Linguagem em Foco Scientific Journal

Institucional

Equipe Editorial Linguagem em Foco — 2025-03-28

Scientific-academic literacy actions

Amábile Piacentine Drogui — 2025-03-28

This manuscript presents and discusses the excerpt of a research work which aims at identifying the actions undergraduate courses, from the seven campuses from the State University of Paraná (Unespar), have executed (or not) to promote the development of undergraduates in the comprehension and production of text genres recurrent in the scientific-academic sphere, in Portuguese, English and Spanish. Based on the New Academic Literacy theory (Lea; Street, 2014), this exploratory study, inserted in a critical-theoretical paradigm, first analyses data generated by means of a questionnaire – with open and closed questions about literacy practices implemented in courses, extension and/or research projects – answered by forty-nine undergraduate students, from twenty-five different courses, in the years 2019 and 2020. As a second exploratory-investigative move, the students’ answers are related to the courses and course syllabuses present in the pedagogical projects of the program. The findings reveal that: 1) there are literacy approaches in Portuguese in some courses, although the majority is centred in the Academic Socialisation Model; 2) there are courses that are cited as targeting the development of scientific-academic literacies which are, frequently, related to professional-academic literacies; 3) there is a big gap regarding literacies in English and Spanish, since they seem to be limited to the courses in which the study of these languages is the priority. This research is part of the Integrated Laboratory of Scientific-Academic Literacies (LILA) that, based on these findings, has proposed and conducted actions towards contributing to the institutional demands identified.

Critical Multimodal Literacy based on symbols of Africanness

Michelle Soares Pinheiro — 2025-03-28

In this paper, we aim to show a pedagogical proposal focused on African to promote critical multimodal literacy practices for 3-year-olds and over in Childhood Education. The theoretical approach is based on the ideas of: Munanga (2007), Mbembe (2018), Pinheiro (2023), Callow (2008), and Kress and van Leeuwen (2021), among others. The methodology was interpretative in nature, based on Moita Lopes (1994), in which we analyzed the informational data of multimodal aspects of the picture book Amoras by Brazilian rapper Emicida, based on the Show me framework by Callow (2008) and the Grammar of Visual Design by Kress and van Leeuwen (2021). The main conclusion from the results is that the picture book is rich in multimodal Africanness symbols (black feminine, religiousness, and black personalities), which may raise awareness, even in childhood, in favor of anti-racist education practices at school with teachers’ mediation in a classroom in terms of reading images and words and their Africanness.

Scenography and Discursive Ethos in Itaú Unibanco Advertisement

Sirleide de Almeida Lima — 2025-03-28

This article aims to describe and analyze the scenography and construction of the discursive ethos in the Fim de Ano 2021 / Alice e Fernanda do Itaú Unibanco advertisement, based on French Discourse Analysis (FDA). This advertisement features little Alice, known to the public for her videos on the internet in which she pronounces difficult words, and the renowned actress Fernanda Montenegro. The analysis corpus is composed of the commercial already referenced. The theoretical-methodological foundation adopted in the article is Discourse Analysis in its enunciative-discursive aspect, as recommended by Maingueneau (2007, 2008a, 2008b, 2013 and 2015), for the use of the concept of scenography and discursive ethos. The results of the study indicate that the advertisement projects the idea that there is a close relationship of empathy between the banking institution and its co-speakers. The acceptance of the campaign is demonstrated by the significant number of views on digital media. The results of the study attest that the scenography is associated with the discursive ethos and together they guarantee the interlocutor's adherence to the speech, which is prepared with a view to achieving satisfaction, loyalty among Itaú Unibanco customers.

Discursive change

Erivaldo Sales Freitas — 2025-03-28

This work aims to analyze the process of discursive change around the PEC da Transição, which came to be characterized by media outlets, notably by Folha de São Paulo, as “PEC da gastança”, with the aim of identifying the ideological bias in the use of the expression. To achieve this objective, we used theoretical constructs of Critical Discourse Analysis, based on the following authors: Fairclough (2001), Wodak (2004), Resende and Ramalho (2006), Van Dijk (2015), Santiago et al. (2020) and Paiva (2019). For analysis, two newspaper texts were selected in which the expression “PEC da gastança” was used and thematized: an editorial, dated November 12, 2022, and a news text, published on December 16, 2022. The methodological procedures were based on Fairclough's three-dimensional approach (text, discursive practice and social practice), based on the study of vocabulary, discursive context and ideology categories, thus constituting an eminently explanatory research. The results of the work point to a positioning of the newspaper linked to the neoliberal ideology, whose discursive resources are related to the construction of a scenario in which the expression “PEC da gastança” was normalized, through the use of a vocabulary belonging to the negative semantic field, directed not only to the PEC, but also to President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, thus operationalizing the discursive change intended by the newspaper: from “PEC da Transição” para “PEC da gastança”.

An ELF-Aware Teaching Prototype for Pre-Service English Language Teachers

Joilse Prestes de Pádua Scalassara — 2025-03-28

This paper presents a discussion on the development and analysis of an educational prototype focused on teaching English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) at a teacher education program at a university in southern Brazil. The prototype was developed as part of a collaborative research project that aims to integrate theoretical concepts such as language as a social practice (Johnson, 2009; Leffa; Irala, 2014; Zavala, 2018), ELF (Duboc, 2019; Duboc; Siqueira, 2020; Gimenez, 2009; Jenkins, 2015; Seidlhofer, 2001; 2005), and the Multiliteracies Pedagogy (Cope; Kalantzis, 2015; Marson; Jordão, 2022; Zapata, 2022) into the teaching-learning process. The study explores how these guiding principles materialized in the prototype and their pedagogical implications for English teacher education. Data collection included questionnaires, classroom activities, the prototype, support material developed for teacher use, and field notes. The results suggest that the prototype meets its objectives by providing a space for discussing ELF, developing language skills, and implementing teaching strategies. The study suggests that, although some adaptations are necessary, the prototype is a valuable tool for teacher education, fostering critical reflection and ELF-oriented pedagogical practice.

Investigating interlanguage in present perfect acquisition through translation

José Vicente Santos Mendes — 2025-03-28

The paper uses the blind translation into English of a youth reader originally written in Portuguese by two Brazilian college students with different proficiency levels – one upper-intermediate, who has never lived in an English-speaking country though visits her mother in the US often, and the other one advanced, who lived in the US with his family from the age 4 to the age 14 – to verify if Selinker’s (1972; 2013, elsewhere) interlanguage hypothesis holds as far as the use of the present perfect goes. The two outcomes are contrasted with the translation of the reader by a Portuguese/English bilingual native speaker. The methodology for the case-study at hand is a quantitative-qualitative analysis of the data we gathered: Taking into consideration not only the number of tokens each of the three translations includes but also the typological nuances the verb tense encompasses in the three outputs, the investigation yields as a result an inference that can be drawn from our here observed continuum upper-intermediate student > advanced student > bilingual speaker for the use of the present perfect, as far as how the verb tense interacts with Selinker`s interlanguage hypothesis, namely, that subsequent surveys shall yield similar conclusions. After all, the 3 participants involved are correspondingly high-performance informants, which renders the current case study outstandingly representative. We deployed Comrie (1976) and McCawley (1971) as benchmark for the shades of meaning the present perfect in English may convey.

#Ageism (female)

Gabriele Valim Vargas — 2025-03-28

This article seeks, based on #ageism on Instagram, to analyze, given Bakhtin's assumptions, the speeches made by famous women in the media on this topic, in the year 2023, as well as the appreciation expressed in the responses expressed, essentially the negative ones, raised by these speeches. To do this, we use the concepts of Dialogical Discourse Analysis (ADD) as a theoretical-methodological foundation, mainly on alterity between subjects, such as studies related to gender and ageism. Given this issue, the idea of social media platforms allowing the emergence of this natural feminine reality was put forward as hypotheses, revealing the prejudice against aging. Furthermore, research regarding otherization and online platforms are also specific to the theoretical basis of this investigation. From this research and analysis of the corpus carried out, it was found, based on the projects of saying mobilized in the selected videos and advertisements, that there is an otherization of the more mature woman, since she is constantly judged and considered inferior to the younger one. Furthermore, we comment that social media platforms contributed significantly to the discussion regarding female ageism, which was best seen through the relationship of (negative) alterity between subjects on the Instagram platform.

Collaborative text production between HI and GAI

Valéria Montenegro — 2025-03-28

In the digital age, access to various platforms and media has expanded the ways teaching and learning interactions extend beyond the traditional classroom. This shift is driven by multimodal language practices that transcend physical boundaries and establish multiple connections, including those between humans and machines. This article explores a collaborative text production experience involving Human Intelligence (HI) and Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) through the Story.com platform. The experience was conducted in a multiliteracy workshop with a mixed-grade class of 4th and 5th-year students at a public school in rural Mossoró, Brazil. Theoretically and methodologically grounded in sociocultural literacy studies (Kleiman, 2005; Oliveira, 2008; Tinoco, 2008), multiliteracies pedagogy (Kalantzis; Cope; Pinheiro, 2020) and Applied Linguistics (Scheifer; Rego, 2020), this qualitative study analyzes a data excerpt focusing on collaborative writing initially between two students, and subsequently between them and the Story.com platform. The findings indicate that collaboration writing between HI and GAI requires iterative prompt creation for story generation, the development of reading practices and critical analysis of the generated versions, and the ongoing refinement of the multimodal story. We conclude that the use of GAI can enable the development of multimodal artifacts, such as multimodal texts, thereby contributing to the expansion of text production in contemporary settings.

Semantic reinterpretation of prepositional verbs in the light of the functionalist principle of iconicity

Gabriel Zardo — 2025-03-28

This study investigates the decline of prepositions under the scope of the verbs assistir, obedecer and responder in texts written by university students. The objective is to present explanatory hypotheses for the decline of prepositions centered on the subprinciple of integration, linked to the principle of iconicity (Givón, 1995; 2001). We start from the hypothesis that the greater the semantic integration, the greater the syntactic integration. For this study, 119 data were extracted from expanded abstracts in the areas of Linguistics, Literature and Arts from 2017 to 2022, available on the website of the Integrated Week of Innovation, Teaching, Research and Extension event, at the Federal University of Pelotas. The results found indicate different percentages of decline of prepositions before the complements of the three verbs in the texts of higher education students: 67.5% for the verb assistir; 52.1% for the verb responder and 40% for the verb obedecer. In despite of the normative prescription (Luft, 2010; Cunha; Cintra, 2001; Bechara, 2005), the use of the language, even in situations of greater monitoring, shows a drop in prepositions, a prediction already recorded in descriptive grammars (Perini, 2010; Bagno, 2012). The results indicate the action of the subprinciple of integration to different degrees for the verbs under analysis. There is greater integration for the verb assistir and lesser integration for the verb obedecer, with the verb responder being located in an intermediate position. Finally, this article contributes to the description of a phenomenon of preposition drop, considering the principle of iconicity.

Recategorization and argumentative guidance

Amanda Mikaelly Nobre de Souza — 2025-03-28

Considering that texts are produced to fulfill a certain communicative purpose(s) and are oriented towards this purpose, we argue that there are texts with direct argumentation and texts with indirect argumentation, which implies speaking in degrees of argumentativeness (Cavalcante et al, 2020), an assumption defended by Textual Linguistics. Resulting from a dissertation research, in this article, we aim to analyze the role of the referential introduction in the development of argumentative guidance in ENEM grade 1000 essays in 2018. Supported by Amossy (2018) and Silva (2013), through a qualitative approach, of a exploratory and descriptive-interpretative, the research reinforces the argumentativeness present at the inauguration of the referents, revealing points of view and evaluations that build and reinforce a thesis. For analysis, we chose 2 essays, which present a greater recurrence of referential processes and similarity in terms of the argumentative bias of discussion. As results, we conclude that, from the function of characterizing the referent to encapsulating a project of saying that will still be developed throughout the discursive unit, the referential introduction works on building the argumentative orientation of the text, fulfilling the role of articulator, given that the inauguration a referent results in a subsequent resumption or remission and leads the reader to think about the theme under certain perceptions. In effect, we recognize the effects that this research brings to Portuguese language classes, regarding the functions that the construction of reference fulfills in the argumentative orientation of texts, as it promotes the expansion of studies on the interface between referencing and argumentation in Textual Linguistics.

The variable use of the definite article in the face of anthroponyms

Dayane Bezerra de Souza — 2025-03-28

Following the theoretical-methodological assumptions of Variationist Sociolinguistics, this study investigates the variation in the use of the definite article before anthroponyms in popular speech in Fortaleza. We used a sample from the Projeto Norma Oral do Português Popular de Fortaleza - CE, with 24 informants, of the Dialogue between Informant and Documenter. We analyzed our data using the software GoldVarb X, including the following independent variables: gender, education level, age, proximity of the enunciator to the person referred by the noun phrase, type of preposition, informational status, gender of the anthroponym, number of words in the noun phrase, type of anthroponym, type of report and title. We found 599 occurrences of the studied case, obtaining the following frequency of use of the article: 67.8% for presence and 32.2% for absence. Among the variables tested, 6 were selected by the computer program: proximity of the enunciator to the person referred by the noun phrases, type of preposition, informational status, gender of the anthroponym, number of words in the noun phrase and type of anthroponym. Thus, the linguistic pattern of the community demonstrates a preference for using the definite article over anthroponyms and a greater influence of linguistic factors on the studied characteristic.

“Black is Beautiful”

Danielle Barbosa Lins de Almeida — 2025-03-28

This paper aims to investigate semiotic representations of black children's dolls - industrialized and handcrafted with disabilities ones - from the point of view of their image, of their materiality and of their packages, as a way of having access to their body configurations, as well as the design properties of these contemporary toys. Consequently, this research presents itself in a qualitative and exploratory perspective, and it has a basic nature, being the corpus formed by five black children's dolls: three of them industrialized, from a North American origin, and the other two handcrafted, coming from the north-eastern Brazilian region. It brings as a theoretical framework, mainly, the postulations of Kress and van Leeuwen (2021 [1996; 2006]) and the systemic-functional assumptions of language discussed by Halliday and Matthiessen (2014). The results point out that the representational aspects of black dolls maximize the feeling of free expression and the belonging to a group, which can be used both for different communicative and social interaction purposes and can overcome possible situations of prejudice and new expectations about the differences that are intrinsic to us.

Key-words: Social Semiotics. Multimodality. Black Children’s Dolls.

Corpus Linguistics as an approach to analyzing translations

Leonardo Soboleswki Flores — 2025-03-28

Translation Studies have been supported by Corpus Linguistics in various ways; this paper explores the use of Corpus Linguistics as a valuable approach for analyzing and comparing different translations of a same text. In this case, the study focuses on two Brazilian Portuguese translations of the English original The Fellowship of the Ring, namely those by Maria Rimoli Esteves (Tolkien, 2001) and Ronald Kyrmse (Tolkien, 2019). The main objective is to identify and highlight significant differences between these two translations. AntConc, a freeware corpus analysis toolkit (Anthony, 2022) was used for the investigation, with particular attention given to the collocations and keywords tools. The use of such software has proven to be an important approach for this type of in-depth translation analysis, as it simplifies the research process. The results point to some differences in how Tolkien’s distinctive use of adjectives, collocations and other idiosyncratic elements were rendered in the Brazilian Portuguese translations.

Teaching oral production and comprehension skills in Spanish as a foreign language in textbook collections for Brazilian learners

Amanda Ribeiro — 2025-03-28

The teaching of Spanish is currently facing a lack of support from the Programa Nacional do Livro e do Material Didático (PNLD, National Textbook and Teaching Material Program), which previously provided evaluation and distribution of didactic books. In this context, teachers of this curriculum component must create their own teaching materials. As a possible alternative, recognizing the strategies used in the activities of didactic manuals can assist these professionals in developing new activities. Therefore, our objective was to qualitatively analyze all listening comprehension and oral production activities in three PNLD textbook collections. Additionally, we identified how phonetic-phonological aspects are addressed in these manuals, based on communicative pronunciation teaching (Celce-Murcia et al., 2010). We found that the collections, in their own way, opt to propose activities with different textual genres, a broad combination of semantic fields and grammatical content, and various strategies to promote listening and speaking. Nevertheless, there is little focus on pronunciation. To some extent, all collections show a preference for developing listening skills, with activities centered on "description and analysis" and "listening discrimination". Oral practice steps ("controlled practice", "guided practice" and "communicative practice") are infrequently included.

O imaginário em rezas e benzeduras populares

Natália de Paula Reis — 2025-03-28

Através de uma cosmologia própria, os ritos de benzeção envolvem crenças e práticas que atribuem sentido à experiência humana, orientando ações de cura e transformação. Nesse contexto, a cura é um ato simbólico que funde valores, criando um universo particular onde o sagrado e o profano se entrelaçam, constituindo um sistema de significados próprio. Partindo disso, este artigo tem como objetivo analisar as motivações simbólicas, tanto verbais quanto não verbais, que subjazem às interações complexas da prática da benzeção. Para tanto, este estudo se fundamenta nos pressupostos da Antropologia do Imaginário, conforme Gilbert Durand (2012), Pitta (2017) e Strôngoli (1998), e nas discussões de Oliveira (1983, 1985, 1986) e Pereira e Gomes (2018) acerca da prática de benzer. O corpus desta pesquisa foi constituído a partir de observações participantes em rituais de benzeção e conversas com um benzedor e duas benzedeiras, residentes em Rubiataba (GO). A análise dos rituais revelaram seu rico simbolismo e complexidade, em que fatos, símbolos e imagens se combinam para produzir significados que transcendem a experiência individual. As representações simbólicas, ao se entrelaçarem com o imaginário coletivo, permitem que a comunidade adapte e transmita suas crenças e valores, garantindo a manutenção do ofício de benzer.

ChatGPT and the death of creative honesty in textual production in the Basic Education classroom

Fernanda Victória Cruz Adegas — 2025-03-28

This paper emerged from a case study (Yin, 2010) of an experience experienced in a public school in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, with a class of first-year high school students, during Portuguese language classes, in March 2024. The activity proposed to the students involved the production of poems focused on the theme of women. In the 32 texts submitted by the students, the class teacher detected the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, specifically ChatGPT, in 13 of them. With this in mind, this work aims to analyze some of the poems produced by the AI, in order to point out certain regularities and occurrences in the texts, in addition to drawing a comparison with the productions actually carried out by the students. To this end, we used as a theoretical framework research on AI concepts (Santaella, 2023), the use of technologies in language teaching (Martins; Moreira, 2012), as well as studies on textual genres and textual production in schools (Schneuwly; Dolz, 2004). As a result, we point out that AI in text production, especially in the literary canon, has limitations in some aspects, such as the subjectivity of the content produced and the perpetuation of the form based only on rhymes - which excludes other possibilities of constructing the poem. We emphasize the need for teachers to be trained for these new technologies, and not just about them, aiming at a critical and reflective look at the possibilities and limitations of AI in schools and in contemporary language education. Finally, we recognize that many teachers are already working, therefore, continuing education is also a viable alternative, considering this exposed reality.

Power and creative writing with Afro literature

Welistony Câmara Lima — 2025-03-28

This article presents the experience report of a training course entitled Power and creative writing with Afro Literature - PECLA - in partnership with the Inter@ge Professor Portal. It is also the result of a teaching internship in the Postgraduate Program in Literature at the State University of Maranhão (UEMA), within the scope of the Afro-Brazilian Literature subject, taught to students on the BA Literature course at UEMA, Balsas-MA campus. The aim of the course was to provide initial and continuing training for teachers and students in creative writing with Afro-Brazilian literature, in order to improve their literary, pedagogical and digital skills. The methodology adopted is qualitative, based on an autoethnographic narrative. The materials made available in the virtual learning environment, covering theoretical and practical aspects of Afro Literature and teaching projects, structure the course in two modules, each with 30 hours. For the theoretical basis, we used Astigarraga (2018), Passeggi (Passeggi; Souza; Vicentini, 2011) and Sanches (2022), on autobiographical narrative; Alves (2022), on Afro literatures, as well as Schneuwly and Dolz (2010), who discuss textual genres in didactic sequences, as well as Martins (2020), with the theoretical-formative perspective of didactic-digital literacies. As a result, we realized that, through the course participants' productions - fanfics, didactic sequences and personal reports, there is a constant interest in dialoguing with recent research on (in)visible literary practices, such as Afro literatures as an educational tool, also constituting an important step for the literary literacy of these future language professionals.

Construction of concern

Marcos Luiz Wiedemer — 2025-03-28

Based on the theoretical framework of Usage-Based Constructional Grammar (Goldberg, 2006; Diessel, 2023), in this paper we focus on investigating the grammatical construction represented by the scheme [[X_{(constructor referente)} [Preposition_(em) + Anaphoric mostrative_(o)]_NORelative Pronoun_(que) [respeito/se refere/tange/concerne] Y_{[SN(specifier refernt}]], which we call the "concern construction". To this end, we analysed the microconstructions "no que diz respeito a", "no que se refere a", "no que tange a" and "no que concerne a" in Brazilian Portuguese. The data is taken from the Now Sample of the Portuguese Corpus, covering the period from 2012 to 2019. The general results show that the construction of concern occurs in the resumption of a given referent between the two textual portions, called ‘specified all-part resumption’, which involves the resumption of one referent (X) by means of another (Y) to specify it. This retaking can take two forms: (i) all-part specified retaking; and (ii) all-selection specified retaking. The retaken and specified referent can range from a lexeme to a discourse topic, occurring mainly in preceding paragraphs. The specifying relation plays a role in coercing the referent Y, indicating a discursive object.

The impact of the use of learning Objects on the Development of communicative competence in Brazilian Sign Language (Libras)

Lídia da Silva — 2025-03-28

The discipline of Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) is mandatory in teacher training programs in Brazil, yet the methodological issues related to pedagogical practice in this context remain underexplored. Aiming to address this gap, this study seeks to assess the impact of the use of learning objects (LO) in the teaching of Libras to pre-service teachers. Through an action research approach, we implemented a pedagogical intervention using LO and collected data through evaluation grids, videos, questionnaires, and reports. The results indicate that the LO had an impact on comprehension, production, and interaction activities at the A1 level, as outlined in Sousa et al.’s Reference Framework (2020). We observed progress in the recognition of simple words and expressions, the occurrence of dialogues, and strong performance in production tasks. There was also a significant impact on learning how to describe locations, personal characteristics, and objects, as well as improvement in Libras signaling in the final lessons. Interaction was fostered through dynamics and games derived from the use of LOs, along with teacher support, which enabled learners to demonstrate the ability to ask and answer simple questions on familiar or immediate need topics. We conclude that when LOs are combined with an appropriate pedagogical approach and continuous support, they are effective in developing communicative competence in Libras at the A1 level.

Editorial v. 16, n. 3, 2024.

Equipe Editorial Linguagem em Foco — 2025-03-28

A pluralidade de questões e temas na produção de conhecimento na Linguística Aplicada contemporânea como um campo de investigação tem sido produtiva, especialmente as que se relacionam às questões sobre a linguagem na vida real. É com bastante satisfação que a Revista Linguagem em Foco divulga essa pluralidade de temas nos artigos que compõem o número 3, do volume 16, fluxo contínuo. Com a colaboração de professores, pesquisadores e alunos de pós-graduação, reunimos dezenove artigos e uma resenha. As principais temáticas que são problematizadas nos artigos versam desde ensino-aprendizagem de línguas; reflexões sobre aplicações de teorias e questões metodológicas nos contextos de ensino-aprendizagem; estudos sobre os letramentos acadêmico e o crítico; estudos sobre produção textual colaborativa e produção criativa na educação básica; tradução; estudos sobre a interlíngua e sobre aspectos gramaticais à luz de uma teoria linguística. Essa diversidade ainda inclui artigos que discutem as mudanças na maneira de olhar o mundo e que questionam posições hegemônicas sociodiscursivas, os avanços das tecnologias e redes sociais que fazem parte de nossa rotina. Passamos a descrever os dezenove artigos científicos e a resenha de uma obra que compõem este número.

Expediente

Equipe Editorial Linguagem em Foco — 2025-03-28

Capa

Equipe Editorial Linguagem em Foco — 2025-03-28

Review

Rosekeyla de Araújo Costa — 2025-03-28

The work The Crisis of Narration by South Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han raises reflections on how contemporary society is dealing with (elaborating or understanding) narrated stories. As in his previous works, the author criticizes the way people increasingly value information spurred by digital media. According to the author, this flood of information inhibits the ability to create and contemplate meaningful narratives.