Deconstructing grand narratives in Applied Linguistics:

Queer praxiologies and language education from the tropics

Abstract

My objective in this paper is to present some contributions from queer praxiologies to the field of language education. More specifically, I propose an inquiring analysis of the constructs education, language, beliefs, and interaction, which still reproduce a variety of concepts rooted in modern/colonial grand narratives that have operated as grand narratives themselves within Applied Linguistics. Based on a range of critical studies carried out in Brazil, the queering of these four constructs enables the comprehension of language education as queer literacies practice, that is, as an activity mediated by a set of textual repertoires which may foster the construction of new meanings of gender, sexuality, and other identity categories in the classroom. As a Brazilian/Latin American scholar, I hope my reflections work as a subversive micro-narrative from the tropics, inspiring other dialogues and teaching performances that might turn language education into a transformative activity in different contexts around the globe.