The danger of a single story: perspectivas críticas de ensino de inglês como língua estrangeira na educação profissional e tecnológica na era das tecnologias digitais da informação e comunicação

The present work is based on the notion of English as a lingua franca (Canagarajah, 2006) in a globalized and increasingly interconnected world mediated by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), in which mastering the English language represents power and mobility (Bauman, 1999). Language is understood as a social practice (Moita Lopes, 1996; Lankshear, Syner, & Green, 2000), and school as a socializing space that faces the challenge of addressing differences and integrating them into its curriculum (Candau, 2011; Rosa Suanno et al., 2020; Freire, 2020; Coppete, Fleuri, & Stoltz, 2013). The Pedagogy of Multiliteracies (NLG, 1996; Rojo, 2013) is also highlighted as a possibility to think about educational practices that prepare students to use the English language critically, reflectively, autonomously, and creatively, so that they can achieve true mobility in a global world while acting locally to change their realities. In this sense, this study investigated to what extent the implementation of a Didactic Sequence for teaching English as a foreign language guided by the perspectives of Multiliteracies and Critical Interculturality is capable of fostering critical thinking among High School students in the context of Professional and Technological Education about the power relations that permeate cultural relationships and language use so that they can problematize language social practices that perpetuate prejudices and social inequalities. For this purpose, a qualitative research of applied nature with exploratory and descriptive objectives was carried out, using methods of bibliographic/documentary research in the construction of the theoretical framework and methods of action research in the practical application phase. The construction of the DS was based mainly on two multisemiotic texts: the TED Talk by the Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie entitled The danger of a single story and the trailer of the Brazilian film Que horas ela volta? (The Second Mother). In addition to the texts, gamified activities were created through the platforms Educaplay and Wordwall. The research was conducted at the Fluminense Federal Institute (IFF) Campus Macaé - RJ, in three classes of the 2nd year of Integrated High School, in the technical courses of industrial automation, electromechanics, and environment, where the researcher also works as an English teacher. The data collection instruments were two semi-structured questionnaires and the observation of the teacher-researcher through field diary and class recordings. For the analysis and discussion of data, the content analysis methodology of Bardin (2011) was used in the light of the theoretical frameworks of the study. The results obtained indicate a good receptivity of the
students towards the Didactic Sequence. By proposing scripts inspired by the theme of the danger of a single story, the students demonstrated to have understood the problem of stereotypes that create and reinforce prejudices and engaged in a dialogical and autonomous manner in the process of (re)thinking diverse narratives that question the single stories told about socially marginalized groups. Therefore, it was concluded that the Didactic Sequence has the potential to promote critical awareness about the power relations that permeate cultural relationships and language use. 

Keywords: Professional and Technological Education. English Language Teaching. Critical Interculturality. Multiliteracies.