The construction of senses in activity statements in textbooks

Abstract

The topic of this article it is the construction of senses in activity statements in textbooks. The goal is to show the discursive strategies used by the enunciator to manipulate the enunciate aiming lead him on to accept the proposed contract. The analysis of the ‌corpus showed us that the activities do not restrict themselves to verify if the student learn the exposed content, but they also give voice to the enunciates to manifest their personal opinions and experiences. This work justified himself by the fact that, at least in the public schools, the textbook is the tool that guide teachers in theirs pedagogic activity and the activities inserted in it are one of the tools by which teachers can assess learning. The corpus consists of activity statements in textbooks of Elementary and High School subjects, published by publishers based in São Paulo, destined to the privet market and the public school system. The theoretical foundation are the enunciation studies and the French line Semiotics. The results demonstrate that in various types of activities there is an effect in the sense of proximity, reversing the student/teacher asymmetry, characteristic in older textbooks.