30091 - Portuguese and Brazilian Language (LM)

Learning outcomes

On completion of this module, students should be able not only to reach Level C2 of the Portuguese language proficiency levels described in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, but also to consolidate and expand awareness and competencies in Portuguese Language from the point of view of the acquisition and reflection on linguistic concepts (linguistic variation, norm and standard-language) as well as the development of a critical understanding of key aspects of Lusophone history, culture, politics and contemporary society.

Course contents

The course, entitled Brazilian Portuguese: the norm and usage, intends to offer a precise and up-to-date picture of the Portuguese used in Brazil, starting from the socio-cultural debate on the status of this variety, which for years now has seen the traditional followers of a peaceful Brazilian norm and the new supporters of "Brazilian" as an autonomous language distinct from Portuguese, opposing each other on both sides of the taxonomic spectrum. In the first part of the course, Brazilian Portuguese will therefore be analysed in its various dimensions of sociolinguistic variation - of which, among other things, the main stages of the historical evolution leading to the current situation of this specific speaking community will be reconstructed, albeit briefly, - and above all in its actual linguistic uses, often in blatant opposition to the prescriptions of the grammatical norm. The second part, on the other hand, will provide a precise examination, also in a diachronic key, of this gap between norm and usage, through a wide-ranging reconnaissance of the Brazilian Portuguese grammars produced since the beginning of the new millennium, which will be compared with the traditional twentieth-century ones in order to grasp not only the different distances in relation to the single aspects of a variational character that can be interpreted as lines of evolutionary tendency of the system, but also the clues of the progressive codification underway of a new standard closer to reality.

Readings/Bibliography

The final exam will cover some of the following course readings, which will be made available to students at the beginning of the course:

- Ian Roberts, Mary Kato (orgs.), Português Brasileiro. Uma viagem diacrônica, Campinas, Editora da Unicamp, 1993;

- C. Galves – M. Kato – I.Roberts (orgs.), Português Brasileiro. Uma segunda viagem diacrônica, Campinas, Editora da Unicamp, 2019;

- J. Kabatek - A. Wall (eds.), Manual of Brazilian Portugues Linguistics, Berlin/Boston, De Gruyter, 2022;

- Marco Antonio Martins, Jussara Abraçado, Mapeamento sociolinguístico do português brasileiro, São Paulo, Editora Contexto, 2016;

- Evanildo Bechara, Moderna Gramática Portuguesa, 37^ ed., Rio de Janeiro, Editora Nova Fronteira, 2009;

- Marcos Bagno, Gramática Pedagógica do Português Brasileiro, São Paulo, Parábola Editorial, 2011;

- Mário A. Perini, Gramática descritiva do Português Brasileiro, Petrópolis, Editora Vozes, 2016.

C. A. Faraco – F. E. Vieira, Gramática do Português Brasileiro escrito, São Paulo, Parábola Editorial, 2023;

C. A. Faraco – A. M. Zilles, Para conhecer norma linguística, São Paulo, Editora Contexto, 2017.

Ulteriori materiali bibliografici saranno forniti agli studenti durante le lezioni

Teaching methods

The module (60 hours) will be delivered through lectures and classroom interaction. Students are also required to attend practical Language classes (36 hours).

Assessment methods

The full exam consists of two components:

Lectures

Assessment will consist of an oral exam in Portuguese, which students can take also before passing the test of the practical language classes. The exam in Portuguese and Brazilian Language will assess students' knowledge of the content of the course, and their abilities to elaborate information critically, describing the most important topics and approaches in this field. The final mark will also test linguistic skills with particular reference to fluency, clarity and students' capacity to use correct morphosyntactic constructions and lexis. The final grade for this component of the exam accounts for 70%.

Practical language classes

This component of the exam consists of two parts, a written and an oral test, based on the contents of the language classes. These two parts assess the students' capacity to understand and use the Portuguese language at the C2 level of the Common European Framework for Languages. Students have to pass the written test with a minimum grade of at least 18/30, before taking the oral exam. The final grade for this component accounts for 30% and is the mean of the scores obtained in the two parts, written and oral.

Teaching tools

PowerPoint presentations.

Office hours

See the website of Roberto Mulinacci

See the website of Livia Assunçao Cecilio