Portuguese Language In Brazil Research Articles

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.

Cross-cultural adaptation of the painDETECT questionnaire into Brazilian Portuguese

Background and objectivesNeuropathic pain is common in the general population worldwide and Brazil. The painDETECT questionnaire is a notable instrument for screening on neuropathic pain. A Brazilian version of the painDETECT is necessary to broaden the possibilities of identification of neuropathic pain in the Brazilian population for the proper diagnosis and treatment. The current study aimed to perform the translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the painDETECT into the Portuguese language of Brazil. MethodsA cross-cultural adaptation study was conducted in 11 stages according to standard procedures. Descriptive statistics were performed. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was assessed using Cronbach’s Alpha test (α). ResultsFour translators, 10 experts, and 30 patients participated in the study. The expert committee adapted five out of nine items (item 2, 3, 6, 8, and 10) to the Brazilian context. The pretesting phase showed good internal consistency (α = 0.74) for the nine items, including the pain pattern and the body chart domains. The Cronbach’s α of the instrument with seven descriptor items of pain was 0.83. ConclusionsThe painDETECT was cross-culturally adapted into a Brazilian context and can be used to identify neuropathic components in pain of Brazilian patients. Clinical implicationsPainDETECT is available for Brazilians to identify neuropathic components in pain.

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.

Cross-cultural adaptation of the scale National Emergency Department Overcrowding Score (NEDOCS) for use in Brazil.

To describe the process of translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the National Emergency Department Overcrowding Score (NEDOCS) into the Portuguese language for use in Brazil. Methodological study of translation and cross-cultural adaptation into the Portuguese language of Brazil, founded in the recommendations of the Guidelines for the Process of Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Self-Report Measures, that comprise the stages of initial translation; synthesis of the translations; back-translation; committee of experts; pretesting and introduction of the scale to the author. The Portuguese-adapted scale presented semantic, idiomatic, experimental and conceptual equivalence with the original one; the total value of the Cronbach`s Alpha was -0,401 due to the non-positive intercorrelation among the scale items. The NEDOCS scale has proved to be a reliable instrument to be utilized in the real-time monitoring of the assignment of emergency services. Thus, it contributes to the managerial and assistance processes besides providing health indicators.

Abbreviations in eighteenth-century letters: Graphic clues and literacy degrees

This research object was the use of abbreviations in 18th century private letters written in Portuguese. In this context, the main hypothesis was that such resources may highlight the social aspects of the scribe of past periods, thus allowing their sociolinguistic characterization. To test it, we adopted the Language Variation and Change Theory (Labov, 1972) regarding the data selection, collection, and analysis. The corpus is composed of 24 private letters from the 18th century written in Portuguese Language of Brazil and European Portuguese by men and women of higher and lower social classes and are from two sources: (i) Fundo Barao de Camargos Collection, of the Historical Archive of the Museu of the Inconfidencia, and (ii) Post Scriptum Project: A Digital Archive of Ordinary Writing (Early Modern Portugal and Spain), of the Linguistics Center of the University of Lisbon. The results showed that (i) the external variables education level, socioeconomic status and gender and the internal variables typology and rule complexity interfered with the use of abbreviations; thus, (ii) the abbreviations translate linguistic and extralinguistic information about the one behind the quill and are a methodological tool for the characterization of the literacy degree of the scribe.

A história de Eduardo Perié

Em 1885, Eduardo Perié publicou, pela Casa Editora Eduardo Perié, de Buenos Aires, a obra A literatura brasileira nos tempos coloniais - do século XVI ao começo do XIX, subintitulada “Esboço histórico seguido de uma bibliografia e trechos dos poetas e prosadores daquele período que fundaram no Brasil a cultura da língua portuguesa”, como o primeiro volume da Coleção “Biblioteca Luso-Brasileira”. Segundo o historiador, três fatores são constitutivos da literatura no País: a literatura portuguesa, rica em perfeição, estilo e harmonia; as legendas e a poesia indiana; o elemento africano. Com essa perspectiva, aborda a literatura produzida no Brasil, desde os tempos coloniais até a sua contemporaneidade, ampliando o compromisso de analisar apenas literatura colonial. Obra pouco conhecida no Brasil e raramente citada entre os historiadores da literatura brasileira, o seu autor também é nome desconhecido na historiografia, merecendo, portanto, maiores indagações sobre seu estudo original e peculiar a respeito da literatura brasileira, especialmente do momento por que passa o País: quando Perié publica o seu alentado estudo de mais de quatrocentas páginas, o Brasil vive os tempos anteriores à República, que seria instaurada quatro anos mais tarde. Questões de ordem literária e política parecem se associar e precisam ser mais investigadas para definir o lugar que ocupa essa história da literatura brasileira em tempos coloniais (e nem tão coloniais).

Translation and validation of the Moral Foundations Vignettes (MFVs) for the Portuguese language in a Brazilian sample

AbstractThe Moral Foundations Vignettes (MFVs) – a recently developed set of brief scenarios depicting violations of various moral foundations – enables investigators to directly examine differences in moral judgments about different topics. In the present study, we adapt the MFV instrument for use in the Portuguese language. To this end, the following steps were performed: 1) Translation of the MFV instrument from English to Portuguese language in Brazil; 2) Synthesis of translated versions; 3) Evaluation of the synthesis by expert judges; 4) Evaluation of the MFV instrument by university students from Sao Paulo City; 5) Back translation; and lastly, 6) Validation study, which used a sample of 494 (385f) university students from Sao Paulo city and a set of 68 vignettes, subdivided into seven factors. Exploratory analyses show that the relationships between the moral foundations and political ideology are similar to those found in previous studies, but the severity of moral judgment on individualizing foundations tended to be significantly higher in the Sao Paulo sample, compared to a sample from the USA. Overall, the present study provides a Portuguese version of the MFV that performs similarly to the original English version, enabling a broader examination of how the moral foundations operate.

The portuguese language in Brazil: multiple peoples, multiple forms

This paper looks at the role of African, Amerindian, and Portuguese peoples in shaping and spreading the Portuguese language in Brazil from an interdisciplinary approach. Drawing from secondary and primary sources – such as Antônio da Costa Peixoto’s New Book of the Mina General Language (1741) and Friar Cannecattim’s Dictionary of the Bunda or Angolan Language (1804) – it explores the interplay between language, power, and identity to historicise the process by which Portuguese became the primary language in Brazil, despite its multilingual landscape. In doing so, it challenges the idea that the spread of Portuguese and language shift was always a conscious product of the Portuguese Crown and a result of open violent imposition. On the contrary, the spread and consolidation of Portuguese deeply depended on the missionaries, the population, and symbolic colonial practices. Additionally, the fact that Portuguese prevailed as the main language spoken in Brazil has not precluded it from being profoundly intertwined with Amerindian and African languages. Such languages formed a multilingual society, being largely responsible for the differentiation between European and Brazilian Portuguese.

A relação entre as teorias linguísticas e raciais no final do século XIX no Brasil

Neste artigo, buscamos descrever e analisar os discursos do final do século XIX de pensadores brasileiros sobre língua e raça. Nosso objetivo está em perceber a relação entre a entrada das teorias rácio-biológicas no país e a visão dos intelectuais brasileiros sobre a língua portuguesa falada e escrita no Brasil, especialmente no que se refere à especificidade desta e à influência africana nesta língua. Os autores analisados foram, principalmente, Joaquim Nabuco, Sílvio Romero, João Ribeiro e Nina Rodrigues. Constatamos que as pesquisas desse período foram fortemente marcadas por ideais de civilidade e de pureza étnica e linguística.

Um monumento trecentista

O Livro das Aves, os Diálogos de São Gregório e o Flos Sanctorum compõem, inegavelmente, um espólio monumental, a que a escrita e a solidificação histórica da língua portuguesa rendem vênia. Desviados do espaço original de produção na Idade Média portuguesa, transportaram, do século XIV para o presente, uma língua no silêncio velado do pergaminho e, desde 1950, constituem-se nos documentos mais antigos escritos em língua portuguesa existentes no Brasil. Considerando ser próprio a monumentos não apenas representar uma história cristalizada às confluências e defluências sociais, mas especialmente permitir a depreensão dos movimentos e dos contornos das sociedades que os constroem, servindo-se-lhes funcionalmente de forma retroalimentadora, discutem-se neste trabalho alguns aspectos linguísticos que comprovam o valor maior desse espólio documental, que reside na possibilidade de representarem a variação e os processos de mudança em sua integreza histórica, ou seja, evidenciarem a tão necessária e propagada diversidade ou diferença, sem os disfarces e controles de uma norma padrão que ainda se encontrava, àquela altura de sua produção, embrionária. A memória linguístico-literária, que comportam, cumpre devidamente esse papel e revela a vivacidade de fenômenos da língua, cujas regras e padrões não se apagaram e continuam a se propagar no português brasileiro, como têm evidenciado as diversas pesquisas em Linguística Histórica que se têm realizado com base nesses documentos, no Brasil e no exterior.

VERBO: Voice Emotion Recognition dataBase in Portuguese Language

The recognition of human emotional traits based on Affective Computing is being carried out by computational systems that are able to interpret and react intelligently to the context of the user. Speech Emotion Recognition systems are capable of transforming speech signal data into information related to the feelings of individuals in specific situations. However, the emotional expression of a human being depends mainly on his origins. For this reason, emotional voice databases are peculiar to each language. In this paper, we propose a new emotional database with speech in the Portuguese language of Brazil, called Voice Emotion Recognition dataBase in Portuguese language (VERBO). The database was validated by a panel of expert judges and we achieved an agreement rate of 76% using the content validity index and substantial agreement rate of 65% using Fleiss’ Kappa. In addition, an accuracy of 0.76 was achieved and it was possible to observe that the emotions anger and happiness were more easy to recognize showing 0.85 and 0.83 of f1-score, respectively, whereas the disgust and surprise emotions were the most difficult showing 0.67 and 0.68, respectively. In view of this, the main contributions to research made by this study are: (1) The establishment of a new actuated voice database; (2) support provided by voice recognition systems for the analysis of feelings and emotions; and (3) statistical validation of the database using CVI and Fleiss kappa.

Cultural adaptation and content validity of ISTAP Skin Tear Classification for Portuguese in Brazil

Objective: To translate and culturally adapt the International Skin Tear Advisory Panel (ISTAP) Skin Tear Classification into the Portuguese language in Brazil and test the content validity of the adapted version. Methods: The cultural adaption comprised three phases: translation, evaluation by committee of judges composed of five stomatherapists (confirming the instrument content validity) and back-translation. Results: Two Brazilian Portuguese versions of the instrument were obtained after translation and analyzed by the committee, disagreements arose over several health related terms. This generated low values of the content validity index. However, the content validity was confirmed after discussion of discrepancies between the authors and some members of the judges’ committee, as well as with one of the authors of the original instrument, Dr. Kimberly LeBlanc, who also testified that validity when approving the back-translations of the adapted version to Brazilian Portuguese. Conclusion: The culturally adapted version of the ISTAP Skin Tear Classification is considered to have been obtained, with its content validity also attested. At that moment, the tests for inter and intraobserver reliability and concurrent validity are in the finalization phase, after which the instrument adapted and validated for Brazil will be made available.

Quinhentos anos de história social-linguística do Brasil: uma retrospectiva

Neste artigo, procuramos traçar os quinhentos anos de história social-linguística do Brasil, abordando, comentando e criticando momentos que consideramos cruciais ao longo de tal percurso. Assim, começamos pelo século XVI, com a chegada dos colonizadores portugueses, tratando de aspectos como a adoção do tupinambá, por parte destes, como língua de contato inicial, assim como de suas consequências. Em seguida, ainda no mesmo século, abordamos a chegada dos africanos e as consequências linguísticas que este importante fator demográfico traria para o cenário de contato linguístico nos séculos seguintes. Por fim, tratamos da situação linguística brasileira pós-Independência, com ênfase para as línguas indígenas remanescentes, para as línguas da imigração europeia e asiática, que aqui chegaram no século XIX, e para o quadro atual da língua portuguesa no Brasil.

Descriptive dermoscopy terminology in Portuguese language in Brazil: a reproducibility analysis of the 3rd consensus of the International Dermoscopy Society

AbstractBackground: Dermoscopy is a noninvasive complementary diagnostic method largely used in dermatology. Feasibility, accuracy, and reproducibility are key elements for a diagnostic method to be useful, hence the importance of the terminology used to describe dermoscopic criteria.Objective: To evaluate the reproducibility of the English descriptive terminology proposed for dermoscopic criteria at the 3rd Consensus Meeting of the International Dermoscopy Society in Brazilian Portuguese.Methods: Nine Brazilian dermatologists independently analyzed the translation of sixty dermoscopic descriptive terms proposed at the 3rd Consensus Conference of the International Society of Dermoscopy. Interobserver agreement index was analyzed using the Fleiss’ kappa test.Results: The interobserver agreement of the descriptive terminology in Brazilian Portuguese was considered weak (κ = 0.373; p < 0.05). The interobserver agreement of the descriptive terminology used to describe morphology and arrangement of vascular structures was considered moderate (κ = 0.43; p < 0.05).Study limitations: Our study limitations include the small number of participants and limited regional representation (only 2 out of 5 Brazilian regions were represented).Conclusions: The descriptive English terminology proposed at the 3rd Consensus Conference of the International Dermoscopy Society revealed weak reproducibility and the morphology and arrangement of vascular structures presented moderate reproducibility in Brazilian Portuguese. Despite small regional differences, metaphoric terminology in dermoscopy seems to be the most useful and reproducible system to be adopted in Brazilian Portuguese.

Abordagem sociolinguística em coleções aprovadas pelo Plano Nacional do Livro Didático

A heterogeneidade linguística é uma realidade que vem sendo amplamente estudada pela Sociolinguística. O conhecimento de sua importância conduziu alguns dos pesquisadores da área a repensar o ensino da língua portuguesa no Brasil, pois há muitos que consideram apenas a norma-padrão, desprestigiando outras variedades. Esse novo pensamento é relevante para a pedagogia da variação linguística, no entanto, ainda é possível encontrar tanto uma defasagem no ensino quanto a existência do preconceito linguístico, por isso torna-se imprescindível a abordagem da variação em sala de aula, como sugerem os documentos oficiais para o ensino de língua portuguesa. Diante disso, este trabalho objetiva identificar nas obras aprovadas pelo Programa Nacional do Livro Didático, de 2015, se há a menção da variação linguística e como ocorre esta abordagem nas atividades que envolvem o ensino de língua materna. Para tanto, selecionou-se duas coleções de livros didáticos, uma destinada aos anos finais do ensino fundamental – do 6° ao 9° ano – e a outra ao ensino médio – da 1a a 3a série. Como objetivos específicos, delimitam-se: (i) verificar se o Pnld apresenta a orientação da abordagem da variação linguística; (ii) identificar nos objetivos do ensino de língua portuguesa a abordagem da variação linguística em cada ciclo escolar, (iii) analisar as coleções tendo por base os estudos de Lima (2014). A análise demonstrou que já há livros que abordam de maneira adequada a temática da variação, porém ainda há um longo percurso a percorrer, pois a coleção destinada ao ensino médio ainda apresenta lacunas quanto a este assunto.

Serafim da Silva Neto e a problematização do contato entre línguas: algumas observações sobre a relação entre os estudos linguísticos e a História

Este artigo apresenta uma análise do tratamento que Serafim da Silva Neto (1950) dá à problemática do contato entre línguas na formação histórica do português no Brasil. Na literatura linguística contemporânea, têm sido frequentes as críticas a esse aspecto da obra do autor, pois ele minimiza o papel das línguas indígenas e africanas na configuração do português brasileiro. Deste modo, realizamos uma descrição panorâmica de como essa questão é tratada na Introdução ao Estudo da Língua Portuguesa no Brasil, mostrando que a abordagem que Silva Neto faz do problema do contato está em consonância com o modelo de análise sociocultural da língua por ele proposto. Além disso, com base em pressupostos teórico-metodológicos da Historiografia Linguística, argumentamos que as ideias do filólogo são fundamentadas nos diálogos estabelecidos entre os estudos linguísticos e a História – ou, mais especificamente, determinadas linhas historiográficas –, os quais marcaram a tradição do autor.

A CONSTITUIÇÃO DOS LIVROS DIDÁTICOS PELA DETERMINAÇÃO DAS TEORIAS LINGUÍSTICAS

No presente estudo, analisamos como as teorias linguisticas sao retomadas e articuladas na constituicao discursiva de materiais didaticos destinados ao ensino de Lingua Portuguesa no Brasil. Buscamos explicitar, por meio de marcas linguisticas, a maneira como estas teorias linguisticas ressoam na discursividade destes materiais. Nosso corpus de analise e constituido por dois livros didaticos de Lingua Portuguesa: i) um exemplar de circulacao atual - Portugues Linguagens – 9o Ano, de William Roberto Cereja e Thereza Cochar Magalhaes; ii) um exemplar da decada de oitenta - Reflexao e Acao em Lingua Portuguesa – 8a Serie, de Marilda Prates. Entendemos os exemplares como materialidades linguisticas significantes, a fim de compreender a sua constituicao e como esta afeta e determina o que pode e deve ser ensinado nas aulas de Lingua Portuguesa e nas escolas. Para tanto, filiamo-nos aos pressupostos da Historia das Ideias Linguisticas, que, no Brasil, constitui-se vinculada a Analise de Discurso pecheuxtiana, e que nos auxiliou a realizar gestos interpretativos sobre o corpus . A partir da analise realizada, consideramos os Livros Didaticos como instrumentos linguisticos e compreendemos que permanece nessa materialidade uma forte presenca do ensino com enfoque na gramatica tradicional, mesmo com todos os avancos das teorias linguisticas. -- DOI: http:/dx.doi.org/10.12957/matraga.2017.27234

Rosa Virgínia Mattos e Silva e a história social linguística do Brasil

Rosa Virgínia Mattos Silva representa, na segunda metade do século XX, um pensamento vivo e instigante sobre a história social linguística do Brasil. Neste texto, homenageio esta eminente linguista, discutindo cinco das suas principais proposições sobre o tema, a saber: 1) A história linguística do Brasil não se restringe à história da língua portuguesa no Brasil, nem à história do português brasileiro. 2) O português brasileiro emerge em contexto multilíngue: o contato linguístico é, pois, elemento constitutivo da sua formação. 3) Na cena linguística do Brasil colonial, destacam-se três atores principais: o português europeu, as línguas gerais indígenas e o português geral brasileiro. 4) Africanos e afrodescendentes foram os principais difusores da língua portuguesa no Brasil e os principais formatadores do português brasileiro em sua variante social majoritária — o português popular brasileiro. 5) O passado sócio-histórico-linguístico do Brasil deverá ser interpretado para a compreensão do português brasileiro «heterogêneo e variável, plural e polarizado» da atualidade.

Interferências da oralidade na produção escrita de acadêmicos de letras

The aim of this article is to discuss the interference of orality in written production of undergraduates by checking the most recurrent marks. For the success of the research, we present some considerations about language variation relating to the teaching of Portuguese language in Brazil. Following the sequence, we will also talk about deviation of the norms in written texts. Finally, we present the analysis of the corpus, consisting of 44 texts written by students from the Faculty of Linguistics and Languages. The data reveals similarity in the standard deviations of texts written by students from urban areas and texts written by students from rural areas, what confirms new trends in Portuguese language spoken in Brazil. However, it is possible to conclude that, despite similarities, there are deviations restricted to written production by students from rural areas, due to the transposition of marks stigmatized by rural dialect. Thus, the results of the research confirm the interference of orality in written production, even in texts written by university students that are supposed to master the standard default idealized. Keywords: Written text. Standard deviation. Orality.

Measuring instruments in cardiology adapted into Portuguese language of Brazil: a systematic review

This was a systematic review aimed at identifying and characterizing measuring instruments, developed in the context of cardiology, which were adapted into Portuguese language of Brazil. Systematic searches were performed in six databases. Information extracted included cultural adaptation process and measurement properties. To assess the methodological quality of studies, criteria based on international guidelines for cultural adaptation of instruments were used. Among the 114 articles found, 14 were eligible for review. Of these, most evaluated quality of life (35.7%) and health knowledge/learning (28.6%). Most studies followed all stages of the adaptation process recommended in the literature. With respect to measurement properties, internal consistency, verified by Cronbach's alpha, was the property reported in the majority of the studies, as well as construct and criterion validity. This study is expected to provide to the scientific community a critical evaluation of adapted questionnaires available in the context of cardiology.