Indigenous language in the entrance exam of the indigenous people of Paraná

Abstract

The history of the access policies to university education directed to indigenous people shows that Brazilian universities offer different formats. In Paraná, the entrance exam is specific and the candidate can choose to do an indigenous language test (Guarani or Kaigang) instead of a foreign language test. The main goal of this paper is to debate the presence of indigenous languages in the Indigenous Entrance Exam process, through the perspective of the linguistic policies. Considering the history of the indigenous language test (Paulino, 2008; Amaral, 2010), we evaluate the format of the last three exams following two different parameters: a) the relation between the test and the content indicated by the candidate’s manual; b) the RCNEI’s (1998) orientations about the linguistic policies focused on the valuing of indigenous languages (Bomfim, 2012). Lastly, we discuss the potential of the exam as an intercultural exercise.