Brazilian Language Research Articles

"Da boca do povo na língua errada do povo, língua certa do povo"

For Antonio Candido and Afrânio Coutinho, artistic nationalism was a trademark of Brazilian letters, as it corresponded to the search for a national identity. At the linguistic level, Brazilian writers defended “the Brazilian language” as an element of political emancipation and cultural autonomy. This work aims to show, through excerpts from newspapers and literary supplements from the 20th century, how after Brazil's political independence in 1822, literature was used as an instrument to forge linguistic independence. These debates that lasted throughout the 19th century culminated in the Modern Art Week. Brazilian modernism changed the way we see and think about literature and language. In the 19th century, the invention of the “Brazilian language” became a flag, as the Portuguese norm became an obstacle to national affirmation. In the 1950s, in Brazilian and Portuguese literary supplements, such debates still found resonance.

Industry 4.0 and Sustainability: a Study on the Applicability of Additive Manufacturing as a Tool for Minimizing Environmental Impacts on Production Processes

Objective: The present research sought to analyze the applicability of additive manufacturing as a tool for minimizing environmental damage in production processes. Methodology: The research was conducted through an integrative literature review. Academic platforms such as SciELO and Google Academic were consulted, using specific keywords related to the theme. Inclusion criteria were established to select complete articles, in Portuguese and Brazilian languages, directly associated with the research theme, published between 2020 and 2024. Results and data analysis: The revised studies emphasize the growing importance of additive manufacturing (AM) and 3D printing technology in transforming production processes towards more sustainable and efficient practices. MA's ability to produce complex parts accurately and personalized, significantly reducing raw material waste through layer-by-layer manufacturing, stands out as a crucial tool to minimize environmental impacts on production. In addition, the integration of MA in the early stages of product development promotes efficiency in production, although more in-depth studies on its environmental and energy impacts are needed. Conclusion: It is therefore concluded that additive manufacturing is an essential tool for more sustainable and innovative practices in the industry, promoting the conservation of natural resources, the reduction of waste and the creation of adaptable and customized solutions. It is therefore up to companies and society to exploit and develop these technologies in search of a more sustainable and competitive future.

Prática baseada em evidências e atuação clínica em linguagem infantil: uma pesquisa online com fonoaudiólogos brasileiros

ABSTRACT Purpose To characterize the knowledge, skills, opinions, and main barriers perceived by speech-language pathologists, in child language in Brazil, regarding evidence-based practice (EBP). Methods The study was conducted between August 2021 and July 2022 using an online questionnaire. In addition to sociodemographic and field data, 22 items related to EBP were considered and subdivided into “knowledge”, “skills”, “opinion” and “barriers”. Each item had five response options (strongly disagree, disagree, not decided, agree, strongly agree). A total of 122 speech-language pathologists who work with child language answered the questionnaire. Their responses were described by the percentage of frequency distribution. The time since graduation and the level of proficiency in English were considered to compare the distribution pattern of the answers. Results Although most speech-language pathologists report having learned the basics of EBP in their academic training, there are weaknesses in their knowledge and lack of mastery of search strategies and critical evaluation of scientific articles. Although most agree that EBP’s use is necessary for speech-language practice and consider the need to increase the use of scientific evidence in their daily practice, the lack of articles, difficulties related to the practical application of scientific results and lack of collective support among colleagues are identified as barriers. Conclusion This study alerts the academic community to the urgency of considering EBP in the context of Brazilian Speech-Language Pathology.

A literatura e a formação do português brasileiro: uma metaficção historiográfica dos contatos linguísticos

ABSTRACT Studies and discussions about the contacts between peoples and languages in Brazil have often been the subject of study in linguistics, especially Contact sociolinguistics, and History. However, by taking literary texts as a way of glimpsing the past, albeit through the eyes of fiction, literature has a lot to contribute to how we see the past, especially because of historiographic metafiction that is interested in gaps in official historiography, (re)presenting historical events and/or facts, but through the eyes of characters who have been marginalized. Bearing this in mind, this article proposes an analysis of the novel Um defeito de cor, by the author from Minas Gerais, Ana Maria Gonçalves (2021), to illustrate how literary writing can contribute to understanding the forms of interaction that have shaped Brazilian society, giving rise to “Brazil” and, especially, to “Brazilian Portuguese.”

Evidence-based practice and clinical practice in child language: an online survey with Brazilian speech-language pathologists.

To characterize the knowledge, skills, opinions, and main barriers perceived by speech-language pathologists, in child language in Brazil, regarding evidence-based practice (EBP). The study was conducted between August 2021 and July 2022 using an online questionnaire. In addition to sociodemographic and field data, 22 items related to EBP were considered and subdivided into "knowledge", "skills", "opinion" and "barriers". Each item had five response options (strongly disagree, disagree, not decided, agree, strongly agree). A total of 122 speech-language pathologists who work with child language answered the questionnaire. Their responses were described by the percentage of frequency distribution. The time since graduation and the level of proficiency in English were considered to compare the distribution pattern of the answers. Although most speech-language pathologists report having learned the basics of EBP in their academic training, there are weaknesses in their knowledge and lack of mastery of search strategies and critical evaluation of scientific articles. Although most agree that EBP's use is necessary for speech-language practice and consider the need to increase the use of scientific evidence in their daily practice, the lack of articles, difficulties related to the practical application of scientific results and lack of collective support among colleagues are identified as barriers. This study alerts the academic community to the urgency of considering EBP in the context of Brazilian Speech-Language Pathology.

Cross-cultural adaptation of the Scale of Perception of Respect for and Maintenance of the Dignity of the Inpatient (CuPDPH) to Brazilian Portuguese and its psychometric properties—A multicenter cross-sectional study

ObjectiveTo adapt the Scale of Perception of Respect for and Maintenance of the Dignity of the Inpatient (CuPDPH) to the Brazilian language and culture and to assess its psychometric properties. ResultsThe scale was evaluated by 15 experts, and 239 patients from three tertiary hospitals in Rio de Janeiro. All participants signed a consent form. Data have shown adequacy of the model (KMO=0.839, Bartlett's test of sphericity: χ2(171) = 2241.3, p = 0.000010), good adjusted content validity (CVCa ≥ 0.90), internal consistency and reliability, such as α = 0.927. DiscussionCuPDPH is a rating scale on observable professional attitudes. Illnesses change lives and impose adaptation to a new situation, perceived as depersonalization, leading patients to try to regain control of their lives. Patients expressed “ill will” to fill out the scale. Psychiatric patients’ scale filling time was higher than others. A sample from three Rio de Janeiro third-level hospitals may not reflect the country's population; also, this adaptation may not comprise all linguistic variations of Brazilian Portuguese and Portuguese-speaking countries. ConclusionThe Portuguese version of the Scale of Perception of Respect for and Maintenance of the Dignity of the Inpatient (CuPDPH), a 19-item, six-component version is a reliable instrument to measure the perception of internal medicine, surgical, and psychiatric patients on the maintenance of their dignity in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This knowledge could be used in advancing research on patients’ perception of dignity, as well as professional ethical competencies, staff-patient relationship skills, and leadership development in medical and other healthcare professional education.

Use of the XBRL Language:

Objective of the study: the general objective of this paper was to verify what the perceived benefits and difficulties are in using the XBRL language to communicate financial information to the market. Methodology: To achieve this general objective, we prepared a survey and we used descriptive and multivariate statistics to analyses the data. Originality: There are few articles that research the Brazilian reality about the adoption of the XBRL language. In addition to having respondents who are users and know the language, we asked about the perception of users and preparers about the benefits of financial information that had the characteristics of files in XBRL. Main results: It was concluded that the preparation of and interaction with XBRL files are not easy and the use of XBRL does not reduce file preparation errors. The costs of preparing XBRL files are no higher than for other file types. Thus, any possible adoption of the XBRL language in Brazil would not mean a significant cost increase for companies after the learning period. The perception of transparency in relation to the company increases, which can improve its image and contribute to a reduction in informational asymmetry. Theoretical contributions: The work corroborates the determinants of innovation adoption, according to TRA, TAM and Diffusion of Innovation (Rogers). In addition, it confirms the perception of benefits pointed out in the literature by users and preparers of financial information. Social / management contributions: The work contributes to the discussion of the adoption of practical aspects by regulatory bodies to increase the transparency of companies in Brazil.

SPANISH TEACHER TRAINING IN BRAZIL

Prepared from a Bibliographic Review, the objective of this article is to discuss the training of Spanish language teachers in Brazil and the challenges of achieving fluency in a second language. Specifically, this article addresses the historical aspects of the Spanish Language in Brazil, problematizes the current legislation on the subject, criticizes the status of an optional subject relegated to the Spanish Language and discusses the importance of this language for Brazilian culture and society. As for the methodological approach, the bibliographical research is qualitative and descriptive in nature. The literature survey was carried out between the months of February and March 2022 in the Scielo and Google Scholar databases, using descriptors and their combinations in Portuguese: the challenges to Spanish teacher training”; “training of Spanish teachers in Brazil”; “Challenges to learning and teaching the Spanish Language”. Articles were selected between 2011 and 2021, published in Portuguese and made available free of charge on the internet. The results highlighted the contrast between the sociocultural dimension of the Spanish Language and its devaluation within the scope of Basic Education. It was concluded that teacher training is still marked by theoretical-pedagogical limitations and social discredit.

REFLEXÃO E ENSINO DO EIXO ORALIDADE EM LÍNGUA INGLESA

The research seeks to present an analysis of the possible strategies that promote a significant learning of the English language through the orality axis describing the difficulties that students feel when expressing themselves orally, factors that lead them not to participate in classes in situations of orality. Among the main reasons that hinder the mastery of English in public schools in Brazil, It is noteworthy, the teaching with emphasis on grammatical aspects, in an isolated or decontextualized way, that is, focused only on linguistic knowledge, disregarding the importance of the interaction between the subjects, for the mastery of the language. The relevance in dealing with orality is corroborated by the official documents BNCC and PCN's. In this perspective, it was observed the need to provide activities related to this specific axis, for students to develop communicative skills in English. The methodology employed is a bibliographic research, with analysis based on the communicative approach on the teaching of orality and the description of possible strategies for the realization of this. The study addresses reflections on the teaching of this language in Brazil, as well as the relevance and difficulties that surround this modality. Next, the laws that regulate its teaching in Brazil are presented, with suggestions of activities that can contribute to the teaching of a second language.

Language and Education in Brazil: Linguistic Structural Problems and Their Historical Origins

In this article I offer an extended socio-historical overview of the Portuguese language in Brazil from independence to modern times in order to establish why there is such a gulf between the written official standard and actual linguistic usage. I reflect on how language is often regarded as a problem within educational contexts and how the response of academics in both linguistics and education studies has largely been focused on combating linguistic prejudice against non-standard varieties of Portuguese. I identify this as a recognition-oriented strategy aimed at changing attitudes towards non-standard forms of the language and its speakers and I question the effectiveness of such strategies. I argue that there are more fundamental structural problems with language and education in Brazil. These are identified as (a) the linguistic distance between the speech of the great majority of Brazilians and the official standard norm and (b) the uncertainty whether the education system is designed to teach this standard norm or, paradoxically, to assess the extent to which it is acquired. I conclude with an analysis of modern education policy documents where I find no strong emphasis for ensuring that students achieve active, advanced proficiency in the standard norm. I argue that recognition-orientated strategies need to be accompanied by strategies that advocate for structural changes in (a) the standard language to make it more readily resemble the actual speech of Brazilians and (b) how this standard is used as a means of instruction and assessment. Para a versão em português clique no botão de download à direita.

Scaling up early language intervention in educational settings: First steps matter

ABSTRACT Objective To report how improvements on a Brazilian language intervention for early childhood education settings (PROLIN) were madeand evaluated. Study Design In the first phase, the programme layout and materials were improved. This involved redesigning the guidelines for the programme, adding videos (using a learning management system) and creating an observation checklist to monitor the fidelity of implementation. The second phase was a two-week pilot study (a seven-session intervention) involving two teachers and 22 students. Checklists and video footage were analysed to investigate implementation. Results Quality of implementation was generally good, but we identified additional areas for improvement. Teachers had some difficulties with aspects related to session dynamics, implementation of activities and use of techniques that reinforce learning. Conclusions The pilot study was instrumental in identifying obstacles for a scaled-up, high-quality implementation. The design of these materials took into consideration ways of guiding and supporting teachers to: (1) offer students adequate participation time; (2) help include children who are shy or have behaviour problems; (3) use teaching strategies properly; (4) bring sessions to a close; and (5) reach the objectives of each session. Further modification is still needed, especially in the manual, videos and supplementary materials.

Public Language Policies for Foreign Languages in Brazil and Uruguay: a Photograph of National Laws in the First Decade of the 21st Century

RESUMO: Este texto aborda as políticas linguísticas públicas educacionais sobre a oferta de línguas estrangeiras no Brasil e no Uruguai na primeira década do século XXI. O objetivo é problematizar a interpretação de leis nacionais, a partir das três unidades escolhidas para o desenvolvimento de um estudo comparado, a saber: lugar, tempo e políticas. O trabalho é meritório por sustentar uma valoração situada dos elementos mais significativos da comparação e por mostrar a complexidade da proposição e da compreensão dessas políticas. Notabiliza-se, mediante as análises, que nas leis que dispõem sobre línguas estrangeiras na educação dos dois países, o vínculo sul-sul não teve uma posição destacada no período selecionado, mas apenas consentida.

Ethics in Language Education:

This paper reports on a doctoral research project, carried out by the first author under thesupervision of the second one, whose original focus was on elaborating a first draft of awritten code of ethics for Brazilian language teachers. Even though this project was initiallyconceived to elaborate such a draft in light of some European ethics perspectives, as theproponents were generating data with the research participants, it became evident to themthat the European-centered worldview would not properly address the struggles and needsof Brazilian language teachers. Two instances of colonial seeds becoming decolonial flowers arethen introduced. The first one relates to the conception of the research project and thedata collection; and the second, to the analysis itself. It does not take a village to fail, butit certainly takes one to face it in the way described in this paper. In a highly competitivecontext as the academia is, time to fail and to reflect upon it would seem to be nonsense to avast number of scholars. The paper ends with reflective questions to be locally and creativelyanswered by scholars and teachers from the language education arena.

The Rivers of Dharma in the Face of Religious Challenges: A Comparative Analysis of Three Japanese Buddhist Temples in Brazil

The article aims to develop a comparative reflection in view of three Japanese Buddhist temples: the Honpa Honganji (connected to the True Pure Land School); the Hompoji (Honmon Butsuryū Shū), and the Dokozan Busshinji (Sōtō Zen), located in the North of the State of Paraná, more specifically in the cities of Londrina and Rolândia (Brazil). As sources, materials derived from fieldwork are used, as well as interviews conducted with monks and practitioners. From the theoretical point of view, religion is understood as a symbolic system, as proposed by Clifford Geertz, open to the possibility of appropriations, according to Michel de Certeau. In addition, certain propositions of Michael Pye regarding religious transplantation are used. As a discussion, it is suggested that the circumscribed temples develop different responses to the problem of the death of first-generation immigrants and the discontinuity of the Japanese language in Brazil. The comparison is made through three parameters: the profile of the monks, the language used in materials and preaching, and the characteristics of the faithful.

Comparing Iconicity Trade-Offs in Cena and Libras during a Sign Language Production Task

Although classifier constructions generally aim for highly iconic depictions, like any other part of language they may be constrained by phonology. We compare utterances containing motion events between signers of Cena, an emerging rural sign language in Brazil, and Libras, the national sign language of Brazil, to investigate whether a difference in time-depth—a relevant factor in phonological reorganisation—influences trade-offs involving iconicity. First, we find that contrary to what may be expected, given that emerging sign languages exhibit great variation and favour highly iconic prototypes, Cena signers exhibit neither greater variation nor the use of more complex handshapes in classifier constructions. We also report a divergence from findings on Nicaraguan Sign Language (NSL) in how signers encode movement in a young language, showing that Cena signers tend to encode manner and path simultaneously, unlike NSL signers of comparable cohorts. Cena signers therefore pattern more like non-signing gesturers and signers of urban sign languages, including the Libras signers in our study. The study contributes an addition to the as-yet limited investigations into classifiers in emerging sign languages, demonstrating how different aspects of linguistic organisation, including phonology, can interact with classifier form.

Language education in english as an aditional language in Brazil: overcoming the colonial practices of teaching english as a foreign language

Both Great Britain and the United States have, for a long time now, deliberately implemented policies designed to spread the learning of English to countries all over the world, as a way of expanding their cultural and ideological influence throughout the globe. All the money invested in language and cultural institutes, teaching materials and teacher education has always been associated with this goal (PHILLIPSON, 1992; MOITA LOPES, 1996) and has promoted the development of a powerful industry for the teaching of English as a second or foreign language for virtually every country on the planet. The present essay discusses the ideological implications of mainstream practices of teaching English as a foreign language in the Global South (SANTOS; MENESES, 2010) in general and, more specifically, in Brazil. It also proposes an alternative framework for developing educational practices intended to facilitate the appropriation of the English language by Brazilian students. Appropriating the language, from the perspective adopted in this essay, means that the students should become able to use it on their own terms, according to their own needs and values, and, above all, for their own purposes. That is, appropriation is a process for replacing “Teaching English as a Foreign Language” by “Language Education in English as an Additional Language”.

Foreign-Language Phonetic Development Leads to First-Language Phonetic Drift: Plosive Consonants in Native Portuguese Speakers Learning English as a Foreign Language in Brazil

Fifty-six Portuguese speakers born and raised in Brazil produced Portuguese words beginning in one of four plosives, /p b k ɡ/. Twenty-eight of them were monolinguals (controls), and the rest were learners of English as a foreign language (EFL). The learners were also asked to produce English words beginning with one of four plosives, /p b k ɡ/. We measured the plosives’ voice onset times (VOT) to address the following research questions: Do foreign-language learners, whose exposure to native English oral input is necessarily limited, form new sound categories specific to their additional language? Does engaging in the learning of a foreign language affect the phonetics of one’s native language? The EFL learners were found to differ from the controls in their production of Portuguese voiced (but not voiceless) plosives—prevoicing was longer in learner speech. The learners displayed different VOT targets for voiced (but not voiceless) consonants as a function of the language they were speaking—prevoicing was longer in Portuguese. In EFL learners’ productions, English sounds appear to be fundamentally modeled on phonologically similar native sounds, but some phonetic development (or reorganization) is found. Phonetic development induced by foreign-language learning may lead to a minor reconfiguration of the phonetics of native language sounds. EFL learners may find it challenging to learn the pronunciation patterns of English, likely due to the reduced access to native oral input.

On finite embedded clauses in Tuparí: their synchrony, diachrony, and typology

Tuparí, an indigenous Brazilian language of the Tupían family, has innovated a highlyproductive finite embedded clause construction that retains the morphosyntactic hallmarks of matrix clauses – without any neutralization in tense or evidentiality. I offer a synchronic analysis of these finite embedded clauses and propose a specific grammaticalization pathway that can account for their diachronic emergence: the clausal nominalizer hè developed out of a homophonous third person pronoun, allowing for paratactic constructions to be reanalyzed as involving true subordination. Both functions of hè (as a pronoun and as a clausal nominalizer) remain in use today, giving rise to occasional ambiguity. An additional aim of this paper is to evaluate the Tuparí facts in light of the literature on the Final-over-Final Condition (FOFC), a proposed syntactic universal. I will show that the language’s embedded clauses are unexpected on the most restrictive formulation of FOFC (Holmberg 2000) but can be accommodated without issue once FOFC is restricted to apply within Extended Projections. Situating Tuparí in the broader FOFC typology allows for a more fine-grained understanding of the distribution of the categorial features [+nominal] and [+verbal] in the language’s syntax.

Brazilian Portuguese translation and cross-cultural adaptation of Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioural Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Screen (ECAS)

Abstract: The translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the screening test Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioral ALS Screen (ECAS) for the Portuguese language of Brazil was carried out in this article. The adaptations were developed based on authors' guidelines and specific literature: translation; synthesis; back-translation and cross-cultural adaptation (technical review and semantic equivalence). The tests were adapted with the aid of a pilot group of 46 healthy individuals, mean age 52.6 ± 13.88 years and 13.8 ± 5.10 years of studies, 26 females and 20 males, randomly recruited among the caregivers of the patients of the Hospital das Clínicas of the Federal University of Goiás, Brazil. After translation of all fifteen ECAS subtests, nine were adapted and six not gone through cross-cultural adaptation. In the Language-Naming subtest the fox figure (13.04% of errors) was replaced by the image of the alligator; 5 words (41.66%) of the Language-Spelling subtest were replaced. In the Executive-Alternation subtest, 11-K or 11-L was accepted as a response, provided the subsequent sequence was correct. A Verbal Fluency Index (IFV) table was established, with data from the pilot group, which will be the reference for the Brazilian version. The three subtests for memory evaluation (Immediate Recall, Delayed Recall and Delayed Recognition) are based on a story that has been adapted to Brazilian culture. The protocol has been translated and adapted to Brazilian Portuguese and has undergone processes of content, verbal comprehension and semantic equivalence, being called Edimburgo - Rastreio Cognitivo-Comportamental em ELA (ECAS-BR). It is necessary to continue this study for external validity, equivalence of measurement and reproducibility.

Semantics and indigenous languages

Este artigo apresenta uma reflexão sobre os avanços dos estudos em semântica formal de línguas indígenas no Brasil por meio de um compilado das pesquisas realizadas com as línguas karitiana (tupi), wapichana e terena (aruák). O texto subdivide-se em uma primeira parte sobre as contribuições da metodologia empregada pela semântica formal na descrição de línguas sub-representadas, com ilustrações da pesquisa desenvolvida acerca da pluracionalidade em karitiana. Na segunda parte, são apresentadas reflexões acerca das contribuições dos dados de línguas não indo-europeias para a teoria linguística, em especial as abordagens que assumem universais linguísticos. Essa discussão é embasada nas pesquisas sobre a distinção contável-massivo em wapichana e em terena.