Um estudo sobre letramentos acadêmicos de estudantes universitários em uma agência experimental de publicidade e propaganda

Abstract

The development of academic literacies in a certain area of knowledge allows, to the one who is learning, conditions for reading the world and acting in the contemporary society, for engaging in the disciplinary debate, and for developing an opinion concerning the effects of scientific and technological innovations of the area and the potential consequences resulted from their use (MOTTA-ROTH, 2013a, p.145). Recognizing the importance of academic literacies in the university context and in the formation of students in different areas of knowledge, this research aims at identifying and discussing characteristics of academic literacies processes of a group of students from the course of Publicity and Advertising (PA) (Publicidade e Propaganda) in a PA experimental agency located at south of Brazil. In order to do that, we adopt the perspective of Critical Genre Analysis (MEURER, 2002; BHATIA, 2004; MOTTA-ROTH, 2008; 2011a), academic literacies studies (LEA; STREET, 1998; 2006; MOTTA-ROTH 2013a) and the notion of Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LAVE; WENGER, 1991). As part of the umbrella project Academic/scientific literacy and Legitimate Peripheral Participation in the knowledge production (Letramento acadêmico/científico e participação periférica legítima na produção de conhecimento) (MOTTA-ROTH, 2013b), this study consists in a qualitative research based on ethnography (LAUTOR; WOLGAR, 1997), in which, observations of social activities from the PA experimental agency were made. The corpus of this research is constituted by a) notes collected by prticipant observation; b) field notes/photography; c) answers from questionnaires applied to the agency members; and d) advising sessions between professors and students. With the observations and field notes, the intention was to collect information about the laboratory context. Through the observations and field notes, it was detected the need to apply questionnaires and to analyze advising sessions between professors and students. It is understood that the advising sessions through writing and rewriting processes and text editions, by students, based on professor s notes are a rich source to identify characteristics of students academic literacies. The results seem to indicate that students academic literacies depend on their interaction with other members from the laboratory and their engagement in genres and activities that arise from those genres in the agency. As the students participate in the agency, they develop literacies that turn them into more experienced publicists in the PA professional performance practices. Aligned to this characteristic, it seems that the academic literacies in PA are permeated with the development of personal taste. The members speech, in the advising sessions, is marked with lexicogramatical choices that privilege emotional mental clauses (e.g. amar, gostar, adorar). In this sense, it seems that emotional mental processes work as teaching parameters in this laboratory. These linguistic cues seem to be related to the recency of the PA area of knowledge (BORGES, 2002; DURAND; 2006; PÚBLIO; MADER, 2009). With this research, it is expected to contribute/reflect upon the academic literacies processes as for the PA area of knowledge as well as for the Applied Linguistic area of knowledge.