The aim of this paper is to reflect upon the ways research processes are conditioned by culturally determined representations. In order to do so, discursive practices in an in-service indigenous teacher-researcher educational program in the state of Acre will be examined. Presently involved in local sociolinguistic research projects, these teachers hope to produce knowledge that will help them devise linguistic planning capable of strengthening their heritage languages. The analysis will specifically focus on some conflicting views these teachers-researchers and their teacher educator have about how research instruments should be devised and research data processes should be conducted. It is argued, as a final consideration, that disregarding such different perspectives may result in serious constraints for the intended investigations. It is also claimed that references to the local should always be interpreted with a grain of salt and that ethnocentrism and graphocentrism are insufficient concepts to explain all conflicts embedded in intercultural relations. This paper hopes to somehow contribute to teacher-researcher education programs in our county, as well as to our understanding of the complex role intercultural interpretations play in minority languages policy and planning.
indigenous teacher-researcher education; decolonizing research methodologies; intercultural relations