Abstract
This paper reports on the pedagogical experience of using Lahiri’s autobiographical book In altre parole (In other words) (LAHIRI, 2015LAHIRI, J. (2015). In altre parole. Milano: Ugo Guanda.) in a course for Italian majors in a Brazilian university. This literary work was chosen as the main material for the course with the intention of promoting students’ reflection on their language learning process and their linguistic identities while offering a model that challenges an essentialist view of languages and cultures (ISHIHARA; PORCELLATO, 2022; ISHIHARA; PORCELLATO; PRADO, 2023ISHIHARA, N.; PORCELLATO, A. M.; PRADO, M. (2023) Teachers’ identity and agency in L2 pragmatics: Supporting teachers’ translingual identity as pedagogy through narratives. In: MARTÍNEZ FLOR, A.; SÁNCHEZ-HERNÁNDEZ, A., BARÓN PARÉS, J. (Orgs.); L2 pragmatics in action: teachers, learner and the teaching-learning interaction process, Language learning & language teaching. p.89-112, 2023. Amsterdam; Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company). In her first book written in Italian, Lahiri recounts the tortuous but rewarding process of learning an additional language as an adult, delving into the role each of the languages she speaks played in forging her identity at the personal as well as the professional level. Throughout the course, students read and discussed seven chapters from Lahiri’s book while working on their own linguistic autobiographies (PAVLENKO, 2003PAVLENKO, A. (2003). “I Never Knew I Was a Bilingual:” Reimagining Teacher Identities in TESOL. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, v. 2, n. 4, p. 251-268. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amm008
https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amm008...
), which, along with another written assignment, provided the data for this study. The results revealed that the way learners think of their linguistic identity and their learning process seem to reflect canonical models that conceive languages as compartmentalized systems with idealized norms. This outcome uncovers the importance to encourage language majors to critically reflect on linguistic values and epistemologies since the early stages of their academic paths.
Keywords:
literature in the additional language classroom; linguistic autobiographies; In altre parole; translingual identity; language learning investment