A presentation discussing the development process of a postgraduate course for Portuguese as an Additional Language teachers at Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul which was informed by Critical Pedagogy and Intercultural Pedagogy rather than the traditional pedagogies shaping the Celpe-Bras examination.
This presentation aims to discuss the development process of a postgraduate course for Portuguese as an Additional Language (PAL) teachers at Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS) which was informed by Critical Pedagogy (CP) and Intercultural Pedagogy (IP). In so doing, teaching and learning approaches and/or methodologies that are traditionally associated to the examination for the Certificate of Proficiency in Portuguese Language for Foreigners (Celpe-Bras) – such as Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) – were not prioritized. Rather, theoretical perspectives related to CP and IP were foregrounded in order to update notions of language, proficiency, competence, and culture within the PLA context. Considering that CP and IP encourage emancipatory education, the development of citizens who are capable critically to deconstruct cultural stereotypes, to problematize social dominance, and to question the status quo is sought throughout practice. Ideally, both the learning and teaching processes are supported by cosmopolitan and intercultural empowerment toward democratic social agency. In other words, the connection between multilingual and multicultural communities contributes to the transformation of the Additional Language classroom into the optimum arena where all the involved can reflect about and act upon issues concerning representation (or lack thereof) as a manner to resist sociocultural and linguistic homogenization. With such pedagogical and theoretical stances in mind, selected scholars from four different Higher Education Institutions developed modules and selected reading materials which shaped the first edition of the postgraduate course for PAL teachers. Moreover, the course focused on providing several opportunities for practice – which involved syllabus design, the development of pedagogical materials, and teaching – within diverse PAL contexts. Course participants were invited to consider critically- and interculturally-based ideologies for the advancement of PAL education to beyond the limitations of CLT and TBLT.
