EDUCAÇÃO LINGUÍSTICA EM LÍNGUA INGLESA NA INFÂNCIA: Uma etnografia com um aluno autista

Abstract

The present research, with a qualitative approach and ethnographic orientation, is situated in the field of Applied Linguistics and in the area of Language Education. The theoretical foundation is based on studies by researchers in Critical Applied Linguistics, such as (Pennycook, 2001; Moita Lopes, 2006), as well as on authors in Critical Language Education, such as (Ferraz, 2018; Jacomini, 2024), Language Education with children with ASD (Ferreira, 2021), Language Education with children (Malta, 2019; Merlo, 2018; Tonelli, 2023), Language Education in/with Childhood (Tonelli; Selbach; Kawachi Furlan, Bailer, 2025), Alterity, Sensitivity and Ethics (Egido, 2022, 2024; Todd, 2014, 2016), among others. Its general objective is to identify constituent elements that may lead to a Critical Language Education in the context of English Language Education in Childhood. In order to achieve this purpose, two specific objectives were established: (i) to identify elements that promote Critical Language Education from the teacher’s perspective; and (ii) to identify elements that promote Critical Language Education from the family’s perspective. The guiding questions of this research are: 1 - Which elements promote Critical Language Education from the teacher’s perspective?; 2 - Which elements promote Critical Language Education from the family’s perspective? For the development of this research, we adopted a qualitative-interpretivist approach with an ethnographic orientation. As instruments for the generation of empirical material, we used semi-structured interviews and observations conducted in the context of the English language classroom. The participants in the study were an English language teacher, the mother of an autistic student, the student himself, and the researcher. In order to achieve the proposed objectives, the investigation was developed based on the methodological procedures of Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Analysis, as outlined by (Reis, 2015, 2018; Capellini-Petreche, 2020). Among the results of the analyses, it was identified that aspects of Critical Language Education grounded in affectivity can contribute to breaking barriers frequently faced by students with ASD in the process of learning the English language, which are crossed by the particularities inherent to the child’s development. The research showed that a Critical Language Education supported by alterity, subjectivity and sensitivity can transform the ways in which subjects exercise their agency and construct perceptions about themselves and about others, favoring the strengthening of subjectivities and the development of alterity in the classroom context. In this way, this research indicates that there is hope and possibility of “bringing colors” to Critical Language Education, contributing to the construction of more human, sensitive and inclusive meanings for language.