Coloniality in school discourse relations: a critical analysis of language between Brazilian and Venezuelan students:

Abstract

This article analyzes the discursive relations between Brazilian and Venezuelan students in a public school in Boa Vista, Roraima, from a decolonial and critical language perspective. Set in a border context marked by intense migratory flows, the school environment becomes a privileged space for observing how the coloniality of being, knowledge, and power manifests itself in everyday interactions, especially through language. The research has a qualitative approach, based on participant observation, interviews with students and teachers, and classroom records. The analysis follows the fundamentals of Critical Discourse Analysis, drawing on authors such as Orlandi (2010), Reguera (2008), and Pêcheux (2016), articulated with contributions from Latin American decolonial thought. The results point to the reproduction of racialized and xenophobic discursive practices, often naturalized as jokes, which reinforce identity hierarchies and the denial of otherness. It is concluded that there is an urgent need for a pedagogical praxis committed to listening, dialogue, and the recognition of differences, in order to promote more horizontal relationships in the school environment.