ECHOES OF FREIREAN CRITICAL PEDAGOGY IN THE PERSPECTIVES OF CRITICAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION

Abstract

This paper problematizes the concepts of dialogue, collaboration and empowerment presented in the critical pedagogy spread by Freire in the 1970’s – and points out other possibilities of acting critically. It is a bibliographic research (LIMA; MIOTO, 2007) and draws on the theoretical assumptions mobilized in the first author’s master’s thesis (AUTOR1, 2017), revisited in the light of our current scenario. The text is organized as follows: we start the conversation by presenting some limitations in the concepts of dialogue, collaboration and empowerment defended by the critical pedagogy. Next, we revisit these concepts based on the theoretical discussions presented by Ellsworth (1989), Urzêda-Freitas (2012) and Contreras (2012). We then bring different critical perspectives (critical pedagogy, critical language teaching and critical literacy) as possibilities for acting in critical language education in English. Finally, we make some transitory considerations regarding the multiplicity of theorizations about the critical perspectives within the scope of Critical Applied Linguistics (CLA).