Critical Literacy, Foreign Language Teaching and the Education about Race Relations in Brazil

CRITICAL LITERACY, FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING AND THE EDUCATION ABOUT RACE RELATIONS IN BRAZIL Míriam Jorge Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Federal University of Minas Gerais _ Brazil) As TESOL practitioners, we should engage in daily critical reflections of how our ideas of race influence what we teach, how we teach it, and how we understand our student (Kubota, 2009) Introduction This article explores how language education can align with education about race relations in order to challenge the race-based beliefs that permeate Brazilian society. It focuses on facts about language teaching that can help us answer questions such as: does race matter in language teaching? If so, why does it matter? What role does race play in learning/teaching dynamics? Reflecting on these questions can be a starting point for creating learning opportunities that focus on race relations in an EFL (English as a Foreign Language) classroom. I will examine some possible answers or thoughts that can contribute to the conversation about education on race relations in Brazil. Teaching and learning EFL involve direct or indirect interactions between groups of speakers who are culturally, racially and linguistically distinct (Kubota; Lin, 2009). In this way, language teaching, one way or another, conveys racialized images of students, teachers, and characters that inhabit language teaching textbooks (Kubota; Lin, 2009). Although race is widely studied in different knowledge areas, such as education, anthropology , history and sociology, studies that focus on race and English Language Teaching (ELT) are still rare. The ones available, according to Kubota and Lin (2009), usually align studies of race with those of gender and class. These studies also address power, identity, subjectivity, social (in)justice, and other themes that are vital for all aspects of second language education. Even though Brazil is the cradle of Critical Pedagogy1 , the situation there is not different than other parts of the world where English is taught as a foreign language. Although some scholars defend critical approaches to language education, very few of them connect issues of race to EFL teaching, such as Moita Lopes (1996, 2002, 2006), who defends an (un)discipline(ed) Applied Linguistics, and Ferreira (2006), who emphasizes the social responsibility for ELT to address themes that are able to promote ethnic-racial equality in this field. The Brazilian guidelines for English Teaching in High Schools (OCEM)2 presume that EFL teachers use a critical literacy approach to lesson C  2012 Southeastern Council on Latin American Studies and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 79 The Latin Americanist, December 2012 planning, materials development, and all methodological choices involved in the teaching of writing, reading, and oral communication in EFL classes. This is supposed to be done through the exploration of relevant themes, such as citizenship, diversity, equality, social justice, dependence /interdependence, conflicts, values, and regional and national difference. Reconceptualizing the approaches for EFL teaching in Brazil is a significant political shift in language education in “regular” schools3 , as it considers that teaching a language needs to be seen as much more than simply providing students with a tool for communication. English is also seen as a tool for promoting criticality and reflection. Anchored in these guidelines as well as in the Law of Directives and Guidelines for National Education (LDB)’’4 , this work aims at relating the education about race relations in Brazilian schools to the educational outcomes of learning a foreign language. Thus, it starts by briefly introducing the Brazilian Guidelines for the Implementation of Law 10.639/03, that has made the teaching of African and Afro- Brazilian history and culture5 mandatory in Brazilian Basic Education, by modifying the LDB. This paper will also defines critical literacy and establishes roles to be played by critical EFL educators in Brazilian schools. Finally, a link is established between principles of critical applied linguistics, critical literacy and the need for racializing EFL teaching in Brazilian schools as a way of implementing the law 10.639/03 in EFL classrooms as well as a way of promoting learning opportunities that take into consideration the learners’ identities and cultures. African history and Afro-Brazilian cultures in schools In 2003 Law 10.639/03 (subsequently referred to as the Law) was passed, which alters the core...