Contents and learning in the discipline of Portuguese language: the clash between the discourse of tradition and the discourse of change

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of the enunciations of the students, in a distance education Language and Literature Teaching Degree course at a Public University in southern Brazil, concerning the students’ conceptions on teaching contents and learning in the discipline of Portuguese Language. The theoretical and methodological basis is the Dialogic Discourse Analysis of the Bakhtin Circle. The survey data consist of 106 discussion forums, 59 enunciations in evaluation activities, posted in the virtual environment for teaching and learning in the period from 2007 to 2011, and data generated by means of a questionnaire, answered by 61 undergraduates in their respective local teaching facilities. The analysis points to a clash between the discourse of tradition in the teaching of Portuguese language and the discourse of change.