ENGLISH TEACHER TRAINING WITH CHILDREN: DIALOGUES BETWEEN APPLIED LINGUISTICS, LITERACIES AND THE SOCIO-EMOTIONAL DIMENSION

Abstract

This article reviews the literature on English teacher training for the early years of elementary school in Brazil, in a context of expansion driven by the BNCC (National Framework for the Learning Environment). The article advocates for an integrated three-pronged approach: (1) Critical Applied Linguistics, which understands language teaching as a social practice and political act, training teachers as critical intellectuals and curriculum mediators; (2) multiliteracies and critical literacy, which expand the notion of text to multiple semioses and promote worldviews, legitimizing children's multimodal repertoires; and (3) the socioemotional dimension, which recognizes the relevance of emotions for learning and proposes an environment of acceptance and trust. It is argued that the articulation of these axes shifts teaching from a technical execution to a transformative agency, capable of activating "curricular gaps," redefining practices, and promoting social justice. As a contribution, the text offers a cohesive framework for initial and continuing education programs, guiding critical, multimodal, and humanized pedagogical practices in teaching English to children.