ABSTRACT
The present article aims at analyzing recounts of personal experiences spontaneously produced by children and teenagers in EFL classrooms. Inserted in the field of Applied Linguistics, this study is based upon the Sociocultural Theory (VYGOTSKY, 1998, 2001), according to which language mediates the social construction of knowledge. Moreover, we regard language as a use-oriented tool in service of social and communicative purposes, as proposed by Systemic Functional Linguistics (HALLIDAY; HASAN, 1989). We stand on such theoretical backgrounds as well as on a qualitative perspective (DENZIN; LINCOLN, 2006) to argue that the analyzed recounts contribute to the social construction of pedagogical knowledge through personal experience, prompting the emergence of meaningful and shared learning in the classroom. Finally, we suggest that social world experience subsidizes the awareness of curriculum issues and, in return, those contents support the construction of students’ personal experiences, as proposed by Nóbrega (2003, 2009).
Recounts; EFL classrooms; Systemic functional linguistics; Sociocultural theory; Mediation; Social construction of knowledge
