Contextualized grammar and critical literacy: the use of modalizing adjectives in the tale Lumbiá, by Conceição Evaristo

Abstract

This work aims to propose an activity for the teaching of adjectives, especially modalizing adjectives, considering the Contextualized Grammar, emphazing the role of this category in the construction of the tale. Considering that the adjective attributes a singular property to the element that is called by the noun, according to Neves (2018, p. 283), the relevance of this grammatical category is perceived not only for the tales, but for any genres of narrative sequence. The relevance of this study is the fact that, when considering the social function of grammar, it contributes for students to develop their communicative competence as well as critical literacy, which will lead them to act more efficiently in the interaction with the most diverse texts in the most diverse situations. In addition, we believe the approach proposed in this study is more consistent with what the official documents related to basic education advocate, such as the National Curriculum Parameters (1997) and the Common National Curricular Base (2018). Assuming the conception of language as interaction, we defend that the grammar cannot be studied outside the contexts of use, being objects of analysis the functions that each of the grammatical categories fulfills in the construction of the meanings of the text. This proposal is based, therefore, on the functionalist assumptions, from which language is seen as a social phenomenon, a communication tool, adaptable to the pressures arising from the various situations of interaction in which it is used.