Representations of learning languages in visual narratives: what the images of English school sites show

Abstract

This article is about the discourse on learning languages construed and transmitted by images in websites of private schools specialized in foreign languages teaching, evidencing the representations construed by these establishments to society. The argument favors the consideration of images in language studies, and the theoretical basis adopted includes the socio-semiotic approach to language, the Grammar of Visual Design, and the concept of social representation. The corpus analysis evidences the representation of the learning in optimal conditions of comfort, homogeneity, with the presence of resources and diverse instruments, in which the student is an agent of processes related to linguistic reception. It is concluded that these visual narratives contribute to the idea widely spread in society that the ideal language learning happens in private specialized schools and is reserved for few people.

Keywords

• semiótica social
• gramática do design visual
• narrativas visuais
• aprendizagem de línguas estrangeiras