FROM A HISTORICAL-SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE OF LANGUAGE: CONTRIBUTIONS OF BAKHTIN AND VYGOTSKY TO AN EMANCIPATORY EDUCATIONAL PRACTICE

Abstract

Language education in Brazilian basic education faces a crisis of effectiveness, evidenced by indicators such as IDEB and PISA, which reveal deficiencies in reading and writing proficiency. This scenario exposes a structural disconnect between formal education and students' social literacies, deepened by a paradox: although legislation advocates for civic and critical education, school practice remains anchored in mechanistic models, unilateral transmission, and decontextualized exercises that treat language as a neutral code. In light of this, this article seeks foundations for a transformative educational praxis in the theories of Mikhail Bakhtin and Lev Vygotsky. Through a theoretical-bibliographical research of dialectical inspiration, the social nature of language is analyzed. From Bakhtin's work, dialogism as an ontological principle, the conception of the word as an ideological phenomenon, and the theory of discourse genres are highlighted. From Vygotsky, semiotic mediation, the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), and the role of language in the constitution of higher psychological functions stand out. The article demonstrates that, despite differences in focus (philosophical-literary in Bakhtin and psychological in Vygotsky), their theories converge in understanding language as a constitutive social practice. The articulation of these perspectives offers a powerful theoretical framework to overcome reductionist views and support an emancipatory pedagogy of language, which understands the classroom as a dialogical space for humanization and social critique.