O conjunto de ensaios presentes na obra “Pertencimento: Uma cultura do lugar” escrita por bell hooks retrata as reflexões da autora sobre a relação entre as suas memórias de onde cresceu e os valores de seus ancestrais compartilhados por gerações. Além disso, compara e questiona as diferenças e semelhanças desses períodos históricos com uma visão que aborda as perspectivas de raça, gênero, classe e as desigualdades e violências estruturalmente construídas. Assim, percebe-se a importância dessas concepções na possibilidade de influência de novos modos de se pensar e agir atualmente no que diz respeito, principalmente à justiça social e à luta contra os diversos preconceitos.
This article analyzes the incorporation of multiliteracies in the Portuguese Language reference matrix of Saeb for the 9th grade. The objective is to analyze to what extent the Portuguese Language/Language reference matrices of Saeb for the 9th grade of Elementary School incorporate, explicitly or implicitly, principles of multiliteracies — such as the multiplicity of semioses, technological mediation, and the appreciation of the multicultural dimension. Based on the evidentiary paradigm, the investigation shows that these dimensions appear at different levels, visible in skills that require students to recognize multisemiotic and media texts, critically evaluate the reliability of information, and analyze the diversity of registers and linguistic varieties. It is concluded that the new matrix points to a paradigmatic reorientation by overcoming the graphocentric model, legitimizing reading practices compatible with current communicational ecologies and consolidating the centrality of multiliteracies in the evaluation process.
In this article, we present a proposal for a self-assessment rubric using Pokémon characters, designed for English language education with children. The proposal is based on the assumption that self-assessment is essential within a perspective of assessment for learning. The rubric includes criteria that address not only language learning but also attitudinal and social aspects, as these are equally important for the child’s holistic development. The rubric was developed with playful, simple, and direct language. By integrating social, attitudinal, and learning expectations, it may support learners’ linguistic, metacognitive, and autonomous development.
A raíz de la determinación de los rasgos por los que un instrumento de evaluación debe orientarse para garantizar que se trata de un constructo fiable, justo y ético, se presentan los resultados de un estudio longitudinal que toma como objeto de análisis las percepciones de los aprendientes de Español Lengua Extranjera. En esas percepciones se establecen fuertes relaciones entre la autenticidad, la justicia, la democracia y, especialmente, la dimensión afectiva, comprobándose que la simulación oral se considera un instrumento de evaluación con una alta validez, así como elevadas valoraciones en el resto de los rasgos que definen una práctica evaluadora ética.
With the advancement of digital technologies and social media, there has been an increase in misinformation and the misuse of these resources, often inciting violence and contributing to the vulnerability of more susceptible groups, such as animals. Thus, it is necessary to investigate whether this evolution impacts digital literacy by analyzing how discursive genres in the digital context can influence social and discursive practices. This study aims to analyze the news article “Nearly five thousand wild and invasive buffalo live unmonitored, devastating environmental reserves in RO”, published on g1 in December 2023. The research adopts Ecosystemic Discourse Analysis (EDA), which is based on valuing life and overcoming vulnerability, with a qualitative analysis and ecomethodology. The focus is on the lexical choices and linguistic constructions used in the text, highlighting that animals occupy a subaltern position in society, characterizing speciesism and revealing linguistic-discursive vulnerability.
In the highly globalised world we all belong to, constant contacts among cultures, identities, and languages are on the increase. Such contacts have become inevitable and mainly result from travelling practices that seem to be more intensive than ever before. English, as the lingua franca of today’s world, is undoubtedly the language people generally rely on when travelling, feeling rather comfortable and expecting, to a certain extent, that it is via English they will achieve success in communication in the easiest way. Highlighting its role in communication conducted on travels, this paper aims to shine some light on the characteristics of English used in such contexts, as well as to explore the link between the travels English on the one hand and the phenomena of Globish and World Englishes on the other hand.
In Brazil, there is a growing movement of private schools adopting bilingual education. Alongside this expansion, schools face challenges related to the changes required to implement this educational model. Based on the analysis of state-level guidelines (RJ, 2013; SC, 2016; RS, 2019) and the National Guidelines for Plurilingual Education (Brazil, 2020), it is possible to observe that these documents do not clearly define how assessment should be conducted in school contexts. Drawing on the CLIL approach (Marsh, 2010), which assumes the integrated learning of content and language, and on translanguaging pedagogy, which values students’ full linguistic repertoires (Welp; García, 2022), this article aims to outline assessment principles for bilingual education schools. The methodology adopted is qualitative and applied, based on bibliographic research and document analysis. The results highlight the formative role of assessment and the importance of continuous teacher education in fostering critical pedagogical practices.
This work involves two areas of study which, although distinct, are interrelated: Critical Discourse Analysis and Human Rights. In particular, the paper focuses on some of the research carried out on racism by theorist Teun van Dijk, with the aim of demonstrating, through carefully selected and explored concrete cases, how the study of discourse, from a critical perspective, can influence our understanding of processes related to racism. The studies carried out by researchers in the field of Critical Discourse Analysis can serve to monitor the violation of human rights, through the choice of research topics and the way in which they are approached. Choosing to investigate topics such as oppression and inequality is choosing to fight for the fulfillment of human rights and their adoption as a way of life.
Formative assessment and feedback play a critical role in teaching and learning. Recent advances in large language models (LLMs) have enabled their application as automated assessment tools and feedback providers. This study explores the validity of ChatGPT-based assessment and the perceived quality of its feedback in interpreter education. To this end, ChatGPT-4o was used to assess 60 Chinese–Portuguese simultaneous interpreting tasks, producing rubric-based quantitative ratings and qualitative feedback. To examine its effectiveness, three types of validity (concurrent, predictive, and know-group) were examined by comparing ChatGPT-generated scores with those of nine trained human raters. A post-hoc questionnaire was also administered to collect raters’ subjective perceptions of the feedback. Results show strong alignment between the model and human scores, with ChatGPT demonstrating robust predictive power and discriminative ability. Raters viewed the feedback favorably and supported its use as a complement to teacher feedback, highlighting the pedagogical value of LLMs in interpreter training.
Disinformation has become a significant challenge in contemporary society, especially with the advancement of digital platforms. This article proposes an investigation into disinformation as a discursive and political practice, adopting the theoretical approach of Critical Discourse Analysis. The study focuses on examining the relationship between disinformation and power, and analyzing the mechanisms of legitimization of disinformation discourse. This work aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of disinformation as a discursive phenomenon and to the development of effective approaches to tackle this challenge in contemporary society.
The Certificado de Proficiência em Língua Portuguesa para Estrangeiros (Celpe-Bras) assesses Portuguese language proficiency through tasks that integrate different skills. This article examines test-takers’ performance in listening-to-write tasks of the 2018 exam edition, focusing on the use of information from source texts to fulfill the communicative purposes. The texts produced were qualitatively analyzed. The results show that participants across all analyzed score bands use information from the oral source texts, with a gradual increase in frequency, relevance, and quality of such use as scores rise. Direct use was not recurrent, unlike indirect use, especially through paraphrases closely aligned with the original text, which appeared even in higher-scoring responses. Substantive evidence about the exam, as well as representations constructed by test-takers, are outcomes of this study
This study aims to analyze the discourse of a campaign about HIV, produced by Ministério da Saúde, which has four participants who live with HIV, as well as understand and discuss how they reacted to the diagnosis, their challenges, recommendations for other people, and if this discourse contributes to transform the stigma that triggers prejudice and discrimination. The study was carried out following a qualitative research methodology and the data are discussed in the light of the theoretical-methodological approach of Critical Discourse Analysis and the concepts of stigma and biopolitics. The results show different difficulties the participants faced, mainly focused on biomedical concerns. Regarding recommendations, they are mainly driven by individualist purposes with the focus on the drug treatment. Discourse regularities were also found, such as the biological and neoliberal ones, which are commonly seen in the biopolitical technology, showing that the campaign did not contribute to transform the stigma.
SUMMARY This essay addresses the need to rethink assessment practices in English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) teaching in light of Brazil’s National Common Curricular Base (BNCC), implemented in 2018. The curriculum shifts away from native-speaker norms, emphasizing linguistic diversity, intelligibility, and interculturality. However, assessment practices often remain tied to conservative methods focused on grammatical accuracy, creating tensions between curricular principles and evaluation. The essay advocates for more inclusive and formative instruments, such as reflective portfolios, intercultural projects, peer assessment, and authentic tasks. These approaches prioritize effective communication, creative language use, and intercultural mediation. It also highlights challenges, including teacher training, institutional resistance, and systemic reforms needed to align pedagogy and assessment. In this sense, assessment becomes not only a pedagogical tool but also a political and social act, contributing to decolonial and democratic practices in English language education. Keywords: English as a lingua franca; assessment; interculturality; intelligibility; decoloniality; translanguaging.
This paper presents some of the results of a study on the discursive strategies of the Afro-Uruguayan community in media. I seek to address aspects related to identity and the strategies used by this community to position themselves publicly. This work focuses on the first public texts written by Afro-Uruguayans, including the first two publications of the "societies of color" in Montevideo. From the theoretical and methodological perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis and with tools from Systemic Functional Linguistics, I analyze the texts as a discursive practice to identify the strategies used to reclaim the place of Afro-descendants in the new nation that is consolidating itself. I present examples to show how the argument is constructed in relation to the lexical-grammatical and discursive resources of the text, based on the appraisal analysis (Martin & White, 2005). Keywords: Critical Discourse Analysis; Apprasial System; Afro- Uruguayan press; identities; afro-descendant.
Framed within a discursive-enunciative perspective of Discourse Analysis, this article aims to analyze the construction of fear in the seven presidential inauguration speeches from the period of the Portuguese dictatorial regime, Estado Novo (1933-1974). Methodologically, we draw on the concepts of emotional topics, ethos, and Political Science studies for the analysis. We conclude that (a) fear is constructed through the creation of a worldview dominated by insecurity and uncertainty; (b) an image of the President as a savior is built; and (c) fear served the purposes of subordination and popular demobilization.
This article critically analyzes language proficiency exams as instruments of certification, control, and mobility in the global context. The study employs a mixed-methods approach based on an online questionnaire completed by 70 multilingual participants, aiming to explore the motivations, uses, and perceptions associated with taking such exams. The findings highlight the hegemony of English as the dominant language in international selection processes, as well as the strategic use of proficiency tests as gateways to universities, employment, and migration. Grounded in a theoretical framework of language policy and symbolic power, the article argues that these tests function as institutional filters that legitimize certain linguistic practices while excluding others that do not conform to dominant norms. The conclusion calls for a rethinking of certification models, advocating for more inclusive and diversity-oriented approaches to linguistic validation.
Teaching and learning practices in teacher education have been changing; however, assessment literacy—particularly the teaching of how to assess—remains undervalued. This article analyzes the education of Spanish language teachers as an additional language in seven campuses of the Federal Institutes of Education, Science, and Technology, focusing on the pedagogical course projects. The objective was to identify the presence of compulsory and elective courses related to the topic of assessment and/or the inclusion of assessment in the syllabi of other courses within these documents. A qualitative methodology was adopted (Prodanov & Freitas, 2013), using document and content analysis (Bardin, 2006). The results reveal gaps in teacher education: only three courses offer subjects related to assessment, all of them elective. This scenario highlights the need for curricular changes and greater attention to assessment training, since the literature (Luckesi, 2013; Scaramucci, 2006) points to assessment as an essential tool for guiding teaching practices. Nevertheless, its effectiveness depends on systematic learning about how to assess.
One of the main challenges for Portuguese language teachers in basic education is grading students' written work, a task that demands time, knowledge of the genre, and prior actions such as creating clear instructions and building a consistent grading framework. Nonetheless, large-scale external writing assessments have been applied in basic education, revealing inconsistencies tied to the above-mentioned challenges. This article discusses the evaluation of writing in a school environment and analyzes the adequacy of the instruments used, based on exams and grading frameworks from the Programa Escola das Adolescências (Adolescent Schools Program), a federal government initiative. The analysis considers the relevance of the selected genres and the coherence of the assessment proposal and parameters. The results indicate alignment between the genres and curriculum guidelines, but also weaknesses in the proposal and evaluation criteria, which compromise an accurate diagnosis of students' writing abilities.
This study investigates the validity of high-stakes, teacher-made tests as parallel measures of achievement of identical curricular goals. Focusing on three reading sections from tests designed in different schools across Portugal, the research assessed a sample of 75 students representative of the intended population. Two complementary approaches were adopted: expert evaluations and psychometric analyses. Findings revealed discrepancies among experts regarding construct coverage and highlighted variations in item scope, format, subcomponents assessed, and comprehension demands across the sections. Technical shortcomings in instructions, item design, and scoring criteria were also identified. Results from a one-way repeated measures ANOVA demonstrated significant differences in mean performance across the three sections, with section two producing notably lower scores compared to sections one and three. These results suggest that the sections are not equivalent in construct or difficulty. The study reinforces concerns about teachers’ assessment literacy, test quality, and fairness in assessment.
This article explores the perceptions of foreign language teachers at the Language Center (LC) of the Federal University of Goiás (FUG) regarding the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on assessment practices. The study takes as its starting point the first author’s experience as an undergraduate student majoring in English and as a scholarship teacher at LC, under the supervision of the co-author, where concerns about the authenticity of texts submitted by students in diagnostic activities arose. Adopting a qualitative case study design, the research draws on the contributions of Zabala (2010), Luckesi (2011), and Fidalgo (2006) with recent research on AI. Data were collected through questionnaires and interviews with CL teachers. The findings indicate that, although teachers acknowledge AI’s potential to support assessment design and optimize time, they emphasize the importance and the need of critical curation and ethical responsibility in its use.
