O ensino de língua portuguesa nas edições de 2008 e 2024 do livro Português Linguagens do 6º ano: tradição ou inovação?

Abstract

Considering the relevance of a variationist approach to language in basic education, grounded in language in use and thus in a heterogeneous, dynamic, and multifaceted perspective of language, this article aimed to investigate, through a descriptive-comparative study, how linguistic variation is addressed in the textbook (TB) “Português: Linguagens” in its 2008 and 2024 editions. The 2008 edition was designed based on the guidelines of the National Curriculum Parameters—henceforth PCN (Brazil, 1998), while the 2024 edition was aligned with the guidelines of the National Common Core Curriculum—henceforth BNCC (Brazil, 2018). Given this context, we formulated the following research question: What innovations were introduced in the teaching of the Portuguese language in the 2008 and 2024 editions of the TB “Português: Linguagens” for the 6th grade, considering the tension between traditional and innovative practices? The general objective of the research was to conduct a descriptive comparative study of two editions of the same Portuguese language textbook, examining how grammatical content is taught in theoretical and applied terms. The methodology involved a theoretical review of educational sociolinguistics and pedagogy of linguistic variation, document analysis, descriptive comparison of the editions, and qualitative data analysis. The results indicate that both editions blend socio-interactionist approaches with traditional practices, prioritizing the standard norm and addressing linguistic variation superficially. The 2008 edition focuses on decontextualized semantic analyses, while the 2024 edition is more structured but neglects morphosyntactic variations. The activities, in general, are metalinguistic and do not encourage critical reflections on linguistic diversity. Thus, upon completing the research, it was concluded that the textbook shows limited progress in relation to the guidelines of both the PCN and the BNCC, maintaining a predominantly normative and prescriptive perspective in both editions. The 2008 edition combines a socio-interactionist conception with normative practices, prioritizing the standard norm and treating linguistic variation superficially. The 2024 edition focuses on a prescriptive approach to grammatical content, neglecting discussions of variable phenomena common in Brazilian Portuguese. The activities in both editions are predominantly metalinguistic, centered on correction, and do not promote reflections on linguistic heterogeneity, as suggested by Faraco and Zilles (2015, p. 35). We concluded our research by observing that tradition prevails in both editions of the analyzed textbook, with limited progress toward the innovation proposed by Educational Sociolinguistics and the BNCC.