Potentials of using song in teaching-learning Portuguese as a Foreign Language

Abstract

This study presents and discuss the development of a Portuguese as a Foreign Language (PFL) course at a French university. The course consists of eight didactic units with themes selected by the students. Brazilian songs are used as the main tool to trigger the PFL teaching-learning process. Designed from an intercultural perspective, the course was developed to explore the potential of tasks using songs. The course sessions were recorded and transcribed, allowing us to select and analyze the students’ statements. We observed identity and intercultural constructions during discourse, revealing both connections and affinities with the other culture, as well as distance and incompatibility (Bourdieu, 1987), depending on the contextual and ideological positioning of the participants; thus, it brings into focus the “culture of the other” (Zarate, 1993). It was possible to analyze the main reflections that teaching through song from an intercultural perspective can bring in this context: reflections on identity/alterity, discussions on stereotypes and prejudice, historical and social issues, motivation, exchanges, and connections.