“Speaking properly”: language conceptions problematized in English lessons of an undergraduate teacher education course in Brazil

Abstract

This qualitative research was done in a class of English Oral Practice 2 in an undergraduate English teacher education course in Brazil. Grounded on the conception of language as practice, the first author of this article developed a problematizing pedagogy focusing on race/racism and language as space of power. Resorting to class activities (a question of a written test, an oral test, and a feedback session) and the professor’s diary, we analyzed the students’ accounts about the course and the meanings they constructed about language. Their accounts indicate that, when evaluating the course, most of them highlighted the relevance of content, showing that they started conceptualizing language beyond form. Their accounts also suggest they were not using language, but making it.

Keywords

• Language education
• English teaching
• Language conceptions
• Undergraduate teacher education course