Reflexões glotopolíticas sobre o ensino de Português como Língua Estrangeira (PLE) na Argentina entre 2016 e 2022

Abstract

In this article, we reflect on the language policies in Argentina related to the national law about the offer of Portuguese as a Foreign Language (PLE, 2009) in secondary education and its impact between 2016 and 2022, after Mercosur’s integration. From a glottopolitical perspective, our objectives were to consider the PLE supply scenario and to analyze linguistic ideologies about English and Portuguese in formal education. We carry out qualitative research applied to a case study in three Argentine cities: Buenos Aires, Córdoba and Rosario. Nine teachers who work in higher education for Portuguese language teachers were interviewed. Based on their interventions, we verified that language policies were, on the one hand, scarce and that the PLE law had almost no impact on secondary education. On the other hand, they pointed out the hegemony and predominance of the English language over other foreign languages. This responds to the global trend towards the imposition of English as a lingua franca with an impact in Latin America. In both Brazil and Argentina, the neoliberal language policies of the period studied accentuated the socialization of elites in English, strengthening the idea that the English language would be a vehicle for social and economic mobility in the social imaginary.