O discurso do déficit e os letramentos acadêmicos de graduandos em Letras

Abstract

This study aims to identify, in thesis and dissertation abstracts, evidence of stereotypes related to deficit discourse regarding the literacy practices of undergraduate students in Language and Literature programs, considering the specificities of specialized language and knowledge in each field. To achieve this goal, we will conduct an exploratory qualitative study based on a bibliographic review (Moreira & Caleffe, 2008). We will use the database from the Capes Catalog of Theses and Dissertations to extract theses and dissertations for analysis. The selected corpus will be examined with the following objectives: (i) to identify the general objectives presented in each study; (ii) to map the theoretical and methodological conceptions to identify the literacy perspective adopted; (iii) to identify the reported results; and (iv) to discuss the data in light of the social perspective of literacies, aiming to confirm whether stereotypes about the literacy practices of undergraduate students in Language and Literature, based on deficit discourse, are still present or redefined in the consulted research. The theoretical framework of our study is based on the conceptions of the New Literacy Studies, with an emphasis on the social perspective, according to Street (1984, 2003, 2010), and approaches to academic literacies from the works of Lea and Street (1998), Ivanic (1998), Lillis (1999, 2001), Zavala (2010), Fischer (2007), Fiad (2011, 2013), Marinho (2010), Wilson (2008, 2009, 2017, 2019, 2021), and Goulart and Wilson (2020). The interpretation and analysis of the data highlighted the prominence given to the social perspective of literacies based on the ideological model to discuss students' literacy practices, their integration into the academic context, and the construction of identities within this context. Our results indicate the presence of traces of deficit discourse in the research, albeit with a different orientation, focusing on the search for motivations that could explain students' difficulties with literacy practices, such as the strong influence of previous school literacies on their practices at the university. Finally, we understand the ongoing need to research academic literacies, considering students' changing processes and the specificities of each field of knowledge that influence the development of genres, as proposed by Bakhtin (2003).