Teaching English as a Lingua Franca in Brazil: Insights into Materials Writing

Claudio De Paiva Franco

doi:10.5539/ijel.v11n3p62

Abstract

In this paper, I intend to examine the main English as a lingua franca (ELF) issues discussed in the National Common Curricular Base (Brasil, 2018) and compare them to the views put forward by mainstream scholars in the field (Baker, 2016, 2018; Dewey, 2007; Jenkins, 2006, 2012, 2015; Pennycook, 2006, 2009; Widdowson, 1994). In addition, as a researcher and creator of teaching materials, I intend to share some insights into materials writing by presenting the main strategies adopted in writing a series of English textbooks for pre-teens, evaluated and approved for distribution by the Brazilian Textbook Program, that I have written with Tavares (Franco &amp; Tavares, 2018). Therefore, I hope this article may help shed light on developing and implementing materials that adopt an ELF-oriented approach in a scenario created by the legislation and the selection of textbooks that seems to be promising for the establishment of the ELF paradigm in Brazil.

Highlights

Even though researchers have been involved in discussions about English as a lingua franca (ELF) in teacher education in Brazil (Calvo & El Kadri, 2011; Bordini & Gimenez, 2014; Gimenez, El Kadri, & Calvo, 2018a, 2018b; Siqueira, 2018) for almost a decade, it was not until recently that the term ELF was granted a special status in the National Common Curricular Base (Brasil, 2018)
I intend to examine the main English as a lingua franca (ELF) issues discussed in the National Common Curricular Base (Brasil, 2018) and compare them to the views put forward by mainstream scholars in the field (Baker, 2016, 2018; Dewey, 2007; Jenkins, 2006, 2012, 2015; Pennycook, 2006, 2009; Widdowson, 1994)
As a researcher and creator of teaching materials, I intend to share some insights into materials writing by presenting the main strategies adopted in writing a series of English textbooks for pre-teens, evaluated and approved for distribution by the Brazilian Textbook Program, that I have written with Tavares (Franco & Tavares, 2018)

Summary

Introduction

Even though researchers have been involved in discussions about ELF in teacher education in Brazil (Calvo & El Kadri, 2011; Bordini & Gimenez, 2014; Gimenez, El Kadri, & Calvo, 2018a, 2018b; Siqueira, 2018) for almost a decade, it was not until recently that the term ELF was granted a special status in the National Common Curricular Base (henceforward BNCC, abbreviation in Portuguese) (Brasil, 2018). These are the educational guidelines that define the common core curriculum for all subjects to be taught from pre-school through upper secondary education in Brazil. Vol 11, No 3; 2021 distributed to all public schools in Brazil

From EFL to ELF in Brazil

ELF Possibilities and Materials Writing

What Next?