The Portuguese Language teacher in Basic Education as a potential disseminator/popularizer of linguistic science in school

Résumé

We aim to evaluate the social role of the Portuguese Language teacher in Basic Education as an agent in the language practices of scientific dissemination/popularization of Linguistics in school and, specifically: i) characterize teaching as a bridge between scientific production and dissemination/popularization; ii) discuss the place of Linguistics in school, emphatically in Portuguese Language classes; and iii) investigate the agentive dimension of the teacher in relation to actions of scientific dissemination/popularization of Linguistics in Portuguese Language classes. To this end, in addition to recovering studies on teaching, scientific dissemination and scientific popularization, we analyzed, supported by the categories of Semantics of Action (Machado; Bronckart, 2009), the responses – generated from a questionnaire on Google Forms – of thirty (30) Portuguese Language teachers working in Basic Education, who collaborated with Sousa's research (2025). The results point to Teaching as a path that, in dialogue with scientific dissemination, can favor society's access to/use of scientific knowledge, from the perspective of scientific popularization. Regarding the place of Linguistics in school, teachers are aware of the importance and need to disseminate/popularize Linguistics knowledge in Portuguese classes, as well as there is a demand from these teachers for access to scientific linguistic knowledge, in addition to the fact that there are already actions by research groups and institutions to include Linguistics in schools and to train teachers in this perspective. Regarding the agentive dimension, there is a need for greater motivation to build the teacher's identity as a potential agent to disseminate/popularize Linguistics in school.