A discussão sobre a prática de análise linguística após 30 anos da publicação de O texto na sala de aula (1984): uma investigação historiográfica

Abstract

Traditional grammar teaching has been the subject of debate for many decades and has come to occupy, at least theoretically, a new place in language teaching, especially since the publication of “The text in the classroom" (O texto na sala de aula) (Geraldi, 1984), as well as of official documents, such as the PCN (portuguese abbreviation for National curriculum parameters) (Brasil, 1998) and the OCEM (portuguese abbreviation for Curriculum guidelines for high school) (Brasil, 2006). Understanding this phenomenon involves analyzing not only the results of large-scale assessments or the classroom experience itself, but also the articulation of these elements with studies coming from academia. Existing changes in teaching do not occur out of nowhere. Therefore, the Historiography of linguistics, a field that focuses on the development of knowledge produced on language throughout history (cf. Altman, 2004, 2009; Swiggers, 1990, 2004, 2013, 2020; Koerner, 2014), becomes essential in understanding the paths that language teaching has followed. Based on this understanding, this research aims to understand the approach given to the practice of linguistic analysis between 1984 and 2014. For this purpose, it was mapped journals in the area of Linguistics and Languages, which had publications from 1984 onwards, was carried out. In this process, 12 journals were identified, 4 qualis A1, 4 qualis B1 and 4 qualis B2. Among them, a total of 9,685 texts were analyzed, 73 of which discussed language teaching in some way and relied on the term referring to the practice of language analysis to be developed in the classroom. The research showed that most of the articles and essays analyzed approached linguistic analysis from an interactionist view. The textual context of this approach, which is, the main focus of these texts, was diverse, such as proposals for reading activities and textual production, the analysis of the language teacher representation, the initial and continuing education of teachers, among others. Grammar was handled, in most of these articles, as an instrument to be, indeed, worked on in favor of practices of use and reflection. In addition to identifying the researchers' perspective, the texts here analyzed also reflected the perspective of teachers who participated in researches that observed the relationship between theory and practice. As already noted in the state of the art, the articles and essays showed that, between 1984 and 2014, there were still concern and doubts of some teachers about how to put linguistic analysis into practice, having, therefore, different discourses and practices. Finally, the identification of these texts is useful for the continuity of the discussion on the part of those who do research, as well as for the teachers who seek to improve their daily practice and the undergraduates of Languages, who are receiving a training that is no longer philological, but focused on the development of skills that give autonomy to the basic education student, for example, through what is known as the Socio-discursive tradition (Gueiros, 2019).