Vol. 17 No. 44 (2023): Language and Education: 21 Years of Language Studies
The (sub)area of Applied Linguistics conducts research on language in several social contexts, including different theoretical and methodological perspectives. Among these, it is possible to highlight the constitution of identity, the learning and/or teaching of language(s) (first, additional, and/or second languages), the production and implementation of tools/artifacts for learning, the study of the use of psychological and symbolic instruments in different social practices, initial and continuing teacher education, methodological approaches, knowledge construction and development of capacities, interactions and their relations with learning and/or human development. The Language and Education research group (LED), created in 2002 under the leadership of Prof. Dr. Vera Lúcia Lopes Cristovão, was registered at the State University of Londrina and in the CNPq directory, focusing on the development of research work in the Teaching and Learning and Teacher Education of Foreign Languages research line, with its focus being Sociodiscursive Interactionism (ISD studies), of the Geneva School and its expansions by the Brazilian School of ISD. For years, LED focused on the analysis (construction of didactic models) of genres as mega-tools for teaching, as well as on the use of didactic sequences for language learning and also on teacher education with the use of reflexivity procedures such as self-confrontations, diary socialization, focus groups, reflective reports, to name just a few. With the proposition of new umbrella projects, the articulation of ISD with other theoretical and methodological perspectives has been expanded to address issues such as environmental education, environmental literacy, critical linguistic education, critical-transformative education of teachers, and more recently, academic-scientific literacies. In order to do so, the group's research has aimed at the expansion of concepts, the definition of analytical categories, the broadening of conceptual articulations, as well as intense work to consolidate a network that integrates research, extension, and teaching. This celebratory dossier of LED's 21 years welcomes articles, essays, retrospectives, and research reports that address themes investigated by the group and present knowledge constructed in the vast field of Language Science.
Editors: Vera Lúcia Lopes Cristovão (UEL/CNPq) , Andérbio Márcio Silva Martins (UFGD) e Luísa Álvares Pereira (UA – Portugal)
