Acuerdo cerrado - (de)constructing the utilitarian discourse about learning Spanish as a foreign language

This paper provides an analysis of the utilitarian discourse about learning Spanish as a foreign language in the text Acuerdo cerrado, which was published by TAM nas Nuvens, the on-board magazine of the airline TAM. The results of the analysis suggest two preconceptions that seem to support that discourse: the value of the time spent in a foreign country as the best option to accelerate the learning of a foreign language and the supposed easy talk involved in learning Spanish. From our point of view, questioning this utilitarian discourse is essential because it seems to (re)produce outmoded and non-effective pedagogical practices. Adapted from the source document