Over the years, different prescriptions (prescriptive
documents) and laws have suggested different statuses
for the English language, both as an object of teaching
for the English language teachers and as an object of
learning for the students from different classroom
contexts in Brazil. Some of these documents are the
National Curricular Parameters (PCN, 1998), theCommon National Curricular Base (BNCC, 2017) and
the Law of Guidelines and Bases (LDB, 1996). In this
case, when it comes to the PCN (1998), as a prescriptive
document, check the answer whose status of English
language is correspondent to the one found in the
before-mentioned document, which suggests its status
and how this target language should be taught in
Brazilian classrooms.
✂️ a) English as a first or a native language, which is usually
the first language a person has been exposed to from
birth or within the critical period. The first language of
a child is part of that child's personal, social and cultural
identity. ✂️ b) English as a global language, which suggests English
language as a global means of communication similar to
an international auxiliary language , and often refers to
the movement towards an international standard for the
language, mostly associated with geopolitical matters. ✂️ c) English as an additional language, which relies on the
presupposition that learners would depend on their
mother tongue to learn and use the target language being
taught. It would be an addition to other language(s)
already present in the individual's linguistic repertoire. ✂️ d) English as a lingua franca, which is considered to be a
global means of inter-community communication and
can be understood as any use of English among speakers
of different first languages for whom English is the
communicative medium of choice and often the only
option. ✂️ e) English as a foreign language, which refers to the use of
English by individuals whose native language is
different, commonly among students learning to speak
and write English. This term denotes the study of
English in environments where it is not the dominant
language and would be of subordinate importance.