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[pt] O presente trabalho tem como objetivo investigar a produção escrita de alunos de ensino médio de uma escola pública da rede estadual do Rio de Janeiro, buscando observar as dificuldades em lidar com a modalidade escrita da língua, considerando que, muitas vezes, isso pode trazer consequências para a vida do indivíduo, dentro e fora do ambiente escolar. Na escola, a dificuldade com a escrita pode acarretar falta de interesse ou motivação, ao passo que, uma vez fora da escola, o indivíduo que tenha dificuldades em se envolver em práticas sociais de leitura e escrita pode ter menos chances de mobilidade social, além de ficar à margem da sociedade de um modo geral (Rojo, 2010, Soares, 1998). Observando a funcionalidade da linguagem e questões sociais e contextuais relativas ao seu uso (Halliday, 1994; Martin, 2001), esta pesquisa propõe as seguintes questões: 1) Que avaliações os alunos concluintes do ensino médio fazem acerca da escola, incluindo os sujeitos que ali agem, reagem e interagem? 2) De que maneira essa escola desempenha o seu papel como agência de letramento escolar? 3) Que relações podem ser levantadas entre escola e inclusão e exclusão social? O conjunto de dados gerados para este estudo consiste em redações escritas em sala de aula (N=30) por alunos do terceiro ano do Ensino Médio, de uma escola na zona oeste do Rio de Janeiro e respostas a um questionário online (N=11), enviado aos alunos após sua saída da escola, via rede social. Dados estatísticos acerca do desempenho de alunos brasileiros em avaliações de percurso, tais como PISA, SAEB e, sobretudo, matrizes de avaliação do ENEM, foram utilizados para examinar e classificar os dados. O sistema da avaliatividade e pressupostos sistêmico-funcionais possibilitaram a análise das avaliações que os alunos fazem da escola como comunidade, incluindo eles mesmos, e a investigação do grau de letramento escolar que apresentam em sua produção escrita. As respostas ao questionário forneceram informações acerca das atividades educacionais e/ou profissionais dos alunos depois de concluído o ensino médio, possibilitando a discussão de eventuais relações entre letramento escolar e a inclusão social. Os resultados da análise indicam que os alunos fazem uma avaliação da escola que oscila, muitas vezes, entre o positivo e o negativo, sobretudo quando se trata de Afeto, e que a instituição é personificada e valorizada pelo seu papel social sobre o educacional. Os demais membros da comunidade escolar, como professores e colegas, também são avaliados afetivamente. Quando as marcas linguísticas nos mostram Julgamento ou Apreciação, no entanto, a avaliação aponta para um posicionamento mais negativo do aluno em relação à escola. Os textos escritos dos alunos mostram ainda que estes apresentam um grau bastante incipiente de letramento escolar, mesmo após onze anos, em média, dedicados à conclusão da educação básica. Esses resultados levam à discussão sobre as interferências que as deficiências de letramento podem ter na vida dos indivíduos, que, como os alunos observados, podem enfrentar dificuldades para ingressar em instituições públicas de ensino superior e para obter colocações mais satisfatórias no mercado de trabalho. / [en] The present study aims at investigating the written production of students at a public state school in Rio de Janeiro, in order to observe the difficulties in dealing with the written language modality, considering that these difficulties can frequently bring consequences to their lives, inside and outside the school context. At school, these difficulties can cause lack of interest or motivation, whereas out of school someone who has difficulty at engaging in social practices of reading and writing (Rojo, 2010; Soares, 1998) can have fewer chances of social mobility and be led into living on the edge of society. Considering the functionality of language as well as social and contextual issues related to its use (Halliday, 1994; Martin, 2001), this research proposes the following questions: 1) What evaluation do the graduating secondary school students make upon the school, including the individuals who act, react and interact there? 2) How does this school play its role as agency of school literacy? 3) What connections can be raised between school and social inclusion and exclusion? The set of data analyzed in this study consists of essays written by secondary students in their classroom (N = 30),and answers to an online questionnaire (N=11) sent to students after they have left school, via a social media. Statistical data about the performance of Brazilian students in national and international examinations, such as PISA, SAEB and especially ENEM, were used to examine and classify data. The Appraisal system and systemic-functional perspectives supported both the analysis of the evaluation that students make of the school as a community, including themselves, and the investigation of the degree of literacy that they present in their written production. Answers to the questionnaire provided information about the educational and/or professional activities of the students after their conclusion of secondary school, adding material for the discussion of possible relations between school literacy and social inclusion. Results of the analysis indicate that students make an evaluation of the school that often varies between positive and negative, especially when related to Affection, and that the institution is personalized and valued by its social role over the educational one. Other members of the school community, such as teachers and peers, are also affectively evaluated. However, when linguistic evidences show Judgement or Appreciation, the evaluation points to a more negative positioning of students in relation to school, especially as an agency of literacy. Students texts also show that they present a very incipient degree of literacy, even after having spent nearly eleven years at school. These results lead into a discussion about the interference that literacy deficiencies can have on people s lives, such as the students who participate in this research, who can face difficulties to enter public universities and to have better jobs or careers.

This study aims to describe the strategic political communication of the Identitarian Movement in Austria (in German known as Identitäre Bewegung Österreich) and concentrates on identifying means of persuasive language on the homepage of the movement, which is known to be nationalistic and critical towards migration. The study is based on a corpus containing a selection of blog entries, as well as a sample of images published on the homepage, and is carried out using a qualitative method combining discourse linguistics, systemic-functional linguistics and multimodal theory. The analysis sets off by describing the field component of systemic-functional theory and proceeds to examining tenor and mode. The focus will be specifically on firstly, investigating a) discourse participants and the processes they engage in and b) interaction between the implied sender and recipient in the verbal material; and secondly, describing how these meanings are reproduced visually in the image sample used. The findings suggest that the movement not only strives to portray itself as powerful and authoritative but also relies on means of solidarity in order to convince the recipient of its message. More specifically, it is shown that the migrant participants are discriminated and depersonalised whilst a close synthetic relationship is established with the implied reader, i.e. the homepage visitor. Furthermore, the movement makes an effort to picture itself as a representative of numerous groups and interests in society. By doing so it apparently attempts to simulate a representative discourse, in order to present the xenophobic stance it agitates for as a majority opinion. The analysis shows also that these practices can be seen throughout the corpus, that is, in the verbal texts as well as in the imagery.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T18:23:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ulisses Tadeu Vaz de Oliveira.pdf: 516269 bytes, checksum: 0844816fc09b2fcd6b0196adc281a80d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-02-19 / The galego-portuguese chants have been traditionally studying by brilliant philologists that been made huge advances in terms of understanding what was the galego-portuguese language and its production context. However, the galegoportuguese chants have a lot to offer to any researcher interested to investigate its particularities. In fact, the traditional methodologies and proceedings applied in the medieval texts analysis, specially in the galego-portuguese chants, could not examining appropriately the implications of the context in the text; as: ideology, courtesy, education, formation, ways of production, etc. Admitting this reflection and presenting a new purpose, this research develops a multifunctional critic analysis (Fairclough, 1992) of D.Dinis galego-portuguese chants (a great king and troubadour, c.f. Vasconcelos, 1943), trying to identify a collection of ideas arose from education, ethic, esthetic, courtesy and a knight ideal (Ceschin, 1998) inside these texts through the standings of: fegnedor (or aspirant), precador (or suppliant), entendedor (or suitor) and drut (or lover) (Spina, 1996:363). Since the analysis focus the lyrical chants, we re only going to talk about the standings of fegnedor, precador and entendedor; intending to understand: (a) how the linguistic analysis can contribute to reveal the ideological complexes that permeate the speech of fegnedor in love chants and precador in friend chants. (b) how fegnedor and precador can behave linguistically in this context? To achieve these objectives and make a multifunctional analysis (a method of textual linguistic analysis associate with a social theory of the language functioning in ideological processes), we mainly adopt the theoretical framework of Systemic-Functional Linguistics (Halliday, 1985, 1994) specially the ideational and interpersonal metafunctions, complemented by proposes of Critical Discourse Analysis, Register and Genre Theory (Eggins & Martin, 1997), Appraisal (Martin, 2000, 2003), and the concepts of Logogenesis (Halliday, 1994) and Resonance (Thompson, 1998). The Systemic-Functional Linguistics is distinguishable from other relate theories because it views language as a social semiotic, including the cultural and situational contexts implications. Therefore, by its perspective, we determine some obrigatory and optional stages in D.Dinis lyrical chants, as well examine the interface between social context and ideological issues on Middle Ages and the chants language (fegnedor and precador stances), we are able to map some social regulations and the ability of troubadours to compose these texts / As cantigas galego-portuguesas têm sido estudadas tradicionalmente por ilustres filólogos, e seus estudos avançaram muito na compreensão do que foi a língua galego-portuguesa e seu contexto de produção, porém as cantigas galegoportuguesas ainda têm muito a oferecer ao pesquisador que nelas se debruça, bem como aos estudantes que por elas se interessam. De fato, as ferramentas metodológicas e procedimentais utilizadas nas análises tradicionais dos textos medievais, em especial as cantigas galego-portuguesas, não conseguiram analisar satisfatoriamente as implicações do contexto no texto; a saber: ideologia, cortesia, educação, formação, meio de produção, etc. Partindo desta reflexão, de forma inédita até então, esta pesquisa realiza uma análise crítica multifuncional (Fairclough 1992) das cantigas líricas galego-portuguesas de D.Dinis (grande rei e trovador, c.f. Vasconcelos, 1943), buscando identificar um ideário inspirado na educação, ética, estética, cortesia e cavalaria (Ceschin, 1998) e presentes nas cantigas galego-portuguesas através dos posicionamentos de: fenhedor (ou suspirante), precador (ou suplicante), entendedor (ou namorado) e drudo (ou amante) (Spina; 1996: 363). Como a análise se restringe apenas aos cantares líricos, trataremos apenas dos posicionamentos de fenhedor, precador e entendedor, visando compreender: (a) como a análise lingüística pode contribuir para revelar os complexos ideológicos que permeiam a fala do fenhedor nas cantigas de amor e do precador nas cantigas de amigo?; (b) como podem se comportar lingüísticamente o fenhedor e o precador considerando esse contexto. Para atingir esses objetivos e realizar uma análise crítica multifuncional (um método de análise lingüística textual com uma teoria social do funcionamento da linguagem em processos ideológicos), adotamos prioritariamente os pressupostos teóricos da Lingüística Sistêmico-Funcional (Halliday, 1985, 1994) e as metafunções ideacional e interpessoal, complementada pelas propostas da Análise Crítica do Discurso, a Teoria de Gêneros e Registros (Eggins & Martin, 1997), as propostas de avaliatividade (Appraisal), de Martin (2000, 2003), e os conceitos da Logogênese (Halliday, 1994) e Ressonância (Thompson, 1998). O que distingue a Lingüística Sistêmico-Funcional é que ela estuda o caráter social da língua, relacionando-a ao contexto cultural e situacional. Portanto, através dela, conseguimos delinear alguns estágios obrigatórios e opcionais nas cantigas líricas de D.Dinis, bem como, mapear a cátedra e o engenho do trovador, examinando a interface entre o contexto social e implicações ideológicas da Idade Média com a linguagem das cantigas e o contraste entre os posicionamentos de fenhedor e precador

O ensino de Língua Estrangeira para Crianças (LEC) bem como sua pesquisa encontram-se em expansão no Brasil e no mundo (Cameron, 2003; Gimenez 2010). Entre os estudos na área de LEC faltam pesquisas que avaliem e analisem dados que provenham de intervenções do ensino de escrita em LEC para crianças alfabetizadas entre 8 e 10 anos (Figueira, 2010). Com o intuito de contribuir para o ensino da escrita em inglês para o nível fundamental, esta dissertação objetiva demonstrar como uma intervenção pedagógica, realizada com alunos do 5º ano em uma escola particular paulista, ensinou o texto persuasivo em inglês e quais foram as implicações desse ensino para os participantes. Nesta pesquisa de mestrado, a professora-pesquisadora objetivou intervir na compreensão de texto de opinião dos alunos de modo a propiciar a expansão do conhecimento (Daniels, 2011; Magalhães, 2009) e o aprimoramento da escrita deles. Conforme as ações de aprendizagem de Davydov (1988), os alunos responderam à pergunta-problema elaborada para o curso, formularam representações sobre as características da persuasão, analisaram textos biográficos e textos persuasivos e, ao final da intervenção, redigiram textos persuasivos sobre o real inventor do avião. A intervenção pedagógica teve suas bases na Teoria da Atividade Sócio Histórico e Cultural, conforme os teóricos Vygotsky (2007) e Davydov (1988). Para Vygotsky (2007), as funções intelectuais dos seres humanos não são tidas como meros resultados de maturação biológica, como algo natural e inato a todos os seres humanos, pois são construídas socialmente com o auxílio fundamental da linguagem. Isso revela que as funções mentais superiores advêm da interação social, das práticas sociais e da história. Desse modo, a cognição não surge apenas do funcionamento biológico, pois advém da integração do corpo biológico com as práticas sociais (Vygotsky, 2007). Outra base teórica para a intervenção foi a Escola Australiana de Gêneros Textuais. Nessa perspectiva, o gênero textual se materializa no uso da língua, que é um meio pelo qual o ser humano constrói significados em um dado contexto social (Eggins, 2004; Halliday & Matthiessen, 1994; Martin, 2008). Dessa forma, o gênero pode servir como uma ferramenta utilizada para criar Zona de Desenvolvimento Proximal e expandir o conhecimento dos alunos. As perspectivas teóricas adotadas, portanto, objetivaram agir no campo em que atuaram (Lantolf, 2000, 2007; Spinoza, 1998; Vygotsky, 2007). Os resultados obtidos após a realização da intervenção pedagógica apontam para a conscientização dos alunos em relação à função persuasiva dos textos de opinião. Além disso, a análise de dados demonstrou que os alunos melhoraram sua escrita de texto de opinião em relação ao pré-teste, realizado antes da intervenção pedagógica. A conclusão aponta que ainda há muito a ser feito na área do ensino da escrita em língua estrangeira, mas que a criança deve ser sensibilizada a produzir textos de opinião ainda na escola primária (Souza, 2003: 73), uma vez que a argumentação e a persuasão estão presentes nas situações cotidianas, escolares ou familiares, das crianças / The teaching of English as a Foreign Language to Children as well as its research are in expansion not only in Brazil but all over the world (Cameron, 2003; Gimenez 2010). Among the studies in the area of teaching English as a Foreign Language to children there is a lack of researches that evaluate and analyze data that come from interventions in the teaching of writing to literate children aged between 8 and 10 (Figueira, 2010). With the objective of contributing to the Teaching of Writing in English as a Foreign Language to Elementary School Children, this dissertation aims to demonstrate a) how a pedagogical intervention, that was held at a private school in São Paulo, taught the persuasive text and b) to discuss the implications of this teaching to the participants were. In this master research, the researcher and teacher aimed to intervene in the students comprehension of opinion writing in order to provoke the expansion of students comprehension (Daniels, 2011; Magalhães, 2009), as well as to promote their writing improvement. In conformity with Davydov´s learning actions (1988), students answered the problem-question elaborated for the course, formulated representations about the characteristics of persuasion, analyzed biographical and persuasive texts and, in the end of the intervention, wrote persuasive texts about the real inventor of the airplane. The pedagogical intervention had its basis on the Cultural Historical Activity Theory, in conformity with the theories of Vygotsky (2007) and Davydov (1988). For Vygotsky, the intellectual functions of human beings are not mere results of biological maturation, as if they were something natural and innate for all human beings. Instead, the intellectual functions are socially constructed with the fundamental assistance of language. This reveals that higher mental functions derive from social interaction, from social and historical practices. In this sense, cognition emerges not only from biological functioning, but also from the integration of biological and social practice (Vygotsky, 2007). Another theoretical basis used for the intervention was the Australian School of Genre. In this perspective, the textual genre is materialized through language, which is a means through which human beings make meanings in social contexts (Eggins, 2004; Halliday & Matthiessen, 1994; Martin, 2008). In this way, genre can be seen as a tool to build Zone of Proximal Development and expand students knowledge. These goals are connected with the theoretical perspectives adopted since their objective is to promote agency in the field they act upon (Lantolf, 2000, 2007; Spinoza, 1998; Vygotsky, 2007). Analysis of data revealed that the intervention promoted awareness of students in relation to the persuasive function of opinion texts. Moreover, the data analysis showed that students improved their opinion writing in relation to the pre-tests realized before the pedagogical intervention. The conclusion remarks that there is still much to do in the area of writing as a foreign language to children, but children must be sensitized to write opinion texts in primary school (Souza, 2003: 73), since argumentation and persuasion are present in everyday school or family children situations

This study examines discursive assessment practices in a special school for girls identified with a disability in an Arabian-Gulf country. The study is driven by a notable absence of research on girls with disability in the Arab world, and the need for analysing practices that shape their identities and future trajectories. To disclose the mechanisms, processes, and tools influencing the coconstruction of girls' identities by members of a multidisciplinary team, I developed an analytic framework that draws on three theories: systemic functional linguistics, critical genre analysis and sociocultural theory of discourse and identity production. The main data source is the audio-record of conversations that took place at case-conference meetings (CCMs). To describe the genre of a CCM and to disclose what went on, who was involved, and what outcomes were achieved, I constructed three narratives: 'The most relevant thing about us', 'Much ado about everything', and 'Not so great expectations'. These narratives revealed the object, goals, and the outcomes of talk. With respect to the object of talk, or the knowledge underpinning assessment practices, there was much focus on girls' diagnostic histories and scores in IQ tests; they were given a high priority and perceived as key to understanding the girls. Analysis also revealed a resistance to move beyond dichotomous thinking (i.e. girls are either trainable or educable). The goals of talk were to pass on information, to share assessment results, and to list objectives for intervention, each practitioner within her domain of expertise. This mode of passing on - rather than - discussing information and assessment results limited the prospect to benefit from the distributed knowledge of practitioners. The outcomes of talk were mediated by the two preceding discursive actions. A preoccupation with girls' medical diagnosis, and a focus on passing on rather than discussing assessment reinforced deficit thinking. Further, categories assigned to girls stood as self-fulfilling prophesies, and as predictors of girls' future performance. The space to create more positive identities was evident, however, where practitioners knew little about girls' genetic or developmental disabilities. The implications of these objectifying practices are serious with respect to Gulf-Arabian countries and to similar Muslim sociocultural contexts. Perceiving diagnosis as the absolute truth feeds fatalistic beliefs further and results in inactivity and invisibility. Implications are offered for policy and practice and for future research.

This classroom ethnography documents the developing critical literacy pedagogy of an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) instructor over the course of several terms. My research, which involved extensive collaboration with the EAP instructor, explores how specific classroom practices and discourses are enacted and mediated through dialogic intertextualities, material objects, and social actions that frame representations about language, literacy, and what Lefebvre (1988) called “le quotidien” – the everyday, and how these affect the students’ meaning-making potential in specific ways. It also traces the contours (and detours) of the instructor’s classroom practices after the researcher’s mediation in the form of collaborative inquiries on functional grammar and critical literacy, and the effects of these classroom practices on making meaning in her EAP classes. I consider several issues from an integrated theory and practice perspective. Because of an urgent need to understand the students’ practices and epistemologies as they engage in ever newer forms of multimodal text productions, I contend that EAP classroom practices must be reshaped to facilitate more (inter)active engagements of the multimodal texts that saturate students’ lives, both inside the class and outside. Related to this, I highlight in my classroom data what actually counts as the ‘critical’ or the ‘uncritical’ in this EAP classroom and argue why these distinctions matter. Lastly, I suggest ways in which the role of a critical multiliteracies education in EAP can meet the pragmatic needs of both students and teachers. My research contributes to a much-needed dialogue between critically oriented researchers and practitioners in the field of TESOL/Applied Linguistics by bridging the gap between theory and practice. The lessons learned from this collaborative classroom praxis point to concrete ways to help EAP teachers and students utilize their meaning-making potential. This involves equipping them with an expanded social semiotic tool-kit that can enable them to not only meet their immediate academic needs, but also help create a more active and possibly transformative role in the social constructions of discourse, language, and society. This doctoral dissertation has implications for those who are involved in EAP teaching and research, curriculum planning, teacher training, and student needs assessment.

This classroom ethnography documents the developing critical literacy pedagogy of an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) instructor over the course of several terms. My research, which involved extensive collaboration with the EAP instructor, explores how specific classroom practices and discourses are enacted and mediated through dialogic intertextualities, material objects, and social actions that frame representations about language, literacy, and what Lefebvre (1988) called “le quotidien” – the everyday, and how these affect the students’ meaning-making potential in specific ways. It also traces the contours (and detours) of the instructor’s classroom practices after the researcher’s mediation in the form of collaborative inquiries on functional grammar and critical literacy, and the effects of these classroom practices on making meaning in her EAP classes. I consider several issues from an integrated theory and practice perspective. Because of an urgent need to understand the students’ practices and epistemologies as they engage in ever newer forms of multimodal text productions, I contend that EAP classroom practices must be reshaped to facilitate more (inter)active engagements of the multimodal texts that saturate students’ lives, both inside the class and outside. Related to this, I highlight in my classroom data what actually counts as the ‘critical’ or the ‘uncritical’ in this EAP classroom and argue why these distinctions matter. Lastly, I suggest ways in which the role of a critical multiliteracies education in EAP can meet the pragmatic needs of both students and teachers. My research contributes to a much-needed dialogue between critically oriented researchers and practitioners in the field of TESOL/Applied Linguistics by bridging the gap between theory and practice. The lessons learned from this collaborative classroom praxis point to concrete ways to help EAP teachers and students utilize their meaning-making potential. This involves equipping them with an expanded social semiotic tool-kit that can enable them to not only meet their immediate academic needs, but also help create a more active and possibly transformative role in the social constructions of discourse, language, and society. This doctoral dissertation has implications for those who are involved in EAP teaching and research, curriculum planning, teacher training, and student needs assessment.

O ensino de Língua Estrangeira para Crianças (LEC) bem como sua pesquisa encontram-se em expansão no Brasil e no mundo (Cameron, 2003; Gimenez 2010). Entre os estudos na área de LEC faltam pesquisas que avaliem e analisem dados que provenham de intervenções do ensino de escrita em LEC para crianças alfabetizadas entre 8 e 10 anos (Figueira, 2010). Com o intuito de contribuir para o ensino da escrita em inglês para o nível fundamental, esta dissertação objetiva demonstrar como uma intervenção pedagógica, realizada com alunos do 5º ano em uma escola particular paulista, ensinou o texto persuasivo em inglês e quais foram as implicações desse ensino para os participantes. Nesta pesquisa de mestrado, a professora-pesquisadora objetivou intervir na compreensão de texto de opinião dos alunos de modo a propiciar a expansão do conhecimento (Daniels, 2011; Magalhães, 2009) e o aprimoramento da escrita deles. Conforme as ações de aprendizagem de Davydov (1988), os alunos responderam à pergunta-problema elaborada para o curso, formularam representações sobre as características da persuasão, analisaram textos biográficos e textos persuasivos e, ao final da intervenção, redigiram textos persuasivos sobre o real inventor do avião. A intervenção pedagógica teve suas bases na Teoria da Atividade Sócio Histórico e Cultural, conforme os teóricos Vygotsky (2007) e Davydov (1988). Para Vygotsky (2007), as funções intelectuais dos seres humanos não são tidas como meros resultados de maturação biológica, como algo natural e inato a todos os seres humanos, pois são construídas socialmente com o auxílio fundamental da linguagem. Isso revela que as funções mentais superiores advêm da interação social, das práticas sociais e da história. Desse modo, a cognição não surge apenas do funcionamento biológico, pois advém da integração do corpo biológico com as práticas sociais (Vygotsky, 2007). Outra base teórica para a intervenção foi a Escola Australiana de Gêneros Textuais. Nessa perspectiva, o gênero textual se materializa no uso da língua, que é um meio pelo qual o ser humano constrói significados em um dado contexto social (Eggins, 2004; Halliday & Matthiessen, 1994; Martin, 2008). Dessa forma, o gênero pode servir como uma ferramenta utilizada para criar Zona de Desenvolvimento Proximal e expandir o conhecimento dos alunos. As perspectivas teóricas adotadas, portanto, objetivaram agir no campo em que atuaram (Lantolf, 2000, 2007; Spinoza, 1998; Vygotsky, 2007). Os resultados obtidos após a realização da intervenção pedagógica apontam para a conscientização dos alunos em relação à função persuasiva dos textos de opinião. Além disso, a análise de dados demonstrou que os alunos melhoraram sua escrita de texto de opinião em relação ao pré-teste, realizado antes da intervenção pedagógica. A conclusão aponta que ainda há muito a ser feito na área do ensino da escrita em língua estrangeira, mas que a criança deve ser sensibilizada a produzir textos de opinião ainda na escola primária (Souza, 2003: 73), uma vez que a argumentação e a persuasão estão presentes nas situações cotidianas, escolares ou familiares, das crianças / The teaching of English as a Foreign Language to Children as well as its research are in expansion not only in Brazil but all over the world (Cameron, 2003; Gimenez 2010). Among the studies in the area of teaching English as a Foreign Language to children there is a lack of researches that evaluate and analyze data that come from interventions in the teaching of writing to literate children aged between 8 and 10 (Figueira, 2010). With the objective of contributing to the Teaching of Writing in English as a Foreign Language to Elementary School Children, this dissertation aims to demonstrate a) how a pedagogical intervention, that was held at a private school in São Paulo, taught the persuasive text and b) to discuss the implications of this teaching to the participants were. In this master research, the researcher and teacher aimed to intervene in the students comprehension of opinion writing in order to provoke the expansion of students comprehension (Daniels, 2011; Magalhães, 2009), as well as to promote their writing improvement. In conformity with Davydov´s learning actions (1988), students answered the problem-question elaborated for the course, formulated representations about the characteristics of persuasion, analyzed biographical and persuasive texts and, in the end of the intervention, wrote persuasive texts about the real inventor of the airplane. The pedagogical intervention had its basis on the Cultural Historical Activity Theory, in conformity with the theories of Vygotsky (2007) and Davydov (1988). For Vygotsky, the intellectual functions of human beings are not mere results of biological maturation, as if they were something natural and innate for all human beings. Instead, the intellectual functions are socially constructed with the fundamental assistance of language. This reveals that higher mental functions derive from social interaction, from social and historical practices. In this sense, cognition emerges not only from biological functioning, but also from the integration of biological and social practice (Vygotsky, 2007). Another theoretical basis used for the intervention was the Australian School of Genre. In this perspective, the textual genre is materialized through language, which is a means through which human beings make meanings in social contexts (Eggins, 2004; Halliday & Matthiessen, 1994; Martin, 2008). In this way, genre can be seen as a tool to build Zone of Proximal Development and expand students knowledge. These goals are connected with the theoretical perspectives adopted since their objective is to promote agency in the field they act upon (Lantolf, 2000, 2007; Spinoza, 1998; Vygotsky, 2007). Analysis of data revealed that the intervention promoted awareness of students in relation to the persuasive function of opinion texts. Moreover, the data analysis showed that students improved their opinion writing in relation to the pre-tests realized before the pedagogical intervention. The conclusion remarks that there is still much to do in the area of writing as a foreign language to children, but children must be sensitized to write opinion texts in primary school (Souza, 2003: 73), since argumentation and persuasion are present in everyday school or family children situations

The thesis deals with the employment of direct forms of presentation in the genre of hard news. The texts for the analysis were excerpted from the main British broadsheet newspapers. The classification of forms of presentation is based on Semino and Short (2004) and focuses on their deictic and syntactic properties, interpreted in terms of the pragmatic concepts of perspective, faithfulness claims and the role of the reported and reporting speaker. Attention is paid to various direct forms, including direct speech, free direct speech and combined forms, i.e. non-direct forms appearing with a partial direct quote. The thesis draws heavily on the work by White (1998), whose approach to genre is informed by the ideas proposed by the Sydney School and Systemic Functional Linguistics. Hard news is characterised by the orbital generic structure, consisting of the nucleus and a number of specifying satellites (White 1998). The occurrence of direct and combined forms of presentation is explained by their deictic, syntactic and pragmatic properties, the generic role and characteristic features of the nucleus and individual satellites, and the overall function of hard news. The function of hard news and forms of presentation is also discussed in terms of the more general concepts of heteroglossia, dialogue...