Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com

English for Specic Purposes 27 (2008) 412423

ENGLISH FOR
SPECIFIC
PURPOSES
www.elsevier.com/locate/esp

When myth and reality meet: Reections

on ESP in Brazil
Maria Antonieta Alba Celani *
Pontical Catholic University of Sao Paulo, Post-graduate Programme in Applied Linguistics,
Rua Monte Alegre, 984, 05014-001 Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil

Abstract
Within the broad background of English language education in Brazil, this paper intends to
discuss two questions. Firstly, where and why a common misconception about ESP being identied as the teaching of reading only originated, and secondly, given the social role of English
in the Brazilian context, whether an ESP approach can be seen as more suitable than a General
English (GE) approach as a theoretical background for curriculum planning and classroom
practice in English general education. How can these two questions be related? This paper will
discuss how and why what started as a misconception in relation to a specic context might be
seen as a possible solution for making the teachinglearning of English more meaningful in
general education. For the discussion, data will be drawn both from the National ESP Project
and from teachers reactions to the proposal in the National Parameters.
2008 The American University. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[In Latin America] . . . English is seen very much as a library language.

Swales (1985, p. 45)
. . .learning English has become one of the major tools of contemporary education.
As in most parts of the world, learning English is one of the most valued symbolic
assets in Brazil in view of the role of English in worldwide communication media.
Moita Lopes (2005, p. 2)
*

Tel.: +55 11 3826 0910; fax: +55 11 3826 1480.

E-mail address: acelani@pucsp.br

0889-4906/$34.00 2008 The American University. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.esp.2008.07.001

M.A.A. Celani / English for Specic Purposes 27 (2008) 412423

413

1. Introduction
In the new world order, discourses are grounded on one and only consideration globalisation. These discourses are mostly in English and the media plays its role in making
them available throughout the world. In periphery and expanding circle contexts (Wenger, 1998), having no access to English may mean not only diculty of access, but also
total impossibility of participation, with exclusion as a result (Moita Lopes, 2005).
If we adopt a reective approach to education, we will take advantage of wider opportunities of choice and will certainly accept and adapt to the limitations and contradictions of the new contemporary order (Giddens, Beck, & Lash, 1997). Within this
educational framework the English language teacher has a very special role to play as
a mediator in enabling learners to become full participants in the international discourses and social practices circulating in the wider world outside the classroom. For this
to become an educational experience for both the learner and the teacher, neither exacerbated chauvinism nor tacit submission (Rajagopalan, 2005b) is recommended. The
well-balanced construction of critical social awareness regarding language and particularly regarding the role of English in the contemporary world should be the major
aim to be achieved (Appadurai, 1996; Holliday, 2005). To what extent this construction
aects the teachinglearning situation in terms of capabilities to be developed will
depend on local conditions and mostly also on the social role of the particular language
in question.
Although for dierent reasons, What for? is a fundamental question to be asked by
educational policy makers, curriculum planners and practitioners. Purpose is the key word
here and not exclusively within an ESP context. A redenition of the role of English in the
post-colonial world and in general education is called for and more specically in TESOL
(Fabricio & Santos, 2006, p. 67).
In this paper, I will rst present and discuss a common Brazilian misconception in relation to ESP, that is, its identication with the teaching of reading. After dealing with the
particular Brazilian situation as to what is regarded as teachinglearning English as part of
general education, I will argue that one might maintain that the main principles underlying
an ESP approach are to a large extent the most suitable to be proposed as a theoretical
basis for the Brazilian educational context in general. I will also indicate how some of
these principles are to be found in the National Curricular Parameters Foreign Languages (Parametros Curriculares Nacionais Lngua Estrangeira (Brasil, 1998)), PCNLE hereafter, particularly in relation to what is regarded as a pedagogy of possibility (Freire, 1970; Freire, 2001; Giroux, 1988), while I also discuss some strong reactions to the proposal in the PCN-LE that in some contexts, a focus on reading should be seen as the most
eective decision. After broadly sketching what to my mind seems to be the panorama
emerging in the future, both in GE as well as in strict ESP contexts, I will nally elaborate
on the paradox of how and why what in a certain context is a misconception, that is, ESP
equals teaching reading, may be proposed as a more sensible option in the much wider
National context regarding teaching English in the general Brazilian school context. As
a conclusion to the argument, surprise is expressed at how objections from some areas,
which exclude learners from learning the full language, can become self-defeating,
because the result of trying to teach the full language frequently ends up in not teaching
any language at all. For things to be put in perspective, however, a brief sketch of the Brazilian ESP Project is in order.

414

M.A.A. Celani / English for Specic Purposes 27 (2008) 412423

2. A national ESP Project and a misconception

Recent developments in the ESP Project, now a programme, have been dealt with elsewhere (Ramos, 2004, and the ongoing research of the ESP CNPq Certied Research
Group): new pedagogical proposals triggered by new computer-mediated contexts; teacher
development online and face-to-face; oral comprehension at post-graduate level in the area
of medicine, and at undergraduate level in the area of tourism and materials design for
groups with new emerging needs, are some of the more recent developments in the Project,
as well as a genre-based view used for theoretical support.
The original Brazilian national ESP Project has also been widely described and discussed (Celani, 1994, 1998; Celani & Collins, 2003; Celani, Deyes, Holmes, & Scott,
2005; Celani, Ramos, Holmes, & Scott, 1988; Holmes & Celani, 2006). It is worthwhile
restating, however, that it was essentially a grassroots project that resulted from close contact between planners and participants after judicious consideration of the results of faceto-face interviews with both teachers and learners at dierent levels in twenty Brazilian
Universities in 1978. In the initial needs analysis survey, it was found that of the twenty
universities visited, in only two there were activities involving the spoken language, and
this only in two specic courses at post-graduate level which were being taught by foreign
lecturers. Consistent with ESP practice, a programme focusing on the development of
reading skills was set as a priority for the Project.
As time went by, institutions which were not part of the National Project started to
attend regional or national seminars and to read the Project publications, which, because
of the aims established for the Project, dealt mostly with aspects relating to reading. This
gradually created a general belief that an ESP approach was a more eective way of teaching reading. In spite of the eorts made by those responsible for the Project at a national
level to change that misleading belief, newcomers to the Project when asked to say what
ESP meant to them would frequently and until recently produce statements like the following, collected at various seminars in dierent parts of the country during the period
19902000 (my translation from Portuguese, for all excerpts).
. . .an easy (a special) technique to teach reading
. . .a method to teach reading
. . .a practical way of reading without worrying about vocabulary and without
understanding the context
. . .developing comprehension of main structures of a text
. . .a kind of reading-oriented method, deals with students needs
. . .a communicative course through reading
. . .facilitating and innovating in the teaching of reading
The collection, however, revealed other beliefs as well, as shown below:
. . .authentic materials
. . .texts dealing with other subjects (history, geography)
. . .technical terms
. . .knowledge required in each profession
. . .teaching grammar and vocabulary through the students subject of interest
. . .more motivation
. . .useful for entrance exams
. . .theres no conversation

M.A.A. Celani / English for Specic Purposes 27 (2008) 412423

415

Dealing with the implications of the latter beliefs would require a full discussion, which
is beyond the scope of this paper. The examples were meant just to illustrate that there
might be reasons to suspect that the misrepresentation connected with reading might
not have been simply the result of what was going on in the Project, but it might also indicate that it takes time, direct involvement and eort to develop new concepts and new
ways to look at new proposals. Whatever the reasons might be, however, this myth
ESP is teachinglearning to read in English still haunts those who work in the area in
Brazil.
3. Teachinglearning English in general education in Brazil
Discussing the teachinglearning of foreign languages in Brazil, English in particular,
has been the preoccupation of many Brazilian teachers and educators (Bohn, 2001; Celani,
2000a; Celani, 2000b; Lea, 2001; Rajagopalan, 2005a; Rajagopalan & Rajagopalan,
2005). After a period of relative prestige in educational policy,1 the enforcement of a
national education law (Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educacao Nacional) in 1961 reduced
foreign languages to the position of activities in the curriculum, leaving the option to individual schools to oer them or not. A new law, in 1971, however, brought them back to
the curriculum as disciplines, although not as part of the nuclear component. There was,
however, an important restriction. Only one foreign language, unspecied in the law, was
to be taught in the lower levels (5th to 8th grades) and preferably two in high school.2
Needless to say, this situation created several problems in terms of foreign language teachers self-esteem and status in the schools (Celani & Magalhaes, 2002). It also contributed
to the lowering of standards in pre-service education courses, which generally concentrate
on mother tongue future teachers preparation.
In the public school sector particularly, the situation can be even more serious, as the
new teachers, apart from not being well prepared professionally, are not familiar with the
new type of student that they have to deal with and in most cases do not nd institutional
support. This very often leads teachers to resort to their life history as language learners
and repeat in the classroom the way they were taught by their own teachers, so closing the
circle of a traditional, not soundly theory-based methodology (Lima, 2002; Mello 2005;
Sousa, 2006). Lack of condence in the command of the language that they are supposed
to teach makes the task even more dicult. To help in this particular aspect, some English
teacher education projects have been devised, bringing together the private sector and the
university.3
4. National Curricular Parameters Foreign Language (PCN-LE)
The PCN-LE (Brasil Ministerio da Educacao e do Desporto, Secretaria de Educacao
Fundamental, 1998) commissioned by the Brazilian Ministry of Education to a team of
professionals had as their aim to contribute to professional development by oering guide1
Since 1809 English and French were compulsory throughout secondary school education, as was Latin
(Celani, 2000b).
2
In 2006, with no participation of the academic community, Spanish was made compulsory in all schools, but
voluntary to students.
3
See, for one such projects, Celani (2003) and Barbara and Ramos (2003).

416

M.A.A. Celani / English for Specic Purposes 27 (2008) 412423

lines and by indicating quality aims so as to prepare learners to face the world as participatory, reective, autonomous citizens aware of their duties and rights. They were meant
to be an open and exible proposal, linked to the classroom and open to discussion and reelaboration to be reected upon in terms of local circumstances, leaving decisions in implementation to regional and local settings. This was particularly important because of the
diversity in a country the size of Brazil.
The axis for the PCN in general is the development of capabilities, content subjects,
such as history, geography, mathematics, being understood not as ends in themselves,
but as the means to the acquisition and development of capabilities.4 A socio-interactional
view of language and of learning (Vygotsky, 1930/1980) is the theoretical support for the
PCN-LE, implying, thus, that engaging in discourse is dierent from learning bits of language by heart and that learning how language is used in the social world is not necessarily
acquiring knowledge about the language being learnt. Emphasis on building up critical
awareness was not only a particular feature in relation to learners construction of a sense
of citizenship, but also in terms of teachers becoming more critical of imported models
which might have no connection with the social context. The PCN-LE also emphasised
the need to have realistic objectives, given the restraints of the social context for teachinglearning English in Brazil.
One cause for the Parameters not totally fullling their purpose in terms of change in
classroom practices was perhaps the lack of involvement by local administrations in the
actual educational work required in terms of the preparation needed for teachers to make
good use of the Parameters. As it very often happens in Brazil, once again there was no
eective local support for making ocial documents meaningful to teachers, in spite of
the clear recommendation in the document dealing with foreign languages that teacher
education was essential for the Parameters to be of any use.
The lack of clearly perceived purposes for teachinglearning English at school is still
what pervades most of the teaching that takes place. And this is true of both teachers
and learners. One might say that it is a clear example of what Abbott (1981) referred to
as TENOR Teaching English for No Obvious Reasons.
It is my opinion that it is time for English language teachinglearning in general education to be viewed in a new light. This is particularly so given the role of English in
the new world order (Moita Lopes, 2005). This position has been made clear in the Brazilian National Parameters Foreign Language (Brasil Ministerio da Educacao e do Desporto, 1998), which propound the teachinglearning of foreign languages within a
framework that emphasises discourse and the development of critical awareness in relation
to language and the world. In other words, the Parameters reect a view of learning English in order to take part in the world and not just to recognise sentence patterns or individual vocabulary items (cf. Fabricio & Santos, 2006). So, the objective is learning English
for a purpose. Here is how the main principles underlying an ESP approach can be seen as
the most suitable to be proposed as a theoretical basis for the Brazilian general education
context. But this must be made part of the English language teacher education system, ideally before teachers start acting in the eld, and certainly as part of continuing education.
The general negative reaction to the PCN-LE that in many situations in the Brazilian
educational context the best methodological policy could be emphasizing the development

Understood as faculties capable of development and not as mere skills (habilidades).

M.A.A. Celani / English for Specic Purposes 27 (2008) 412423

417

of reading ability might be interpreted as a realistic but not necessarily limiting recommendation, derived from old established beliefs among practitioners that oral ability
should be given priority (a remnant of the until recently prevailing audio-lingual method,
perhaps). It can also be seen as an ideological position, given the reasons oered for the
objections5:
Its part of a policy of exclusion. Why should some be excluded from learning the
four skills?
Its elitist. Only those schools (mostly private ones) with a small number of students
in each class or with homogeneous groups will be in a position to oer the oral
skills.
Its undemocratic. There wont be equal opportunities for all.
The students expect it as their right.
The interesting thing is that it is exactly because those responsible for the PCN-LE
wanted to oer a democratic, non-elitist and all-inclusive proposal that there was a recommendation for reading to be seen as the focus in the planning and implementation of
teachinglearning activities. The PCN-LE make that very clear, as can be seen from the
extracts below:
. . .considering the development of the oral skills as central in foreign language
teaching in Brazil does not take into account the criterion of social relevance in
learning. Except for the specic situation of some tourist areas or of a few multilingual communities, the use of foreign languages seems to be more connected with
reading of technical matter or for leisure. It should be also noted that the only formal
exams in a foreign language (University entrance and admission to post-graduate
courses) require a good command of reading.6 So, reading on the one hand satises
the needs of formal education and on the other, it is the skill that the learner can use
in her immediate social context. . .
It must also be taken into account that classroom conditions in the vast majority of
Brazilian schools may make the teaching of the four communicative skills unviable. So,
a focus on reading may be justied because of the foreign language social function in
the country and also because of what is feasible to accomplish as objectives given the prevailing conditions.
This does not mean, however, that depending on those conditions the objectives
could not include other skills as well.
What is important is to formulate and implement socially justiable objectives, feasible in the existing conditions in the school and which will guarantee discursive
engagement by means of a foreign language. So, a focus on reading is neither understood here as an easier alternative nor should it jeopardise future decisions as to the
teaching of other skills. . . (Brasil, 1998, pp. 2021)7

5
Data collected in various academic occasions and also from practitioners themselves. My translation from
Portuguese.
6
Research has actually shown that need for English increases as academics rise in their careers (Holmes, Celani,
Scott, & Ramos, 1994).
7
My translation from the original in Portuguese.

418

M.A.A. Celani / English for Specic Purposes 27 (2008) 412423

So, what is being recommended is along the lines of a pedagogy of possibility (Freire,
1970; Freire, 2001; Giroux, 1988) and certainly not of exclusion from citizenship building.
It is also in line with an ESP approach making best use of what is feasible. No doubt there
is the question of learners expectations in relation to which skills to learn rst, but concentrating on reading does not necessarily mean excluding oral language completely.
In order to make things clear, it is perhaps useful to elaborate on what is meant by an
ESP approach. This is dealt with in the following section.
5. English teachinglearning from an ESP perspective
To what extent can the basic principles of ESP practice be incorporated into the classroom realities of the more typical general English teachinglearning Brazilian situation?
I am particularly concerned with the public school system. Here, in general, the immediate need is more dicult to be felt by both parents and learners; hence the importance of
learners being able to see a purpose, to see meaning in relation to what goes on in the English classroom.
Let us rst see what is meant by an ESP perspective by looking at some of the basic
tenets of an ESP approach. They could briey be described as involving one or more of
the following features:
(1) considering learners reasons for learning and their learning necessities;
(2) building basic capabilities and abilities for dened purposes;
(3) using previous knowledge, or what the learners bring with them to the learning
situation, i.e. what learners have, do and can do in the learning process;
(4) allowing learners a voice; making language use meaningful; enabling students to
see reasons for learning;
(5) helping students develop sound individual strategies for learning; changing
unhealthy study habits; breaking the old tradition of memorisation and repetition
of teacher-transmitted knowledge.
In short, an ESP perspective means learning for a purpose and learning within a framework which makes reasons for learning not only clear, but also meaningful at the outset
both for learners and teachers.
All these features of an ESP approach have wider educational implications, as they are
concerned with the learning process (Allwright, 1982; Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998;
Hutchinson & Waters, 1987; Robinson, 1991).
Making the teachinglearning of English meaningful in the school context is of primary
importance in a rapidly glocalising world (Canagarajah, 2005). One of the main implications as far as teachers are concerned is the possibility of acting in a framework in which
needs are not dictated by the textbook, as they very often are, but are dictated by the social
context. In this panorama, content, teaching materials and methodology are determined
by the interests, the social context and the previous knowledge of the learners. In this
way, the language is not the object of learning, but the result, the product of mutual interaction between the learner and the outside world, which in the case of English is a really
wide world full of challenges and unforeseen demands and constraints.
In sum, it is possible to state that the basis of an ESP approach can also be the basis of
sound general pedagogy and also of modern thinking in relation to foreign language learn-

M.A.A. Celani / English for Specic Purposes 27 (2008) 412423

419

ing. Perhaps only what Dudley-Evans and St John (1998, p. 9) describe as position 5 in
their continuum for a typology of English as a foreign language courses would not t
the general education English classroom, that is, English as academic support for a specic
discipline or as a support for a very specic skill, such as, for example, oral presentation of
a project.
As far as teacher preparation is concerned, if we believe that glocal knowledge (Canagarajah, 2005) is becoming more and more important in education, what used to be recommended as an ESP teachers prole is also needed for GE teachers. It is generally
recognised, and not necessarily only within an ESP context, that teachers should be
researchers of their own practice, materials producers, evaluators, experimenters of new
approaches, explorers of reality, syllabus builders, teachers of not only language but also
of strategies, builders of social contexts inside and outside the classroom, open to change,
adaptable, ready to continuously review their own practice (Celani, 2003; Freeman, 1992;
Freeman, 1998/1999).
In spite of that, many would perhaps counter argue by saying that the basic feature of
an ESP approach, however, cannot be contemplated in a general education situation,
because in this context it is dicult perhaps impossible to dene the purpose and
the needs.
It is true that it is not possible to dene specic needs in the general education context,
but it is not true that it is impossible to dene the purpose in terms of general education
objectives and of the specic position of English in the world today and in the Brazilian
socio-historical context. It is the language that will open doors to the world of science,
technology and the arts. So, while purpose has to be understood in educational terms, that
is, learning English as part of general education, going through the experience of learning
another language, needs have to be understood in terms of imagined futures (Belcher,
2006, p. 133). Here is where a change, or perhaps a distinction, in the denition of needs
is required.
6. Redening needs for a new context
I would like to propose a redenition of needs for the purpose of the present discussion.
Needs has been a key word in the area of ESP since the rst studies began. The best
known proposals which are relevant to the present discussion are those referred to as situation analysis (Richterich & Chancerel, 1980), target-situation analysis (Munby, 1978),
strategy analysis (Allwright, 1982), learning needs analysis (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987)
and means analysis (Holliday & Cooke, 1982).
Although a landmark in the development of needs analysis, Munbys model would be
of little interest here, as it focuses on the students needs at the end of a course. In the general educational context that would be impossible to state, except in very general terms,
such as sensitising to the multilingual and multicultural world, developing general comprehension (oral and written), concentrating on negotiation of meaning and not on accuracy,
oering a stimulating experience not a disappointing one, relating with the social world
according to individual limitations, discovering preferred skills (Brasil, 1998). It is only
at the end of high school, when a still relatively small number of students prepare to face
the university entrance exam that reading comprehension becomes a need.
Richterich & Chancerels (1980) present-situation analysis, although not at the same
level of detail, is usually part of the procedures in the course planning activities of a still

420

M.A.A. Celani / English for Specic Purposes 27 (2008) 412423

relatively small number of teachers. Very often the textbook selected by the senior English
teacher in the school is the basis of what is to be taught at the dierent levels.
Strategy analysis and what it has in common with learning-centered needs analysis
taking into account needs, lacks and wants is partly useful for my redenition, but it
is not suciently inclusive as it refers to language only, not taking into account the social
context of teachinglearning, which, however, is a feature of means analysis. In this latter
proposal an analysis of the social context is important, although more in terms of constraints in the teachinglearning situation, such as class size, appropriate materials and
imported teaching methods. All these constraints are important in the Brazilian situation
and have to be taken into account; but Brazil, as a member of the expanding circle, has to
consider one more crucial aspect when setting the purpose for English language teaching
learning, namely, the social role of English in Brazil.
It is interesting to see that as we move from the 1970s to the 1980s, the concept of
needs begins to change, becoming more and more sensitive to the social context. This
particular aspect is fully part of present-day preoccupations among those who work in
the area (e.g. Belcher, 2006; Holliday, 2005) and adopt a critical stance in relation to language use and teaching. And it is within this framework that my proposal may make sense.
In the particular Brazilian general education context, and given the social role of English in Brazil and in the world at present, it is the social role that determines the need. And
the minimum perceived need for the vast majority of learners at school, and I am particularly thinking of the public school sector (Celani, 2005), will be the need to have access to
the information society and to satisfy needs created by new technology. This certainly
means learning to read in English. Swales (2007, p. 279) reasserts previous indications
(1985, p. 45) that in South America reading plays a main role:
. . .it would have been helpful to have some account of how and why EAP varies
around the world; after all, South America stresses reading comprehension,
Scandinavia specialized translation, Eastern Europe terminology, the US disciplinary teaching by international teaching assistants, France semiotics, and Spain genre
analysis. (My emphasis underlined)
It is the public school responsibility to oer literacies in various media in English (Benesch, 2006), which are crucial in the world today so as to enable learners to appropriate
English for their own more clearly dened needs and purposes later in life.
So, one might say that needs in Brazilian general education can be dened by the sociocultural purpose of particular school, area, region contexts, the aim being the construction
of critical citizenship in a glocalised world (Canagarajah, 2005). The dening factor is
the outside social context which is brought into the classroom and which also depends
on the social role of English learning in Brazil as part of general education.
7. When myth and reality meet
It may seem a paradox that a misconception created in Brazil in relation to the nature
and purpose of ESP, that is, identication with reading only, would be here proposed as
satisfying the basic needs for the vast majority of the school population, at least as part of
the educational experience of learning another language. From the educational point of
view, it will mean learning with a purpose and being able to see some results from learning.
In the case of English, at present also the language of international communication, one

M.A.A. Celani / English for Specic Purposes 27 (2008) 412423

421

might think in terms of also preparing the ground for the future in meeting the needs of
people hoping to more fully participate in school, work and [other] communities (Belcher, 2006, p. 135). Furthermore, for the vast majority of public schools, attempting to
teach the four skills or to concentrate primarily on the spoken language would be unfeasible given the general lack of infra-structure, class size, frequency of instruction, and in
many schools also low prestige as a subject in the curriculum.
It is also a paradox that the proposal in the PCN-LE was misinterpreted by a large section of the academic community. English language specialists, as well as language teachers,
would be expected to know that learners are members of communities larger than just the
classroom and the school; they would be expected to know that communities are part of
larger socioeconomic and political systems, which would easily lead to the realization that
at present we live in a world where English opens doors to educational and job opportunities, at all levels, to say nothing of access to research ndings and technology. This, however, does not preclude a critical pedagogical stance (Benesch, 1999). Foreign language
specialists also know that building a solid foundation for later development when more
clearly needed might be more eective than making students go through the disappointing
experience after eight years of English at school of not being able to act in English in any
mode, written or spoken. We all know that reading is the skill that lends itself more easily
to further development in other skills as well.
An even greater paradox is the fact that those who objected to the suggestions in the
PCN, in their objections used arguments that defeated themselves in terms of alignment
with a policy of inclusion and empowerment, which the opponents to the proposal propounded. Closing your eyes to reality does not bring about change (Freire, 1970). Faithfulness to old beliefs (could it be to the now surpassed audio-lingual method?) not
supported by a close and realistic scrutiny of context will only result in failure. In this case
it also means excluding learners, and particularly those who have no other possibilities for
learning a foreign language apart from what the public school system has to oer them.
So, those who say Students expect it [learning to speak] as their right, might be directed
to Benesch (2001, pp. 108, 109) and her suggestion for needs analysis to include rights analysis,8 with learning outcomes resulting from teachers discovering what is possible, desirable, and benecial at a certain moment with a particular group of students. Teaching
reading with some degree of success is possible in the conditions normally found in the
majority of schools; it is desirable because, if properly put into practice by well prepared
teachers, it can become both an enjoyable and a meaningful learning experience. Above all
it is benecial, because it can become the stepping stone for further development in the
imagined futures for our students, thus allowing them to become full participants as
citizens.
So, in the case of Brazil, myth resulting from a misinterpretation of an approach to language teachinglearning, ts what reality clearly shows as perhaps a sensible solution for
English language teaching in the school system, if we want to expose our students to a
meaningful experience in learning a foreign language which, in this case, might make
the dierence between exclusion from and inclusion in the fast changing world of action.
In sum, teaching ESP is not equal to teaching reading only, although it is still interpreted like that by many in Brazil. For reasons that still require further investigation, it

Italics in the original.

422

M.A.A. Celani / English for Specic Purposes 27 (2008) 412423

is a spread belief, or myth, as many have referred to it. Coincidentally, a national document with guidelines for foreign language teaching the PCN-LE recommends, in the
light of the role of foreign languages, particularly English, in the country, that reading
be the main skill to be developed in schools in general, as a priority. Myth has met reality.
References
Abbott, G. (1981). Encouraging communication in English: A paradox. ELT Journal, 35(3), 228230.
Allwright, R. (1982). Perceiving and pursuing learners needs. In M. Geddes & G. Sturtridge (Eds.),
Individualisation (pp. 2431). Oxford: Modern English Publications.
Barbara, L., & Ramos, R. C. G. (Eds.). (2003). Reexao e Acoes no Ensino-aprendizagem de Lnguas. Campinas:
Mercado de Letras.
Appadurai, A. (1996). Modernity at large. Cultural dimensions of globalization. Minneapolis: University of
Minnesota Press.
Belcher, D. D. (2006). English for specic purposes: Teaching to perceived needs and imagined futures in worlds
of work, study and everyday life. TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 133156.
Benesch, S. (1999). Thinking critically, thinking dialogically. TESOL Quarterly, 33, 573580.
Benesch, S. (2001). Critical English for academic purposes: Theory politics and practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum.
Benesch, S. (2006). Critical media awareness: Teaching resistance to interpellation. In J. Edge (Ed.), (Re)locating
TESOL in an age of empire (pp. 4964). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Bohn, H. (2001). Maneiras inovadoras de Ensinar e de Aprender: A necessidade de des(re)construcao de
conceitos. In V. J. Lea (Ed.), O Professor de Lnguas Estrangeiras. Construindo a Prossao (pp. 115123).
Pelotas: EDUCAT.
Brasil Ministerio da Educacao e do Desporto. Secretaria de Educacao Fundamental. (1998). Parametros
Curriculares Nacionais Lngua Estrangeira. Braslia, DF.
Canagarajah, A. S. (2005). Reconstructing local knowledge. Reconguring language studies. In A. S.
Canagarajah (Ed.), Reclaiming the local in language policy and practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Celani, M. A. A. (1994). Assessing the value of English for special purpose programmes in national development.
In A. Waters & R. Allwright (Eds.), Language in aid projects: Towards the year 2000. Colloquium Proceedings
(pp. 3649). Lancaster: Centre for Research in Language Education.
Celani, M. A. A. (1998). A retrospective view of an ESP teacher education programme. The ESPecialist, 19(2),
233244.
Celani, M. A. A. (2000a). Applied linguistics in 21st century language issues: Roles, relevance and redirections. In
L. Koike et al. (Eds.), Selected Papers from AILA99 Tokyo (pp. 3943). Tokyo: Waseda University.
Celani, M. A. A. (2000b). O ensino de lingua estrangeira no Imperio: o que mudou? In B. Brait & N. Bastos
(Eds.), Imagens do Brasil: 500 Anos (pp. 223252). Sao Paulo: EDUC.
Celani, M. A. A. (Ed.). (2003). Professores e formadores em Mudanca. Relato de um Processo de Reexao e
Transformacao da Pratica Docente. Campinas: Mercado de Letras.
Celani, M. A. A. (2005). English for All . . . preservando o forro. In C. A. Figueiredo & O. F. Jesus (Eds.),
Aspectos da leitura e do ensino de lnguas (pp. 29). Uberlandia: EDUFU.
Celani, M. A. A., & Collins, H. (2003). Formacao contnua de professores em contexto presencial e a distancia:
Respondendo aos desaos. In L. Barbara & R. C. G. Ramos (Eds.), op.cit. (pp. 69105).
Celani, M. A. A., & Magalhaes, M. C. C. (2002). Representacoes de professores de ingles como lngua estrangeira
sobre suas identidades prossionais: uma proposta de reconstrucao. In L. P. da Moita Lopes & L. C. Bastos
(Eds.), Identidades e Recortes Multi e Interdisciplinares (pp. 319338). Campinas: CNPq/Mercado de Letras.
Celani, M. A. A., Deyes, A. F., Holmes, J. L., & Scott, M. R. (2005). ESP in Brazil: 25 years of evolution and
reection. Campinas: Mercado de Letras.
Celani, M. A. A., Ramos, R. C. G., Holmes, J. L., & Scott, M. R. (1988). The Brazilian ESP project: An
evaluation. Sao Paulo: EDUC.
Dudley-Evans, T., & St John, M. J. (1998). Developments in English for Specic Purposes. A multi-disciplinary
approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Fabricio, B., & Santos, D. (2006). The (re-)framing process as a collaborative locus for change. In J. Edge (Ed.),
(Re)locating TESOL in an age of empire (pp. 6583). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

M.A.A. Celani / English for Specic Purposes 27 (2008) 412423

423

Freeman, D. (1992). Three views of teachers knowledge. The newsletter of the IATEFL Teacher Development
Group, 18, 13.
Freeman, D. (1998/1999). Research in TESOL. Another view. TESOL matters, 8, 56.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogia do Oprimido. Rio de Janeiro: Paz e Terra.
Freire, P. (2001). In A. M. A. Freire (Ed.), Pedagogia dos Sonhos Possveis. Sao Paulo: Editora UNESP.
Giddens, A., Beck, U., & Lash, S. (1997). Modernizacao Reexiva. Sao Paulo: EdUNESP.
Giroux, H. A. (1988). Teachers as intellectuals. Toward a critical pedagogy of learning. New York: Bergin &
Garvey.
Holliday, A. (2005). The struggle to teach English as an international language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Holliday, A., & Cooke, T. (1982). An ecological approach to ESP. Lancaster Practical Papers in English Language
Education (Issues in ESP). Lancaster: University of Lancaster (pp. 124143).
Holmes, J. L., & Celani, M. A. A. (2006). Sustainability and local knowledge: The case of the Brazilian ESP
Project 19802005. English for Specic Purposes, 25(1), 109122.
Holmes, J. L., Celani, M. A. A., Scott, M. R., & Ramos, R. C. G. (1994). The use of English in Brazilian
academic life: The main parameters. Les Cahiers de lAPLIUT, XIII(2), 2842.
Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987). English for specic purposes: A learning-centred approach. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Lea, V. J. (Ed.). (2001). O Professor de Lnguas Estrangeiras. Construindo a Prossao. Pelotas: EDUCAT.
Lima, N. de (2002). Desconstruindo e reconstruindo conhecimentos pedagogicos: uma experiencia de formacao/
transformacao em servico. Unpublished MA Dissertation. Post-graduate Programme in Applied Linguistics.
Pontical Catholic University of Sao Paulo.
Mello, D. M. (2005). Historias de subversao do currculo, conitos e resistencias: buscando espaco para a formacao
do professor da aula de lngua inglesa do curso de Letras. Unpublished PhD Dissertation. Post-graduate
Programme in Applied Linguistics. Pontical Catholic University of Sao Paulo.
Moita Lopes, L. P. (2005). English in the contemporary world: Increasing social opportunities through education.
Text presented for discussion at the International Symposium organized by the International Foundation for
English Language Teaching Research (TIRF). Sao Paulo: Brazil. Mimeo.
Munby, J. (1978). Communicative syllabus design. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rajagopalan, K. (2005a). Non-native speaker teachers of English and their anxieties: Ingredients for an
experiment in action research. In E. Llurda (Ed.), Non-native language teachers: Perceptions, challenges and
contributions to the profession (pp. 283303). New York: Springer.
Rajagopalan, K. (2005b). The language issue in Brazil: When local knowledge clashes with expert knowledge. In
A. Suresh Canagarajah (Ed.), Reclaiming the local in language policy and practice (pp. 99122). Mahawah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum.
Rajagopalan, K., & Rajagopalan, C. (2005). The language issue in Brazil a Boon or a Bane? In G. Braine (Ed.),
Teaching English to the world (pp. 110). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Ramos, R. C. G. (2004). Generos textuais: uma proposta de aplicacao em cursos de ingles para ns especcos.
The ESPecialist, 25(2), 107129.
Richterich, R., & Chancerel, J. L. (1977/1980). Identifying the needs of adults learning a foreign language.
Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Robinson, P. (1991). ESP today. New York: Prentice-Hall.
Sousa, M. B. N. (2006). Na caravela da reexao. Unpublished MA Dissertation. Post-graduate Programme in
Applied Linguistics. Pontical Catholic University of Sao Paulo.
Swales, J. (1985). Episodes in ESP. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Swales, J. (2007). Book review. English for Academic Purposes: An Advanced Resource Book, Ken Hyland.
Routledge, Abingdon, UK and New York (2006). Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 6(3), 278280.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1930/1980). Mind and society. The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, Mass:
Harvard University Press.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice. Learning meaning and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.