Representation of foreign countries in the Brazilian manuals of English language teaching

• Grant number: 12/21847-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): January 01, 2013
• Effective date (End): December 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Linguistics
• Principal Investigator: Elizabete Sanches Rocha
• Grantee: Vitor Lopes Andrade
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais (FCHS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Franca. Franca , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 13/04564-6 - Discourse analysis: fundamental theoretical conceptualizations and its theoretical-analytical relation with the textbooks, BE.EP.IC

Abstract

The cultural aspect had not been considered as an important aspect during the historical development of the discipline of International Relations. In the 80s, however, with the so-called Third Debate in this academic field, and the appearance of the post-positivist theories in the IR, greater attention was given to the ideological and cultural issues in this field of study. The main idea is: culture may, and must, be understood as an important way of power (MARTINS, 2007). Then, the objects of study in International Relations were multiplied, including the manuals used at schools, which are the object of this research project. From the teachings of the IR constructivists, especially Friedrich Kratochwil (1995, apud CAMARGO, 2009), we realize the importance of the discourses in the construction of what we mean by reality, and in the creation and/or propagation about the representation of the Other. The manuals used at schools are, therefore, a rich field of study in those questions. The Discourse Analyses is the most appropriate theory to analyze the selected discourses of the Brazilian manuals of English language teaching used at the public schools of the Sao Paulo state. The objective is to perceive what kinds of representation these manuals create and/or propagate about the foreign countries, particularly in the relation they show between the countries considered as developed ones (the "North") and the others, considered as the peripheral countries (the "South"). (AU)