Representações sociais de aprendizes de português em contexto sul-africano sobre a língua e a cultura do Brasil : subsídios para políticas de difusão e reflexões sobre o ensino de português no exterior

Abstract

The Social representation is a way in which man signifies his social context transforming the new/strange/unknown into a familiar knowledge. The genesis of the Social Representation is intimately related to the communication processes according to the Social Representation Theory, in which speech has a fundamental role. Under a Bakhtinian perspective, the speech is the main element in verbal interaction, which, on the other hand, signifies the man’s world. Studying social representation inside the language-teaching universe implies understanding a range of images, ideological positions and social beliefs that learners have about a target language and culture. In order to discuss those issues inside the Portuguese teaching universe overseas, we have established as objective of this research: identifying representations concerning linguistic aspects (phonetics, grammar, lexis) to the social context of the Brazilian language and culture and analyze possible influences of contextual variables in the creation and/or transformation in the learners’ social representation. This is a qualitative approach research, and we used the following instruments to produce data: a questionnaire with a mix of open and closed questions, interviews with semi-structured script and field notes. The initial procedure was participant observation. The data was generated at Brazil-South Africa Cultural Centre and 15 Portuguese learners took part in the research. Aiming at analyzing the material, we categorized the data into three main axes: Brazil, Brazilians, and language/culture. Both the questionnaire data and the interview were categorized and grouped according with those three main axes. Nevertheless, the interviews generated a second grouping, which came from each axis. The categorization was organized from Bodgan and Biklen proposal about reference code elaboration. The results revealed structured social representations about Brazil and Brazilian people, anchored in images and perceptions publicized by media and explored by tourism industry; also in historical speeches comparing Brazil and South Africa, which are still broadcasted nowadays. Regards to Portuguese language, the results indicate an affective dimension of social representations, and also connection among Brazilian Portuguese /Brazilian people – German language/German people – Portuguese from Mozambique and Portugal. The understanding of social representations about Brazil, Brazilians and the Portuguese language / Brazilian culture in an international context should be considered in the elaboration of international policies for the diffusion of Portuguese language and Brazilian culture.