This article reflects on pre-service English teachers’ education in the state of Alagoas based on the notions of identity and otherness (PONZIO, 2010). Upon observing the present context of teaching and learning this language in the state, we have noticed the presence of negative values (BAKHTIN / VOLOCHINOV, [1926] 2000) in the teacher’s identity of our undergraduate students who were about to begin teaching in public schools, which interfered directly in their class practices. We, then, propose a study of the issue of personal narratives (WEBSTER; MERTOVA, 2007) whose objective is the construction of firm otherness. In this manner, it is expected that the undergraduates from our institution in pre-service training, who enter public education in the state, do not lose track of the positive values of education and, consequently, do not give in to contextual pressures.
Identity; otherness; teaching and learning English; undergraduates in pre service training