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

Starting from an accurate theoretical examination of the concept of "language history", this course (A língua portuguesa: da história para as histórias) aims to provide an overview of Portuguese linguistic history not only from a diachronic perspective, i.e. linearly retracing the essential stages of its centuries-long course, but also from a diatopic perspective, i.e. declining it above all from a national perspective, with particular attention, naturally, to Brazil, but without forgetting the Lusophone African countries. In fact, the traditional treatment by centuries, which looks at the evolution of Portuguese from a substantially unitary point of view, integrating the whole of Portuguese-speaking world within the framework of the colonial expansionism of the former metropolis, will be flanked by partial new approaches to this trajectory in a more Brazilian-centric perspective, where, although under the still common and generalist denomination, a more specific vision of the linguistic phenomena of that particular historical-social context will be considered. From this point of view, the course will focus on the analysis of the various manuals and books on the history of the Portuguese language produced from the 20th century up to the present day in Portugal and Brazil, not limiting itself to using them as mere informative tools, but attempting to grasp, behind the historiographical method adopted by their individual authors, the rhetorical construction of a manualistic "genre", from which, as its main epistemological consequence, an idea of the Portuguese language may also be derived, which is also inevitably destined to project itself onto its future.

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:

BASSO Renato – GONÇALVES Rodrigo Tadeu (2014). História Concisa da Língua Portuguesa. Petrópolis: Editora Vozes.

CARDEIRA, Esperança (2006). O Essencial sobre a História do Português. Lisboa: Editorial Caminho.

CASTRO, Ivo (1991). Curso de História da Língua Portuguesa. Lisboa: Universidade Aberta.

CASTRO, Ivo (2006). Introdução à História do Português (segunda edição revista e muito ampliada). Lisboa: Colibri

DA SILVA Jaime Ferreira – OSÓRIO, Paulo (2008). Introdução à História da Língua Portuguesa. Dos factores externos à dinâmica do sistema linguístico. Lisboa: Edições Cosmos.

FARACO, Carlos Alberto (2016). História sociopolítica da Língua Portuguesa. São Paulo: Parábola.

FARACO, Carlos Alberto (2019). História do Português. São Paulo: Editora Contexto.

NETO, Serafim da Silva (1988). História da Língua Portuguesa. 5^ed. Rio de Janeiro: Presença-INL.

SPINA, Segismondo (2008). História da Língua Portuguesa. Rio de Janeiro: Ateliê Editora.

TEYSSIER, Paul (1982). História da Língua Portuguesa. Lisboa: Livraria Sá da Costa Editora.

VENÂNCIO, Fernando (2020). Assim nasceu uma língua. Sobre as origens do português. Lisboa: Guerra e Paz.

VÀRVARO, Alberto (1972). Storia della lingua: passato e prospettive di una categoria controversa. In: Romance Philology, 26, pp. 16-51.

MATTOS E SILVA, Rosa Virgínia (2004). Idéias para a história do português brasileiro. In: Ensaios para uma sócio-história do português brasileiro. São Paulo: Parábola.

MULINACCI Roberto (2020), Prolegômenos para uma história linguística da lusofonia (des)unida. In Vieira – Bagno (orgs.), História das línguas, histórias da linguística. Homenagem a Carlos Alberto Faraco. São Paulo: Parábola, pp. 205-227.

If necessary, further bibliographic references will be given during the lessons.

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