Meaning of play in multilingual contexts: the act of play a scenario of border linguistic plurality

Abstract

The text is the result of research that sought to identify and establish the relationship between playing and linguistic plurality in a peripheral, border school, which serves elementary school students in the municipality of Foz do Iguaçu. The school as a space for socializing knowledge welcomes subjects with heterogeneous, plurilingual and multicultural behaviors, therefore it is necessary to consider how these subjects are welcomed in their diversity and identify possible inclusive spaces related to the heterogeneity of the public that makes up the border region. Play as one of the aspects related to childhood becomes an inexhaustible source of delving into social and linguistic relations. The methodology adopted is based on qualitative research considering the social and cultural relations related between the external world and the playful activities between the subjects involved, whether considered migrant students or not who do not have Portuguese as their first language. Data were collected through observation of playing activities and forms of communication between subjects. As a result, we observed that, even in a border context, educational institutions still have the practice of including the Portuguese language as the only source of learning and that among children, consideration of plurilingualism does not interfere in relationships and playing practices. We hope that the municipality of Foz de Iguaçu implements the Protocol for welcoming immigrant students into the municipal education network, articulating pedagogical practices in an equitable manner in the face of linguistic differences, contributing to quality learning and encouraging multicultural play relationships.