Reflexões críticas sobre etarismo no ensino remoto de língua inglesa

Abstract

This research was developed with the purpose of obtaining and analyzing the perceptions of technical high school students on the discussion of the theme "ageism" in the English language discipline. The development of this research, as well as the data generation, was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, since the students were, for the preservation of everyone's health, under the Emergency Remote Teaching (ERE) regime. Despite the adverse circumstances under which this research was conducted, the interpretation of the generated data, as well as the pedagogic material developed for the research practice, does not only apply to the remote modality, but can be adapted to face-to-face teaching. This is because this research was developed to raise a reflection on how the English language classroom can contribute not only to language learning, but also to the deconstruction of prejudices about aging and third age from the perspective of Critical Literacy approach. Therefore, I understand that this objective is not affected by the place where the practice is developed, either on the remote or face-to-face modality. The relevance of this research is based on the neglect of the “ageism” agenda in the school environment and, more specifically, in high school, an explicit fact in the data generated by this research. Students of the 1st year of technical high school at the Technical College of the Federal University of Minas Gerais were heard, who shared their perspectives about aging and third age and about the importance of this discussion in the school environment and in the English language discipline, which inserts this research in the qualitative paradigm (DENZIN; LINCOLN, 2006). The data presented in this report indicate, for the most part, the absence of “ageism” as a topic of discussion during the school journey up to the 1st year of technical high school. Finally, the purpose of this research is to make an intellectual contribution to Applied Linguistics, inspiring further research related to its theme.