Editor's note
In this issue, there are 12 articles divided into two parts of six texts each, one focusing on linguistic and discursive studies and the second on language teaching and learning.
Part one could be further divided into 2 groups. The first one consists of three studies in grammar, lexicology and lexicography, respectively. Yamashita Santos discusses grammatical constructions in the light of the concept of embodied mind. He defends that grammar is not only a matter of abstract rules, but the result of an embodied mind which builds meaning from the environmental experiences. Then Alves Siva presents a model to explain the metaphorical and metonymic processes of word formation focusing on compound words; and Farias offers an overview of Spanish dictionaries through the elaboration of a taxonomy followed by an evaluation of how helpful these dictionaries are for Brazilian learners of Spanish.
The second group gathers three texts on discursive issues. Silva, supported by some Bakhtin's principles, defends "that punctuation also contributes to reveal subjectivity traces, as well as the dialogic properties of the utterance". Severo demonstrates the complexity of historical, political, social and linguistic situation in East Timor by exploring the complex relations among the notions of language, discourse, identity and power. The third text, by Rocha, analyses the inaugural address of a secretary of education having as support Systemic Functional Linguistics. The author focuses on the attitude category to reveal how affect, judgment and appraisal leads to the identification of the discursive positioning of the speaker.
The texts in the second part were organized according to the languages addressed. The first two articles deal with the teaching of Portuguese. Tagliani shows the mismatch between textbooks and teaching practices concerning the development of discursive competence; and Bonini presents an overview of the use of newspaper at school followed by his defense of school newspaper as a tool for learning and for communication. The third article, written by Tostes, does not address any language learning, but teacher-student interaction in a distance teacher education course. The author demonstrates how important politeness strategies are in order to promote learning.
The last three articles deal with issues concerning English teaching and learning. Finardi and Silveira describe an experimental research on memory capacity and English acquisition by a group of Brazilian university students. Seganfredo Santos reports research on second language teacher education examining data collected with teachers who teach English to young learners. She points out that the teacher education curriculum should be revised in order to include studies on English language teaching to children. Last, but not least, Cavalari discusses the characteristics of the self-assessment process in a tandem learning setting where a Brazilian learns English in interaction with her American partner. She concludes that the process can be improved with the aid of check-lists, portfolios and teacher mediation.
We hope the readers appreciate the variety of articles published in this issue.
I wish to express my gratitude to the authors and to everyone who put their valuable time and effort into reviewing the articles and into preparing this issue.
Vera Lúcia Menezes de Oliveira e Paiva
Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
31 Mar 2011 -
Date of issue
2011
