271, jul./dez.; PEREIRA, 2016PEREIRA, Fernanda Mota (2016). From non-cultural to intercultural principles: a proposal for English classes in Brazilian public schools. Intercultural Education, v. 27, n. 6, p. 577-586., 2019PEREIRA, Fernanda Mota (2019). Education and Literature: Reflections on Social, Racial, and Gender Matters/ Educação e Literatura: Reflexões sobre Questões Sociais, Raciais e de Gênero. Tradução Monique Pfau. Salvador: EDUFBA.) and by misconceptions about the limitations of teaching foreign languages for communicative purposes, especially in public schools (LEFFA, 2009; PEREIRA, 2019PEREIRA, Fernanda Mota (2019). Education and Literature: Reflections on Social, Racial, and Gender Matters/ Educação e Literatura: Reflexões sobre Questões Sociais, Raciais e de Gênero. Tradução Monique Pfau. Salvador: EDUFBA.; QUEVEDO-CAMARGO; SILVA, 2017QUEVEDO-CAMARGO, Gladys; SILVA, Gutemberg (2017). O inglês na educação básica brasileira: sabemos sobre ontem; e quanto ao amanhã? Ensino e Tecnologia em Revista, Londrina, v. 1, n. 2, p. 258-271, jul./dez.). With this in mind, I have proposed a concept of English Language Education that involves teaching the language while having a critical attitude toward social, racial, and gender problems, engendered by coloniality, with the use of literary texts (PEREIRA, 2017PEREIRA, Fernanda Mota (2017). Pedagogy of Possibility in foreign language classrooms through literature and other media in Brazil and beyond. Revista Estudos Linguísticos e Literários. p. 23-37. Available at: <https://portalseer.ufba.br/index.php/estudos/article/viewFile/24797/15695>. Accessed on August 1st, 2020.
https://portalseer.ufba.br/index.php/est...
, 2019PEREIRA, Fernanda Mota (2019). Education and Literature: Reflections on Social, Racial, and Gender Matters/ Educação e Literatura: Reflexões sobre Questões Sociais, Raciais e de Gênero. Tradução Monique Pfau. Salvador: EDUFBA., 2020PEREIRA, Fernanda Mota (2020). A literatura como alternativa para práticas decoloniais no ensino de inglês: Um estudo autoetnográfico sobre experiências de uma professora de estágio supervisionado. New Trends in Qualitative Research, 2, 69-82. https://doi.org/10.36367/ntqr.2.2020b. p. 69-82.
https://doi.org/10.36367/ntqr.2.2020b...
a, 2020b, MOTA, 2020; MOTA-PEREIRA, 2022), especially the ones produced by black and indigenous writers. Besides, the use of literature contributes to nurturing a taste for reading literary texts, which, among the aforementioned benefits, also fosters emotional consciousness and practices, including empathy (GHOSN, 2001GHOSN, Irma K (2001). Nurturing Emotional Intelligence through Literature. Available at: http://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/01-39-1-c.pdf. Accessed on: November 12th, 2016.
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). Considering these reflections, in this paper, I analyze autoethnographically (HUGHES; PENNINGTON, 2017HUGHES, S. A., & PENNINGTON, J. L. (2017). Autoethnography: Process, Product, and Possibility for Critical Social Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc.) classes I taught in an online course for public school students in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, which is part of the extension activities of a Teaching Practicum course. In these classes, literature by black and indigenous writers was the main material for decolonial English Language Education.
Keywords:
decoloniality; English; language education