Linguistic Atlas of Tocantins and regional linguistic memory: a proposal for teaching diachronic variation

a proposal for teaching diachronic variation

Abstract

Language is understood as a phenomenon in constant movement, transformation, and adaptation, and it is related to several factors such as the speaker’s geographic region, age group, profession, and context of use. Therefore, working with linguistic variation in the classroom is extremely important, as it aims to show students that there is dialectal multiplicity and that there is no hierarchy among variations, since all of them have the same relevance, whether in cultural or linguistic terms. In this sense, the present study is situated within the scope of Dialectology, as a field that analyzes linguistic variations, and draws on the framework of Linguistic Geography, as it makes use of dialectal cartography (the distribution of variant forms across maps). In view of the aspects mentioned, the general objective of this study is to present a didactic proposal for teaching linguistic-diachronical variation in the context of the state of Tocantins, making use of different genres, such as music, dialogue, historical documents, and data from the Linguistic Atlas of Tocantins (ALiTTETO). This proposal is aimed at the final years of elementary education, and in its development we mobilized a total of seven (07) skills from the Tocantins Curriculum Document (DCT) that address linguistic variation. The purpose of this study was to assist classroom teachers by proposing teaching material that seeks to foster critical thinking about the varieties spoken in Tocantins and to promote reflection on the linguistic history and culture of the people of Tocantins.