The expression of order in the context of teaching Portuguese as a non-native language

Abstract

This article, inspired by the studies of Casteleiro (2014), addresses the notion of order, expressed in speech acts such as “giving orders” in the context of teaching Portuguese to foreigners. The reflection proposed here is justified by the still incipient discussion on the topic that has proven important based on an initial analysis of the introductory texts of Portuguese to foreigners’ textbooks published in recent years in Brazil. These introductions indicate a commitment to the development of learners’ communicative-intercultural skills, which, however, is not realized. On the contrary, there is a tendency to value grammatical topics as a central point for the development of notional-functional and interactional aspects. Thus, they rarely address the context of use, the speaker’s intention, power relations, direct, indirect, attenuating or reinforcing forms. In methodological terms, considering the language in use, a book of chronicles was chosen as a source to identify a set of “expressions of order” that could expand the possibilities of teaching linguistic-discursive forms and uses with a view to be developing communicative-interactional skills. The analysis demonstrated that there is a considerable number of forms that can express order, in addition to aspects such as gestures, intonation, etc. that indicate the state of mind of the person giving the order.