The (meta)utterances and the process of construction of meanings in the Portuguese language textbook

Abstract

The textbook (LD), influenced by the technological development of the last decades, has undergone significant transformations. Among them, the complexification of its pages, with an interface reminiscent of web pages, has come to characterize its most recent layouts. In other words, the pages of textbooks in the latest formats present a page layout with different spaces, or subspaces, materializing different statements in a mosaic-like form. Thus, as stated by Barros (2004), there is a presence of specific meta-enunciative planes that focus on general enunciative planes. In other words, meta-utterances that turn towards the object of teaching to explain it, exemplify it, and engage in dialogue with the central statements in units, chapters, or sections. For this reason, our aim is to analyze how the so-called "auxiliary" or perigraphic statements relate to the so-called main statements, which, in turn, materialize the objects of teaching in the discipline of Portuguese Language, and the effects they trigger. As a result of this inquiry, it is evident that, by focusing on what is presented as central on the textbook page, meta-utterances play a fundamental role in constructing meanings, considering that the topic being taught depends on the other statements surrounding it to enable a deeper reading and comprehension for the student/reader. To develop the analyses and discussions proposed in the article, the theoretical and analytical approach aligns with meta-enunciative studies (AUTHIER-REVUZ, 1998; 2004; BARROS, 2004), investigations on textbooks (BARROS, 2020; OLIVEIRA, 2021), as well as research on visual graphic design (SILVA, 1985).