Linguistic practices in a school in Brazil / Paraguay border region: political-linguistic-educational issues of (non) language management

Abstract

This text aims to present reflections around a multilingual space in a public education institution in the municipal network, located in the West of Paraná, in a Brazil / Paraguay border region. For the development of the research, we rely on the studies developed in the Research Group on Linguistic and Educational Policies in Western Paraná since 2016, and on the guiding principles of the management of plurilingualism and translinguage situations (CANAGARAJAH, 2004; RAJAGOPALAN, 2013; CAVALCANTI, 1999; SEVERO, 2013; SPOLSKY, 2005, 2016; SHOHAMY, 2006). From contact with the direction and guiding documents of the school, it was verified the presence of students from Paraguay who speak Spanish and Guarani, since 2007, and these make up approximately 10% of the total number of students enrolled annually in recent years. In this sense, we developed a qualitative and interpretative research that analyzes the scenario of this municipal school, evoking the need for discussions to promote linguistic-educational practices and policies appropriate to such plurilingual situations with translating and transcultural actions. This is because, despite the complex sociolinguistic environment, we found that there is (and there was not) any welcoming policy or actions related to the inclusion, in the management, of the different languages present in this educational context.