In the present paper the researcher's way of speaking is discussed from a perspective of social interaction, thus contesting the assumption of neutrality that has traditionally been attributed to it. The main purpose is to verify the influence of a researcher's verbal interventions on the construction of text comprehension of a ten-year-old fourth grade student at a private school in the city of Recife. A narrative followed by seven questions composed the text comprehension task. The student was told to read the narrative and then to answer the researcher's questions orally. A qualitative analysis of the dialogue between student and researcher showed that the discursive movements that occurred during the interaction led to two significant changes: first, the researcher was able to break from the previously established routine; and second, there was a qualitative change on the textual representation initially constructed by the child. The latter of the two changes is seen as important evidence contradicting the assumption of language neutrality.
language; verbal interaction; text comprehension; construction