In Brazil, we have a tradition of language teaching based on models that date back to the mid-20th century, grounded in theoretical frameworks such as Skinner’s (1953), which place the student in a passive role in the learning process and place great emphasis on repetition and memorization as key factors for success in that process.

Even the most modern methodologies that treat the additional language as a “foreign” language view the language as an object of study in and of itself. In other words, the goal is to master knowledge of the language, not necessarily to know how to use it. This has led to generations in Brazil who left school perhaps knowing some grammatical structures but rarely capable of actually speaking an additional language such as English.

Stephen Krashen, who published his book on second language acquisition in 1982, presents the dichotomy between “acquisition”—a subconscious, more natural process that occurs as the learner is exposed to the language—and “learning” —the structuring of the language itself, when the learner organizes and refines their acquisition through a deeper understanding of the language. Important: for Krashen, acquisition is essential for linguistic development to occur.

His study became the foundation for the bilingual education approaches that exist to this day. Bilingual education aims to develop linguistic competence in students—the ability to effectively use language for its intended purpose: a means of communication. Furthermore, it incorporates emotional, cultural, and social elements that are extremely relevant yet often overlooked in more traditional “foreign language” instruction. In bilingual education, language is a vehicle, a means of communication, and not an end in itself. It is learned through a process similar to that of infants learning their first language, as American researcher Elaine Gallagher notes in this article (https://blog.realvi.com/learning-english-be-a-baby-or-at-least-learn-like-one/?source=bett_blog).

Did you like this content? Share it on your social media: