CULTURE AND LITERATURE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES LEARNING

This brief article is an introduction to questions as multiculturalism, identity and prejudice, from a specific point of view: a reflection on the importance of didactics in foreign literature and culture, and the role of reading as a meaningful education form in the undergraduating study programs of "Letras Estrangeiras" in Brazil.

Linguistic behavior of Italian descendants in Cascavel/PR

The maintenance and preservation of a linguistic variety are linked to historical issues, which consequently outline the beliefs and attitudes of a community. Depending on the community in which the speaker is inserted, his way of communicating can be stigmatized or prestigious. Thus, in addition to historical factors, the cognoscenti, affective and emotional components, which are connected to the way of thinking, feeling and evaluate are crucial for maintenance or not of a linguistic variety. Therefore consider the immigration process of Italian and migration of the descendants of this ethnic group until reach Cascavel city is important to understand how historical factors influence the beliefs and attitudes of the Italian community from southern region in this city. In addition, Frosi, Faggion Dal and Horn (2010) binding on the language attitudes also to social factors age and gender. Thus, in order to demonstrate the behavior of some descendants of Italians in Cascavel city before the language of their ancestors, 18 informants were selected, Italian descendants of southern colonization and that live in this town for more than 30 years or that were born in the city, which were distributed in the following dimensions: through generational and sexual. From this, individual interviews were conducted through the application of a semi-guided questionnaire and the data allowed checking the linguistic and cultural behavior of the Italian descent community from southern region, that is, those who came from Rio Grande do Sul and/or Santa Catarina states. We found that bilingualism levels vary depending on social factors such as gender and age, as well as historical factors. Language is a form of expression of a culture, however, an ethnic community does not presuppose the existence of a speech community.

Linguistic policies for the teaching of Italian in an immigration context

This article aims to analyze the development of the movement of implementation of a language policy for the Italian teaching in an old Italian immigration area in Vale do Itajaí, SC. The data for the discussion come from a larger study of qualitative nature. For this article, some records were selected from an effective teacher of Italian, who acts in the public school of the city which is focus of the research and field notes. Through a semi-structured interview, the teacher talked about the place of languages in the studied context. The data were analyzed from the theoretical Applied Linguistics, in the context of language policies in a dialogue with the education, with regards to education in a minority language context. It seems that, with the discussion, the issue of recognizing the immigration language as a subject in the school curriculum, has happened through local movements’ aiming to institution of a language policy for the immigration language, recognizing it as a culture language. As contributions, the survey results provide subsidies to (re) think the education that has been offered in intercultural contexts and language education in initial and continuing teacher training.

FEATURES OF THE BRAZILIAN PEOPLE IN GOTA D’ÁGUA

This paper aims to analyze elements of the play Gota d’água, written by Chico Buarque and Paulo Pontes from televised script by Oduvaldo Vianna Filho, based on the tragedy Euripides’ Medea. The work preserves the central plot of the Greek text, but presents aspects of Brazilian reality and strong social content, dealing with themes that remain fairly current, such as right to housing, the situation of dependence of the poor class, the search for survival and maintenance power of action and decision in the hands of those who hold the capital. In the plot, recreated in suburban Rio, the representation of poor Brazilian workers emerges, with poverty being approached from a different profile than that spread by recent works of national literature, in which another facet of the lower social classes is highlighted, linking them to crime and violence, as well as the representation even more common, with an emphasis on black or northeastern origin. To this analysis we have purposed our considerations are guided primarily by studies of Antonio Candido (1970, 1989 and 2006) and Roberto Schwarz (1982 and 2000), joining artistic text and social series via character category, with characterization, a priori, through labor relations. Our approach lays not on Joana, representing Medea, the protagonist of that Greek tragedy, but especially from Egeu, minor character in the Euripides’ play, who, however, plays an important role in that modern version, being imperative in the wake of reflections of Brazilian society. On the other hand, we have observed that the entrepreneur Creonte Vasconcelos, who represents the power of capital, and Jasão de Oliveira, a dubious character, who suffers more transformations during the plot, hesitating between the miserable universe of his origin and the economic power, rising socially, becoming a product of the cultural industry and leading us to think about the use of the most capable people by the capitalist system.

WORKING WITH THE PROVERB GENRE IN THE CLASSROOM

This paper presents the results of a study in which we discuss the use of proverb genre in teaching Portuguese. To achieve the proposed objective we have developed a literature in which it sought to compile and analyze the conceptualization/characterization of proverbs, as well as the potential of the genre to the acquisition and/or improvement of linguistic and discursive skills. Therefore, it was possible to ensure that the proverb brings substantial teaching of Portuguese language contributions, because it is a genre that has various exploration possibilities. It was observed methodological possibilities for the development of educational activities involving issues related to phonology, morphology, the lexicon, syntax and semantics, and ideological and cultural issues, which can make the Portuguese language lessons more interesting and fruitful , which will provide students with an analysis of linguistic elements used daily in their social context , as well as analysis of ideological / cultural content present in proverbial expressions, expanding the linguistic and discursive student proficiency.