Developing critical awareness of Indigenous languages and cultures of Brazil in EFL education

Abstract

School curricula and didactic materials that have been contextualized around and designed for the Brazilian context have reflected a majority perspective over the representations of minoritized groups. Oftentimes, such representations have been interlaced in subtle and explicit forms of discrimination in connection with race and ethnicity. In a similar vein, the lack of representation of diversity from a critical, intercultural perspective has also resulted in EFL teaching and learning relying on stereotypes when learning about “the other.” In this chapter, we discuss and reflect on these issues with respect to the Indigenous cultures and languages of Brazil. We begin by presenting a conceptual framework for a critical, intercultural multicultural education based primarily on the work of Candau. We foreground social and political issues faced by Indigenous Brazilians in the contexts of schooling, education, and Brazilian society more generally. We then discuss some of the complexities and opportunities around EFL education for and with Indigenous students from a decolonial perspective. The focus of this chapter is on the affordances of using (children's) literature as an entryway to learn about and confront stereotyped and absent representations of Indigenous cultures and languages in EFL education.