Portuguese as an additional language at a brazilian university: encounters in language learning spaces and conflicts in ways of knowing

Abstract

In this article I analyse narratives about Portuguese as an Additional Language (PAL) learning spaces within a Brazilian university in order to show how ways of knowing, or epistemic differences, can be tied to the production of linguistic differences. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with two PAL educators and one Japanese student. To conduct the analysis, I focus on the ways in which participants ‘scale the world’. This line of analysis demonstrated that participants construct hierarchies between learners and between knowledges based on ideas of West and East. In concluding, I argue that university administration and staff need to engage in urgent epistemological dialogue and praxis concerning language policy and practice in language learning spaces, in order to diminish the possibility of reproducing hegemonic knowledges.