The Observatory of Portuguese as a Foreign Language (Observatório PLE-PL2): a milestone in language policies for training Portuguese as a Foreign Language teachers from a pluricentric perspective

Resumo

Portuguese is an official or co-official language in nine countries and is present in science, the internet, media, the economy, politics, and the lives of over 260 million people across four continents, encompassing diverse cultures and languages. While Portuguese is enriched by its linguistic and cultural diversity, its teaching as a foreign language from a pluricentric and intercultural perspective has faced both significant challenges and advancements in recent decades. To address this demand, the Observatório PLE-PL2 (The Observatory of Portuguese as a Foreign Language) was created to integrate various researchers to promote the Portuguese language. This article aims to describe the Portuguese as a Pluricentric Language Teacher Training Course offered by the Observatório PLE-PL2, as well as to analyze its context of influence based on the Policy Cycle Approach proposed by Ball and Bowe (1992). To this end, we draw on bibliographic research about the situation of Portuguese from a pluricentric perspective. We then analyze the context of influence that led to the creation of the course, based on a historical overview of actions and contexts both nationally and internationally. We conclude that the Observatório PLE-PL2 plays a pioneering role in training Portuguese as a Foreign Language teachers from a pluricentric perspective.