Towards a philosophical approach of linguistic reasoning in rewriting and authorship

Abstract

Rewriting and authorship are two of the main themes of the current discussion around language teaching. The aim of this work is to theoretically rescue the concepts underlying the debate and defend the naturalistic character of the language activities that underlie the student’s writing. With regard to rewriting, we propose that, before we approach it as a methodological proposal to the classroom, there is an activity of linguistic reflection, rational and unconscious, which Culioli (1995) named as ‘epilinguistic activity’ that can guide the written production under the assumption of a grammar already present in the student. Likewise, in a conception of authorship that takes it as a constitutive and natural part of any text, as in Amossy (2016), we propose that the student explicitly inserts himself as the author of his text when he has autonomy and context for his linguistic and discursive choices, much more than when sticking to previous textual models. In this sense, grammar and style, together, condition creativity in communicative processes (FRANCHI, 2006), which includes school essays.