Subjectivity and interculturality in the teaching of Portuguese as a host language: an analysis of educational policy documents

Abstract

This article seeks to understand how the subjectivity of the international migrant student is constructed in Brazilian educational policy documents, based on the notions of interculturality and plurilingualism, within the scope of Portuguese as a Host Language (PLAc). Three documents are examined at two normative levels: the National Common Curricular Base (BNCC, 2018) and the National Education Plan (PNE, 2026), at the national level, and Ordinance No. 94/2025, at the district level. The qualitative research, based on document analysis and Bardin’s (2010) content analysis, draws on critical interculturality (Walsh, 2009) and plurilingualism (Council of Europe, 2001) to examine how the policies respond to linguistic and cultural diversity, while the Theory of Subjectivity (González Rey, 2004) guides the analysis of the position assigned to the migrant student. The results indicate that, although there are advances in the recognition of cultural diversity, the policies do not structurally incorporate plurilingualism and interculturality. The migrant student is constructed as a subject to be adapted, rather than as a subject who produces meanings, which results in their subjective invisibility. An effective host language policy would require regulations that treat plurilingualism and interculturality as everyday dimensions of welcoming.