ESL as means of social exclusion – english language and inequality in Brazil

Brazil is an emergent country that has made remarkable progress in social inclusion in the past twenty years. However, people from disadvantaged backgrounds face a major hurdle in their social ascension process: the difficulty experienced in acquiring good command of English. Virtually all management positions in major corporations demand fluent English of the candidates and many other doors are closed for professionals who are not fluent in English. A piece of research carried out in a college showed that students from humble backgrounds, after studying three semesters of English, could not come close to the performance of middle-class freshmen. Poverty in Brazil had its origins in slavery, and affects ESL learning ability in two ways: a culture of poverty that ignores that there is a world outside Brazil and the unsatisfactory quality of public schools. English is also seen by a significant number of educational authorities as the language of the oppressor, and this is also detrimental to the teaching of English in public schools. Though the problem can only be solved through a sweeping change in society, cleverly designed remedial courses could mitigate the difficulty.