Análise crítica de gênero de relatos de pesquisa sobre escrita

Abstract

The debate among researchers involved with the investigation of writing in Brazil has been focused on the study of genres as objects for teaching (CRISTÓVÃO; NASCIMENTO, 2005; LOPES-ROSSI, 2005; MOTTA-ROTH, 2006; MACHADO; CRISTÓVÃO, 2006). In this scenario, pedagogical issues have been most explored, while little attention has been paid to the process of research itself. However, as authors have pointed out (MOITA LOPES, 1994; MOTTA-ROTH, 2005), analyzing the forms of investigation plays an important role in the very shaping of epistemology in a given field. This work has the objective of contributing to the methodological debate in Applied Linguistics (AL) by focusing on research about writing (its process, teaching, learning and analysis). The intent is to identify discourses about writing and its investigation by analyzing research reports on the topic as well as data from electronic interviews with authors of these reports and editors of the journals selected. The theoretical and methodological framework includes Systemic Functional Linguistics (HALLIDAY, 1989; HALLIDAY; MATTHIESSEN, 2004) and Genre Analysis (SWALES, 1990; 1998; 2004). The analysis of the corpus shows that the methodological report in the area constitutes itself as a silent or clipped discourse, including few explanations about methodological choices and about the research process implemented. On the one hand, the theoretical discourse in the reports is the one which understands writing as a social practice. On the other hand, the research designs suggest that the studies are lacking a thick description of the contexts in which writing constitutes social practices. These discourses about the nature of writing and about the research on writing contrast with each other, question each other, and show the necessity of rethinking the research practice over and over again, given the contingencies of this complex object of investigation writing.