A tirinha cômica em questão: atividades de leitura no livro didático de língua portuguesa

You can see nowadays a more constant questioning about the validity and effectiveness of the practices of teaching reading currently introduced in elementary school. The intelligibilities generated from many voices, and built on the border between many consciences, it can contribute to understand and to some extent, alleviate skewed or outdated understandings about the teaching of reading and its goals in the school environment. By understanding the dynamics of these practices, which always need to be modified because of new social demands, we recognize the validity of working with the prospect of reading in its historical, social and dialogic dimension (Bakhtin, 1981, 2003). The Portuguese language textbook (LDP), in turn, being one of the fundamental bases of reading in school, makes a justified and necessary active production of knowledge about the theoretical and methodological conceptions that underlie the work with reading and on how that work is effectively routed. Our aim in this essay is precisely analyze reading activities in four Portuguese textbooks (Teacher s Manuals) for the 6th grade of elementary school, focusing on the proposed activities from a specific discursive genre, in this case, the comic strip. Through this research, we retrieve and list the goals that guide the development of reading activities in the LDP, and then verify a compliance or not of these objectives in directing the activities. Finally, we describe how the reading practices that involve the strip in the textbook can legitimize or reject the reading as an area of construction and circulation of meanings between socio-historically located subjects. We take account of studies on the nature and constitution of language (BAKHTIN, 1981, 2003, 2010; BAKHTIN/ VOLOSHINOV, 2006; SOUZA, 2002; GERALDI, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2006; ROJO, 2008a, 2008b, among others), as well especific studies about the activities in Portuguese textbooks (MARCUSCHI, 2010; BELMIRO, 2006; MENDONÇA, 2006, among others)

Linguagem e argumentação na produção escrita de vestibulandos

In this study, we analyzed the argumentative processes of written texts produced by UERN (Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte) vestibulandos : (students who apply for University Entrance Examinations in Brazil). It has as its corpus twenty compositions by such students. These compositions, collected in UFRN COMPERVE (Permanent Commission of vestibular examinations) and written in 2005 examination, were selected in a random way. The theoretical support is based on Perelman & Olbrechts-Tyteca (1999; 2002), Reboul (2004), Bakhtin (1992), Faraco (2003), Platão e Fiorim (2003) e Geraldi (1997), and other scholars. The work aimed to investigate how vestibulandos make use of argumentative techniques in order to construct their arguments in the vestibular examination. In the analysis of the corpus we considered that the used argumentative techniques, the relationship with the thesis, the sense effects students wanted to produce and the type of the required speech. It showed that in the, discourse construction of argumentative texts, students made use, with more frequency, of the following argumentative techniques: pragmatic arguments, arguments of the definition, comparison arguments, division arguments, example arguments, argument of the model and authority arguments as means to support their theses. However it was not carried out in a conventional way, reason why it leads us to believe that schools, as part of human activity, responsible for education and for the insert of learners in the literate world, have a fundamental role concerning the offer of conditions, so that, the teaching of Portuguese Language leads students to a systematic and explicit preparation of the knowledge, regarding the social and functions of the language, as well as of the strategies of the construction of argumentative texts. This can lead learners to develop communicative competence and to feel more confident when working with text production

Olimpíada de Língua Portuguesa: ressignificação de práticas de leitura e escrita

The search for new meanings in the basic education teaching-learning process has caused the development of public policies for mother language teaching, such as the Portuguese Language Olympics (OLP). To contribute to this search, this intervention project has as object of study reading and writing practices developed in the OLP through the educational model arising from literacy projects (TINOCO, 2008). In working towards, the general aim of reframing reading and writing practices through the PLO, developed from the teaching model that comes of literacy projects, we established three specific objectives: a) reflect on a national writing contest; b) to realign conceptual and methodological the Portuguese classes of the 7th grade school due to the developed project; c) to improve the reading and writing practices of the students in 7th grade of school where we operate. Therefore, we base ourselves in the history of Portuguese teaching in Brazil (SOARES, 2002; GERALDI, 2008), the dialogical conception of language (BAKHTIN, VOLOCHÍNOV [1929] 2009; SOARES, 1998; FARACO, 2009) in Literacy Studies (KLEIMAN, 2001, 2005, 2006; TINOCO, 2008; OLIVEIRA; TINOCO; SANTOS, 2011; STREET, 2014), the learning community concept (AFONSO, 2001), in studies of retextualization (OLIVEIRA, 2005; MARCUSCHI, 2010), gender discursive literary memories (CLARA; ALTENFELDER; ALMEIDA, 20--), in written evidence (POSSENTI, 2002) and Textual Linguistics (MARCUSCHI, 2008; ANTUNES, 2009; KOCH, 2011; SILVA [et. al.], 2013). Methodologically, this qualitative research (LÜDKE; ANDRÉ, 1986; ANDRÉ, 2005) is anchored in Applied Linguistics (MOITA LOPES, 1996). This research was supporting by students in the 7th grade, teachers, management team and parents, as well as people outside of school community. The instruments used for the generation of data were semi-structured interview, students‟ texts, audio recordings and video, photos, OLP material (teacher's book, a collection of texts and CD-ROM). The data generated allowed us to establish the following categories of analysis in relation to the texts produced: authorship, in formativeness, discursive progression, compositional structure, content, style, and language aspects. In addition, throughout the project, the collaborators have produced texts of various genres: oral interview and written request letter, legal, literary memories, oral and experience report. Also experienced a local award and participated in a national competition. They produced a video and a book with stories and student authorship of illustrations. The results achieved show that the literacy project developed also allowed macro changes: reading and writing practices, once considered strictly school studied, they were transformed into broader social practices, through which various literacy agents were able to collaboratively act. In short, they experienced writing practices that go beyond the classroom and the teacher-student relationship.