“The book is on the table”: sentidos sobre o ensino de língua inglesa na reforma do ensino médio materializados em memes

Abstract

In this article we analyze which meanings about the teaching of the English language circulate in memes about the High School Reform and which traces of a memory function in this archive producing imaginary representations in the teaching of this language. We emphasize the discursive analysis of memes that address the mandatory inclusion of the English language in the New High School (NEM) curriculum, therefore we selected two of these memes to compose the research corpus that is based on the theoretical-methodological perspective of Discourse Analysis (AD) of Franco-Brazilian line. We mobilize concepts of discursive memory, metallic memory, digital memory and imaginary representations for the analysis. We launch lines that weave a historicity for English language teaching, which went through different conditions of production, from which the digital started to constitute other forms of textualities that produce subjects and meanings. It was possible to understand that over the years many proposals have emerged that cast doubt on the importance of foreign languages in the school curriculum. This was due to the need for qualified teachers to conduct the approaches and an adequate structure. This scenario resonates and is (re)updated in the memory that emerges from the textualities of memes produced under the conditions of formulation and publication of the NEM changes.