The textual genres as object of teaching in the textbook of Portuguese language

Abstract

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14244/198271991091

The paper presents results of a study that investigated the treatment of textual genres in a collection of textbooks of Portuguese Language approved by the PNLD 2011 (National Program of Textbook – Brazil). We used the documentary research and the thematic content analysis as procedures, respectively, for generation and processing of data, considering, primarily, the identification of the genres that have been chosen for the systematization of its properties and the grouping by fields of communication/typological aspects. Subsequently, we analyzed the distribution of activities involving the genres in different sections of the collection and the properties (social discursive, structural and linguistic,) of the genres covered in these activities. As for the grouping of the textual genres, the research results indicated the predominance of the order of reporting (24,7%) and of expressing (24%). As for the distribution by section, we realized that there were specific genres to work with reading, production and linguistic analysis, without much coordination between the sections. As for the frequency and the treatment of activities related to the genres, we found that the structure (42,7%) and linguistic aspects (36,1%) were the most discussed properties in the collection. We thus conclude that it is necessary a greater investment, in the analysed collection, in activities that explore the social discursive aspects inherent to situations of verbal interaction. While we recognize that an investment of this nature is necessary, we believe that the collection has presented and effort to favour a teaching that is adequate to different specificities of textual genres.

Keywords: Textual genres, Teaching, Textbooks, Properties.