Analfabetismo funcional entre vestibulandos dos cursos de graduação em letras, história e jornalismo.

Abstract

The present study has the general objective of listing the possible manifestations of functional illiteracy among students who are taking the university entrance exam of History, Journalism and Literature courses for the semester A of 2017, at a Higher Education Institution of Rio Grande do Sul. For this purpose, forty-five essays, fifteen of each course were selected. The texts of the sample were submitted to an analytical reading of quali-quantitative approach, according to criteria established especially for the study in question: thematic coherence/incoherence of the text produced; marks of lack of reading or attention; lack of textual informativeness; disconnection between title and text; single voice (opinion) versus intertextuality; referential cohesion failure; absence of sequential cohesion; and text typology structure. The selection of criteria was based on textual linguistics studies authored by Marcuschi (2008) and Antunes (2010). The analysis of the collected data indicated that the most frequent problems in the sample texts were related to lack of reading or attention, inadequate or absent sequential cohesion, non-existent intertextuality and lack of informativeness. The results indicate that most of the applicants (authors of the texts) did not prove proficient in text production. To base the research, we carried out a bibliographical survey on functional illiteracy, initial reading instruction and literacy, from the perspective of different theorists. In addition, we focused on the concepts of reading, writing and their interrelationship, since these concepts are closely related to functional illiteracy. Finally, through this research, we concluded that the teaching of the Portuguese language should focus not only on grammatical aspects, but also on the verbal text as a means of social interaction and intersubjective communication, seeking well defined social goals.