Orality in the initial training of Brazilian Portuguese Language Teachers: A Case Study

Submitted by: Marília Carvalho Batista
Abstract: This communication presents a case study reflection on how orality is understood in the Initial Training Course of Portuguese Language Teachers as First Language, Curso de Letras, at one Public University in Brazil. This study is of a qualitative nature (GUBA & LINCOLN, 1994; 1982) and seeks to verify which theoretical approaches and pedagogical practices are used. We conducted interviews with 3 teacher trainers of Curso de Letras at one Public University, and we observed and recorded them in their classes so that we could confront what they thought and taught. Based on the data collected, we can conclude that in the initial training of teachers there is no specific reference to the teaching of orality, although the new guidelines on orality from the official Brazilian documents, BNCC (2018) and PCN (1998), recommend it. The trainers do not consider orality as a teaching content, despite sociolinguistic authors as Bortoni-Ricardo (2004), Ilari & Basso (2007) and Mollica (2014) theoretically support them. Trainers understand oral activities as mere oral presentations of different subjects. They mention only the contents of students’ presentations and do not refer to their structure, nor do they refer to aspects of linguistic variation, or mention the Project NURC (Educated Urban Standard), because there is no methodology on the teaching of orality in the context of initial training.

Keywords: Orality. Initial Teacher Training. Portuguese.

References
BORTONI-RICARDO, S. M. (2004). Educação em Língua Materna: A Sociolinguística na Sala de Aula. São Paulo: Editora Parábola.
PCN (1998). Parâmetros Curriculares Nacionais: Ensino Médio: Língua Portuguesa. BRASIL, Ministério da Educação. Brasília/DF: MEC/SEF.
BNCC (2018). Base Nacional Comum Curricular. BRASIL, Ministério da Educação. Brasília/DF: MEC.
GUBA, E. G. & LINCOLN, Y. S. (1994). Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 105-117). London: Sage.
GUBA, E. G. & LINCOLN, Y. S. (1982). Epistemological and Methodological Bases of Naturalistic Inquiry. Educational Communication and Technology Vol. 30, No. 4: 233-252.
ILARI, R. & BASSO, R. (2007). O português da gente: a língua que estudamos, a língua que falamos. São Paulo: Editora Contexto.
NURC (1970-1990). Projeto da Norma Culta Urbana. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; Universidade de São Paulo e Universidade de Minas Gerais.