A Base Nacional Comum Curricular (BNCC): ensino de língua e política linguística

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss the role that the Base (2017) enables the teacher to play as an agent of language policies in order to: highlight the linguistic political position that guides the Portuguese Language curriculum component, for pre-school and elementary school, in the Base Nacional Comum Curricular (2017); describe the conception of language defended in this document, seeking to observe the way the Portuguese language is managed by it and whether such approach of language points (or not) to the maintenance of hegemonic discourses about language in Brazil; to relate the linguistic policies present in such document with the hegemonic discourses about language in Brazil. The research methodology used corresponds to the bibliographic and documentary research within the qualitative perspective (OLIVEIRA, 2007; LÜDKE; ANDRÉ, 2015) and considers the pragmatic bias (RAJAGOPALAN, 2014b) for discussions of results. With regard to the theoretical framework adopted, we address the following themes, mainly based on the respective authors: multilingualism in Brazil (OLIVEIRA, 2009; MAHER, 2013), language policy and language teaching (CALVET, 2007 ; CORREA, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2017a, 2017b; RAJAGOPALAN, 2013), language policies related to the Portuguese Language (ALTENHOFEN, 2013; BUNZEN, 2011; MAHER, 2013; OLIVEIRA, 2002-2009; SILVA, CYRANKA, 2009 ; PINTO, 2014) and agency (DURANTI, 2004; RAJAGOPALAN, 2013). The data analyzed showed that the Base Nacional Comum Curricular of Portuguese Language intervenes in the linguistic domain, so that brings a conception of language that should be put into practice in the curriculum. Thus, the document mainly points to the following in vitro language policies: the sovereignty of writing and the standard norm; the "welcome" (inevitable) to the linguistic variation, integrated in the document respecting a unifying norm - standard - and, in this sense, also signals the standardization of the Portuguese language. Such in vitro language policies relate both to the linguistic planning instruments pointed out by Calvet (2007) - writing, lexicon and standardization - and to the hegemony over language in Brazil pointed out by Pinto (2014) - the linguistic unit. (or monolingual variation), the written / oral hierarchy and the linear correspondence language / writing / cognition. Thus, the approach of language present in the document points to the maintenance of hegemonic discourses about language in Brazil, as well as to the coexistence of the contradictions of such hegemonic discourses. For digital literacies, as well as digital culture, valueda to contemporary identity practices, which work in the opposite direction to the hegemonies mentioned, are included in the document, but with the exception that they are secondary compared to writing and the standard norm. Moreover, it was possible to realize that the knowledge that students should acquire and apply, according to the document, is in line with the knowledge evaluated in the tests of the large-scale evaluations. We also noticed that during the formulation of the document, the voice heard was primarily of the supporters of the document - driven by economic and market interests - and not the teachers‘ voice. In view of this, we conclude that there are many institutions that deal with language issues in Brazil, the document analyzed is an important agent of language imposition and the Portuguese Language teachers agency are crucial for the document's requirements to be put into practice, even if subordinated to more powerful institutions, teachers have some autonomy. The position adopted by teachers in the classroom, the way they will work on such issues will guarantee (or not) the implementation of these language policies, since their continuously reiterated speech acts enable understanding and agency about and through language. In short, despite the descriptive nature of the document, there are possibilities for mentoring teachers, provided that it is able to identify the linguistic political position embedded in the document.