Students' Assumption, Prejudice, and Discrimination in an English Language Class

By Alex Alves Egido

The book "Students' presupposition, prejudice, and discrimination in an English class", as the name says, analyses assumptions of students when they discussed about professions in the context of an English language clasroom. Inserted on the field of Critical Applied Linguistics (CAL), Egido's research is composed by an extended literature review, where he carefully approached a detailed panorama of CAL nowadays, giving us a better understanding on where his investigation sits and which gaps it fills. Besides that, he discussed the themes mentioned in the title, which are derived from a Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic analysis – both a method and a methodology for qualitative research – that shows total connection between the theory presented and the data analyzed making the book even more interesting. Other aspects of this investigation are worth to be cited, for instance, the ethical procedures used with the participants and the deep analysis brought by author, demonstrating the importance of researching gender, ethnic and prejudice in the educational sphere. I believe this work will be a great support for professors, students and researchers concerned with issues related to teacher training processes, as we can clearly see how the teacher dealt with students' responses. Also, it is a valuable source for the ones interested in studies about cognition, especially those inserted in CAL.

Juliane D'Almas

Professor at Universidade Estadual do Paraná (UNESPAR)
Campus Apucarana and Doctor in Language Studies from
Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Editora Appris
• Release date: Sep 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9788547318208

Book preview

COMITÊ CIENTÍFICO DA COLEÇÃO LINGUAGEM E LITERATURA

This book is dedicated to my beloved parents

Hodinete Aparecida Alves Egido and João Valero Egido, and brother Alan Alves Egido

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Firstly, I thank God for his indescribable support. Secondly, I recognize the importance of my parents, João and Hodinete, who even geographically distant were, at the same time, so close when I needed them. I am equally thankful for Dr. Simone Reis who has been an amazing advisor, professor, and, the most important, a true friend. I am sure that the mistakes the reader might have found in this research report are my fault for not fully corresponding to her advice.

I extend my acknowledgments for my research peers Ana Paula Trevisani, Célia Petreche, Claudinei Aparecido Canazart, Fábio Rosa Senefonte, Josimayre Novelli, Juliane D’Almas, Leila Miyuki Saito, and Mariana Guedes Seccato for their availability in triangulating my data. The importance of their participation is unquestionable.

My sincere acknowledgments are also addressed to my research participants, Carol and Luiz, whose commitment in the classes and in the investigation process is admirable. I finish writing this research report almost a year after I started teaching them, but it is no reason to forget their willingness for learning. Thank you for the joys I had as I had been close to you.

PRESENTATION

The influence of social factors on students’ perceptions of reality and their influence on (English) classes is unquestionable. As a social constructionist, I comprehend that students, as citizens and language users, create the reality to which they belong. In other words, each student reads the world using his/her personal lenses. These lenses may guide them to common debatable ideas (i.e. assumptions), biased judgments above others (i.e. prejudice) and to exclude certain groups due to any specific trait (i.e. discrimination). In short, these aspects may influence students’ comments, behaviors, and actions inside a (language) classroom.

This research report is an extended version of my final paper (EGIDO, 2018) presented to the Department of Modern Foreign Languages, at the State University of Londrina, as a requirement to obtain the undergraduate degree in English and Literatures in 2017, under the supervision of Professor Simone Reis.

In this study, I analyze assumptions, prejudices, and discriminations in an English class that I conducted in the Language Laboratory at the State University of Londrina. A pair of students participated in the class from which I generated the data. They expressed their thoughts concerning professions in Brazil. As they agreed to participate (by means of both oral and written consent), I transcribed the data and explored them through the Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Analysis (REIS, 2015, forthcoming).

I initially planned to answer two research questions, namely: (i) In what terms do participants comprehend the professional and educational contexts? And (ii) In what terms do gender and ethnicity influence ones’ interactions? After sharing my analysis with the participants, I noticed it was equally possible to answer a third question, namely: (iii) What type(s) of benefit(s), if any, has this inquiry brought to the participants? In order to answer this question, I gathered new data by means of individual feedback, from meetings held with them.

I justify my research design on personal and professional grounds. The former concerns the way I understand reality and knowledge production, which interferes in possible social changes. In other words, I believe that, as social actors, we ought to carry out actions, from the simplest to the most time consuming ones, so as to transform oppressed realities and confined spaces. In short, as citizens, it would be our responsibility to contribute to a more equal and inclusive world, even though sometimes we may face barriers, which are both personal and professional.

I comprehend that the personal ground is interwoven with the professional one. As far as my professional experience is concerned, I have had contact with some authors (e.g. Paulo Freire and Henry Giroux) during my undergraduate education. During such educational process, I understand that the focus was mainly on discussing a critical and transformative education. For this reason, I am aware that my understanding of reality (i.e. ontology) as well as knowledge construction (i.e. epistemology) is guided by my personal, professional, and educational experiences.

By exploring these principles, I believe it is possible for the reader to apprehend the dialogic procedures I took throughout the investigation, namely: data generation, intersubjectivation of the analysis, participants’ feedback, and social contribution.

I understand my research report may contribute to (i) the participants, considering their awareness of their roles and changes during the investigation process; to (ii) myself, as a researcher, as I am aware of my professional and personal development, and to (iii) the professional literature on students’ cognition and their reality representations.

On the first chapter, I present a literature review on assumption, prejudice, and discrimination. By means of this review, as well as the comments and synthesis I offer at the end of each grouping, I aim to provide the reader with a coherent theoretical ground in order to place my investigation within it. The research design is the object of the next chapter, I present the nature, ontology, epistemology, ethics, and contextual information of my study. Grounded in the social constructivism paradigm, I understand that meanings are socially created by people’s interactions and are deeply influenced by their ideologies.

As for the analysis, I used the Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Analysis, which is both a method and methodology for qualitative research. This approach