In Altre Parole and From Other Perspectives: Literature and Linguistic Autobiographies in the Additional Language Classroom

Abstract

This paper reports on the pedagogical experience of using Lahiri’s autobiographical book In altre parole (In other words) (LAHIRI, 2015) in a course for Italian majors in a Brazilian university. This literary work was chosen as the main material for the course with the intention of promoting students’ reflection on their language learning process and their linguistic identities while offering a model that challenges an essentialist view of languages and cultures (ISHIHARA; PORCELLATO, 2022; ISHIHARA; PORCELLATO; PRADO, 2023). In her first book written in Italian, Lahiri recounts the tortuous but rewarding process of learning an additional language as an adult, delving into the role each of the languages she speaks played in forging her identity at the personal as well as the professional level. Throughout the course, students read and discussed seven chapters from Lahiri’s book while working on their own linguistic autobiographies (PAVLENKO, 2003), which, along with another written assignment, provided the data for this study. The results revealed that the way learners think of their linguistic identity and their learning process seem to reflect canonical models that conceive languages as compartmentalized systems with idealized norms. This outcome uncovers the importance to encourage language majors to critically reflect on linguistic values and epistemologies since the early stages of their academic paths.