Misalignments between discourse and grammar studies in brazilian basic education

Abstract

In this article, we outline the ongoing tension between grammar-based and discourse-based teaching in Brazilian Basic Education. Historically, institutions like Colégio Pedro II have balanced grammatical instruction with rhetorical and stylistic studies; documents such as the Law of Guidelines and Bases of Education (Brazil, 1996) and the National Curriculum Parameters (Brazil, 1998) emphasize the importance of integrating grammar with the use of the mother tongue in real contexts; curriculum reforms, like the one in 1981 at Colégio Pedro II, reflected changes in the emphasis given to grammar, while more recent approaches, advocated by linguists such as Possenti (1996) and Moura Neves (2011), propose a greater appreciation for language use. In this regard, we advocate for the integration of grammar-based and discourse (text)-based teaching from the perspective of discursive semiotics, which analyzes the construction of meaning on three levels: the fundamental, the narrative, and the discursive. Through analyses of headlines from the G1 portal, we illustrate that grammatical and discursive aspects can be taught together and reinforce the importance of a bidirectional approach for efficient formal learning of the native language.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.56238/sevened2024.015-014