Abstracts
In the present work we present part of a research that aimed at analyzing the contribution of Bakhtins speech genre theory for the speech therapy practice. In order to do so, we developed a therapeutic approach and applied it in a group care situation. The group was composed by five teenagers with complaints of reading and writing difficulties. In the present article we present excerpts of interlocution in one of the speech genres selected for the therapeutic work: the speech genre synopsis. The data was analysed according to Bakhtinian dialogism. The results lead to believe that the subjects were able to produce texts which can be considered adequate to the speech genre in question. The results suggest, in addition, that practices based on a discursive perspective were effective because the group -immersed in meaningful contexts of language use - developed linguistic and discursive competences necessary in reading and writing.
Complains of reading and writing difficulties; Speech therapy; Speech genre Synopsis
Neste trabalho apresentamos parte de uma pesquisa na qual objetivamos analisar a contribuição da teoria de gêneros do discurso de Bakhtin (2003) para a prática fonoaudiológica. Para tanto, elaboramos uma proposta terapêutica e a aplicamos em uma situação de atendimento em grupo. O grupo foi composto por cinco sujeitos (adolescentes) com queixas de dificuldades de leitura e escrita. Neste artigo são apresentados excertos da interlocução em um dos gêneros selecionados para o trabalho terapêutico: o gênero sinopse. Os dados foram analisados à luz do dialogismo bakhtiniano. Os resultados levam a crer que os sujeitos conseguiram produzir textos adequados ao gênero em questão. Sugerem, ainda, que as práticas ancoradas em uma perspectiva enunciativo-discursiva foram efetivas, pois, por meio de contextos significativos de uso da língua, os sujeitos se aproximaram da escrita e da leitura e, com isso, desenvolveram competências linguísticas e discursivas necessárias à interação nessas práticas.
Queixas de dificuldades de leitura e escrita; Terapia fonoaudiológica; Gênero sinopse
ARTICLES
The speech genre synopsis as a proposal of speech therapy action aiming the development of reading and writing competences
Rita Signor
PhD student at Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina - UFSC, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil; CNPq scholarship; ritasignor@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
In the present work we present part of a research that aimed at analyzing the contribution of Bakhtin's speech genre theory for the speech therapy practice. In order to do so, we developed a therapeutic approach and applied it in a group care situation. The group was composed by five teenagers with complaints of reading and writing difficulties. In the present article we present excerpts of interlocution in one of the speech genres selected for the therapeutic work: the speech genre synopsis. The data was analysed according to Bakhtinian dialogism. The results lead to believe that the subjects were able to produce texts which can be considered adequate to the speech genre in question. The results suggest, in addition, that practices based on a discursive perspective were effective because the group – immersed in meaningful contexts of language use – developed linguistic and discursive competences necessary in reading and writing.
Keywords: Complains of reading and writing difficulties; Speech therapy; Speech genre Synopsis.
RESUMO
Neste trabalho apresentamos parte de uma pesquisa na qual objetivamos analisar a contribuição da teoria de gêneros do discurso de Bakhtin (2003) para a prática fonoaudiológica. Para tanto, elaboramos uma proposta terapêutica e a aplicamos em uma situação de atendimento em grupo. O grupo foi composto por cinco sujeitos (adolescentes) com queixas de dificuldades de leitura e escrita. Neste artigo são apresentados excertos da interlocução em um dos gêneros selecionados para o trabalho terapêutico: o gênero sinopse. Os dados foram analisados à luz do dialogismo bakhtiniano. Os resultados levam a crer que os sujeitos conseguiram produzir textos adequados ao gênero em questão. Sugerem, ainda, que as práticas ancoradas em uma perspectiva enunciativo-discursiva foram efetivas, pois, por meio de contextos significativos de uso da língua, os sujeitos se aproximaram da escrita e da leitura e, com isso, desenvolveram competências linguísticas e discursivas necessárias à interação nessas práticas.
Palavras-chave: Queixas de dificuldades de leitura e escrita; Terapia fonoaudiológica; Gênero sinopse.
Introduction
The question of reading and writing in Brazil has been much more connected to the notion of failure than to success, considering that only 25% of the population is understood as fully literate, according to INAF/2009. This situation of school failure regarding the development of literacy, concerning particularly children from unfavorable environments, has been considered by teachers and therapists as a problematic which constitutes the subjects, in other words, the student who does not meet the parameters considered as "the expected" ones ends often receiving a "diagnosis" of learning disabilities or disorders. The problem is usually approached in a way that focus what was missed so that the subject failed in reaching the targets which had been set for him, but there is no movement in order to think why the school was unable to fulfill its function of teaching. The speech therapist, when joining the complaint of school, must be well based not to fall in the risk of "diagnose" misconceptions, which may lead the subject to get even more distant from written language appropriation process.
We start from the point of view that the problems concerning lack of success in reading and writing reflect a social problem. The school, guided by an autonomous model of literacy (KLEIMAN, 2008), ignores the reality of its subjects and seems to be inflexible when presenting teaching practices in meaningless contexts. Language use is forgotten, and the student, facing an authoritarian position, gets into a circle of relations which lacks sense, that is why he does not learn. According to Berberian, Mori-de Angelis and Massi (2006, p.30):
Language clinicians must report such reality and must not collude with it, replacing a simplistic and homogenizing look with a behave which is politically committed to social transformation. In order to do so, we must break free from the bondage of clinic methods guided by disease and standard rules and join a truly therapeutic clinic, in which the subject and its individual history, which is also deeply social, are considered until the ultimate consequences
Given the huge demand for the services of speech therapy due to aspects that we have just mentioned, we believe that a practice which is based on the theory of Bakhtin's speech genres can be a therapeutic resource of great importance to individuals facing "difficulties" in reading and writing. We advocate that, through the relations of meaning that Bakhtin's theory proposes, it is possible to reverse the instabilities resulting from difficult relations with written language.
Thus, this work aims at examining the contribution of Bakhtin's theory of genre for the field of clinical care concerning reading and writing, according to analyses in a master degree dissertation
According to the mentioned teachers, the "difficulties" in written language presented by the students were mostly due to behavioral issues and lack of interest in taking part of classroom activities; something that can be observed in some parts of the reports presented by these teachers:
"There are many complaints of pain: headache, stomachache and bladder ache"; "often seems uncomfortable during the activities, asking to go out and get around"; "shows apathetic, does not seem happy," "seems different from other students who look healthier, happier, more communicative and creative"; "does not pay attention, cannot sit still for long "; "During the explanations concerning the way the activities should be done shows to be away and does not ask questions"; "most colleagues prefer not to do activities with him"; "his look is often away, being called many times to look at the blackboard or the teacher"
Such statements will not be analyzed here because we believe that the school discourse is always predictable and redundant: it imposes the opinion of an institution that excludes rather than welcomes, and that understands the act of sending the student to the clinic as a reason for disengagement regarding the problems of writing presented by students.
The subjects underwent a speech therapy evaluation, and, in this evaluation, we could observe that they did not present disturbs or difficulties in reading and writing, since their textual productions allowed the reader to give them meaning. Moreover, the instabilities around the formal aspects of language were taken as inherent to the process of language acquisition. Than we accepted them for speech therapy merely because the complaint of school, reflected on the speech of students/patients, has led them to reject reading and writing practices.
We selected a group of speech genres to guide the actions developed within the therapeutic process: novel, theater play, movie poster and synopsis. Among them, our focus was mostly directed to the genre theater play, while the other genres were taken as consequent and necessary to an approach centered on a working proposal that involved developing, publishing and staging a play. In order to write the play, we started from the re-utterance of a novel read in therapy
Forty seven three-hour therapy sessions were performed altogether. Even though some sessions were held with a single patient, most of them where group sessions. All sessions were documented by an audio recorder. The transcripts followed the conventions of writing. Data was collected from November 2008 to January 2010.
It is important to consider that due to the dimension of this work, we present in this article only the speech therapy undertaken with one of the genres covered in the therapeutic process: the synopsis. We will present excerpts of the interactions observed in the therapy sessions in which we approached this speech genre, as well as written productions produced by one subject of the group (J). The synopsis was specifically approached during five therapy sessions; the first four sections were used to develop reading activities and to promote a reflexive analysis of a set of selected texts. The last session, in turn, was focused on the writing process of the genre synopsis, and, at this session, we worked with single students. Each subject, together with the therapist, produced a synopsis and versions of it
In the following section we present the therapeutic work which was performed aiming the appropriation of the genre synopsis.
The work developed with the speech genre synopsis
After the group of subjects had finished writing the theater play, we started working on the production of the synopsis, which was developed as a condition to publish the play on the website. The sessions in which we worked with the speech genre synopsis were performed on the 16th., 24th. and 30th of July, 2009 and on the 06th. and 13th of August, 2009. Our methodological approach, based on the theory of speech genres, involved not only reading and writing activities, but also language and discourse analysis, providing an experience which we believe is necessary to develop genre awareness. In order to write the synopsis of the play that had already been produced, we conducted a survey, selecting texts to compose a corpus of synopsis, which we might read and analyze, so that it would be possible to develop the writing process. As suggested by Barbosa (2001), we tried to approach the genre in its several textual supports in order to enable the group to get aware of its textual composition.
Many different synopses were read by the group, being three of them taken from plays which had previously been read
In order to approach the critical synopsis, we took Veja magazine and CartaCapital magazine to one of the sessions and read the following synopses of films and books: 30 days of night, If my apartment could speak; In My Father's court, Mr. Proust and short stories.
Our first action, before reading the synopsis, was observing what each group member knew about the genre that was being studied. To do so, we asked them: do you know what a synopsis is?
(1) [16/07/2009]
L: Might I know? [answering the therapist question mentioned above]
J: Silence.
M: Might I know?
D: I don't know.
Although we had already mentioned in previous sessions what a synopsis was, when working with the genre theater play, the subjects showed not to be familiar with this word. Then, in order to verify our assumption, we modified our question and asked it in a different way: when you go to a video store and want to know something about the content of a movie, where do you look for information?
(2) [16/07/09]
J: Ask it to the guy who works there.
M: I read it on the back of the box.
T: (To M) Do you use to read on the back?
M: No (laughts).
T: But how do you know?
M: Sometimes I read, but not often.
T: (Talking to everybody) And you? Do you read or have you ever seen somebody reading the synopsis of a film?
J: I have never read.
D: I have already read.
In order to check the subjects’ previous knowledge about the genre, we asked them some more questions: and do you know what is the purpose of the text which is written behind the DVD box?
(3) [16/07/09]
M: To make the person get the film! (he said in a hurry, as if he wanted to be the first one to answer it).
T: That ok, M.
Despite having answered Might I know?, when our original question was asked, M showed to have previous knowledge about the genre, when we approached it in a different way: emphasizing the interactional process rather than the name of the speech genre. The problem was probably related to the use of a word which did not sound familiar to the participants of the therapy group.
After our first approach, we gave them an explanation about the genre, describing the function it has to inform the core content of the plot while trying to create in the reader/spectator a desire directed to the consumption of the object in question. To illustrate it, we started working with the synopsis of the novel and the movie Twilight. We present these texts below so that we can better follow the reflexive reading process that we tried to perform with the group:
When Isabella Swan moves to the gloomy town of Forks and meets the mysterious and attractive Edward Cullen, her life takes a thrilling and terrifying turn. With an athletic body, golden eyes, mesmerizing voice and supernatural gifts, Edward is both irresistible and impenetrable. Until then, he has managed to conceal his true identity, but Bella is determined to discover his dark secret. What Bella does not realize is that the more she approaches him, the greater is the danger to herself and to those around her. And it may be too late to go back ... (synopsis of the novel)
Isabella Swan is a teenager who goes to live with her father in a new city after her mother decides to get married again. In high school she becomes fascinated by Edward Cullen, a boy who hides a dark secret. They fall in love, but Edward knows that the more advances their relationship, the more he is putting Bella and those around her in danger. (the movie)
M read the first synopsis and L read the second, then we asked them a few questions (one at a time) so that they could reflect about some properties of the genre. The questions that we asked them are the following:
1 – Where is the first synopsis and where is the second?
2 – The fact that the first synopsis is in a book and the second is in the film represents any important change in the content of what is written?
3 – What is a synopsis for? Why do we write synopsis?
4 – What is the information the texts bring about the story?
5 – What is the theme? What is the story about? Is it possible to discover it only reading the synopsis?
6 – Find in the texts sentences which objective is convincing the reader/spectator to read/watch the book/film.
7 – Is it possible to identify the ending of the story reading the synopsis? Justify.
8 – What kind of public is the story directed to? Justify.
9 – Who is the possible writer of the synopses?
10 – In the book Twilight the story is told in the past, in the film it happens in the present, but in both synopses (book and film) the verbal tenses are in the present. Can you imagine why?
When answering the first question, they mentioned that the texts were published on the book and on the DVD:
(4) [16/07/09]
J: It is here (showing the back cover of the book)
T: Ok, but I want the textual support; if it is in the book, in the magazine, in the newspaper, in the website, in the DVD, in the marketing poster...
M: Ah... it's in the book and in the DVD, only this?
The subjects seemed in doubt when trying to answer the second question, so they kept reading the two synopses in order to find possible differences. J said that there was a difference between the two texts, because the synopsis of the book was longer. L, completing the reasoning of the colleague, said that the synopsis of the novel was longer, because the book was also longer than the story portrayed in the film, and flipping through the book, said: look, it has over three hundred pages, and a movie takes about an hour. We reformulated the question to make them realize that we were not referring specifically to the size of the text but to its content. That is how we introduced the third question, so that they might understand what we really wanted to know.
(5) [16/07/09]
T: What is the aim, what is the objective of writing a synopsis?
M: I have already said, to make us want to watch the film.
T: Yes, that's right, depending on the place, on the textual support, and on the objective why you write a synopsis, yes, depending on the objective people may write wanting to make other people read the book, watch the film… Then you will see that if the synopsis of a book is in a newspaper or in a magazine it may be different... Sometimes the guy how writes tells you in the end: do not get it! The film is not good, the guy gives an opinion, you know?... But let's think about the synopsis of the book in the book itself, that what M said. But there are more things...
(Silence)
D: That's what you said, if the person who is going to choose the film is in doubt, he can read the back of the box.
T: Read what on the back?
D: The story.
T: What story?
M: Of the book, isn't it?
T: The whole story?
D: A summary.
M: Yes. A summary.
T: But there is a great difference between a summary and a synopsis. Does anybody know what the difference is?
(Silence)
T: Ok. What is important now is that the synopsis aims at... at informing the content, that's why it gives an overview of some important aspects of the plot...to make people know what the story is about... and it also aims at making people who is reading it want to watch the film or read the book.
To answer the fourth question, the subjects initially kept reporting the information that was written, in other words, they kept reproducing the information that was already given. We therefore suggested them to analyze the texts, trying to observe some important features such as the description of the characters, the environment, the conflict itself, because we wanted them to understand how the author of the synopsis selects the most relevant facts and features to compose the genre.
The subjects started realizing that both synopses were mainly focused on the romance between the protagonists and the danger that this relationship represented for the girl. Still regarding this issue, J mentioned that the first text had more information, because it described with more details the main character: athlete's body, golden eyes... Then we emphasized that this fact does not concern the textual support, as they had stated earlier, or better, we said that we could exchange the textual supports of the synopses presented above (from book to DVD and from DVD to book), because the fact that the film is a compact version of the novel would not influence the production of the synopsis, as the most relevant aspects of the book are also present in the film and those are exactly the ones of interest for the textual composition of the genre.
Question five was easily answered by the group, they said what the story was about and pointed out that it was possible to know it only reading the synopsis, but as M strengthened: only in a very basic way, isn't it
Regarding the sixth question, we analyzed each text at a time. When working with the first synopsis, J seemed excited about reading, because she had already watched the movie (as everyone in the group) and, in past sessions, we had already read several parts of this novel. She said, however, that if she had not watched it, she would be persuaded to do so because of the description of the main character: irresistible, impenetrable, he has supernatural gifts, golden eyes ... M and L, in turn, did not agree with J and said that they would not watch the film or read the book.
(6) [16/07/09]
M: There are many things you want to get... but I think that when you talk about the secret... here in the end, I think people would like to know the secret... what the secret was.
L: That's it. The secret.
T: Anything else?
(Silence)
We agreed with them that the secret, the curiosity, the desire to find that secret that was mentioned in the synopsis could very possibly convince many people to try to discover the mystery. We said that the mystery was related to the identity of Edward, as the text itself mentions: Until then, he has managed to conceal his true identity. We also agreed with J, because the description of the character could influence readers. However, we emphasized some aspects that they had observed, as the danger involving the relationship between the characters: What Bella does not realize is that the more she approaches him, the greater is the danger to herself and to those around her. We thought that this danger was another key word, which purpose, in text, was to create expectation.
The next question
The question concerning the audience of the book/film, in turn, was answered by all of them (teenagers), as this fact was already known by them. On the other hand, the group had difficulties to answer the ninth question, they felt in doubt and eventually answered that the writer of the book himself was the one who wrote the synopsis, and with respect to the film's synopsis, they said they did not know who had written it, only M tried to answer, saying that it was written by the director. In other to help them, we handled the romance and the DVD (of Twilight), trying to find some information that could give them a clue about who was the author of the texts, unfortunately, however, we did not find any information that could help us in this task. In the book, for example, it was mentioned the names of the author of the novel, the translator, the producer of the cover, the text reviewer, the producer of the cover image and the producer of the author's photo, but there was no information that could lead us to the author of the synopsis. Because of that, we believed that the synopsis would probably had been written by someone from the publisher, so the synopsis was uttered by the publisher's voice, not by the voice of a particular person.
The last question, which concerned the time of the narrative in the synopsis, made the subjects think, but they did not try to answer it. We (the therapist), as the same, did not have a ready answer to the question, we just knew that usually, in synopses, the authors prefer to use the present tense. We suggested that the text could not be written in the past tense, because the synopsis does not tell the whole story, as it is done in a summary for example. The synopsis only situates the individual in relation to the plot, omitting its ending, as if the story was under progress. In order to give this effect of incompleteness and of present event, the verbs in the narrative are in present tense.
In the next session, continuing our analysis, we read the synopses of some of the plays that they had read in previous sessions, considering some of the issues already raised when reading the synopses of Twilight. Also that day, we took the newspaper Diário Catarinense so they could read and analyze the synopses which were published by the newspaper. We were looking through the newspaper and stopped at the section Varieties > Release, in order to read the synopses of films being shown in the cinema at that time: Public Enemies, Hallowen - The beginning and Frontier. It was important to perform the analysis of these synopses, because, unlike the ones read before, the subjects did not know anything about these films. The subjects considered interesting the emphasis given to movie actors, names of people, according to them. Let's take a look at one of these synopses:
Border, directed and written by Rafael Conde, it is based on the homonymous work of Cornelius Penna, 1935. The story takes place in the countryside of Minas Gerais in the early 20th century. The protagonist is the young Maria (Deborah Gomez), who has a reputation - and nickname - of saint. In the old house where she lives, she receives the visit of Aunt Emiliana (Berta Zemel), engaged in preparing her great miracle. At the same time, a traveler arrives in the city (Alexander Cioletti), with whom Santa Maria falls in love. Conde directed a trilogy of short films based on works of Luis Vilela: Françoise (2001), A rua da armagura (2003) and Chuva nos telhados antigos (2006)
We told them that as the films were directed to an adult audience, maybe this audience would also be influenced by these aspects, in other words, by the staff responsible for the production of the film (actors, directors, writers, producers); that is why the synopsis contains a kind of summarized curriculum of them, that is, films in which they had taken part before. Even in the synopsis of Public Enemies, whose protagonist is a well-known actor (Johnny Depp), we find this summarized curriculum:
Aged 46 and with a filmography filled with striking roles, the actor Johnny Depp has done a bit of everything in the movie – soon he will be in Alice in Wonderland.
From the complicated youth of Edward Scissorhands (1990) to the wacky buccaneer in Pirates of the Caribbean (2003/2006/2009), Depp follows reinventing in the screens without losing the charm, characteristic, indeed, enhanced in his new endeavor.
Under the command of the director Michael Mann (The last of the Mohicans and Collateral), the actor is the star of Public Enemies, which arrives in movie theaters today ...
They also noticed that in the mentioned films the year they were released was written between brackets beside the name of the movie. And also between brackets, there were the names of the actors playing each character. Another fact that caught their attention, especially J's attention, was the pictures of the scenes put in the newspaper.
In this session we also discussed with them the meaning of unfamiliar words and realized that they considered this activity meaningful. We could verify it due to the attention they dedicated to the activity and the comments they made:
(7) [24/07/09]
L: At school the teacher does not explain the difficult words...
T: But do you ask her?
L: No.
J: I don't do it either...
T: Why don't you ask? (talking to everybody)
(Silence)
T: Why do you ask me?
M: Ah, you are nearer.
We continued handling the newspaper looking for more synopses and found, in the supplement Winter Magazine, the marketing campaign of a play being staged in in Florianopolis, The Goator Who is Sylvia (A cabra ou quem é Sylvia), which contained a summarized synopsis. It gave more attention to the name of the director and the cast of the play and also included information related to the place it was being staged, the period in which it would be presented, phone numbers, prices, kind of play (comedy). The summary pointed out that the play had been chosen the Best Play of 2008 by Veja SP. We recommended them to pay attention to the content of this synopsis in the advertisement (as they would have to produce posters to publicize their play when staging it), especially to the section which stated that the play had been chosen the Best Play of 2008, in other words, we asked them to pay attention to the way the author of the synopsis expresses his opinion and evaluation in writing.
In hagah Guide, in the same newspaper, we found other synopses of plays and other events that were about to happen or were happening in Florianopolis and other municipalities of Santa Catarina. In this guide, we also found synopses of soap operas that were being held (at that time) on major television channels. Reading them, we realized that the synopsis of soap operas was, in fact, a summary of what was about to come. This finding could be observed in M's words: But isn't it telling everything?
Maya and Bahuan argue and he suspects that he is the father of her child. Komal goes to get Deva's family to stay in his house. Shivani says to Bahuan that his father wants to talk to him. The millionaire makes it clear that he knows he is dating Maya. (The Way of the Indies - RBS - TV).
Also in the Guide, we found a set of summarized synopses, in order to inform the schedule of open and cable TV. Some examples are the following:
THE LAST PROPHECY - By Mark Pellington. With Richard Gere. Journalist gets involved with alien influence. Thriller, USA 2002, 119min. Universal 16:30.
About the activities concerning the reading of these summarized synopses, the subjects highlighted their length; all of them were short texts. We emphasized that the aim of this genre is only to inform the films that are being held on TV, so that people can choose a film to watch. To do so, there is no need of a lot of space (not even the newspaper would have this space, since the schedule of films is quite long). Also, in this case, the schedule does not aim to convince the reader to watch a certain film, it is a kind of service the newspaper provides the readers with (keep them informed about the TV schedule). We observed, then, that the information was provided only when strictly necessary: name of the film, producer, a famous actor in the cast, a sentence that situates the reader in relation to the theme of the movie, kind of film, time, time length and TV channel.
In the session that followed, we discussed the synopses of the films they had already watched: Harry Potter, The magical toy store and Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. With regard to Harry Potter, we took the novel that gave origin to the film and analyzed the synopsis exactly in the same way we did with Twilight. In this reflexive reading activity, subjects were placed also in the position of authors, because they knew that after the reading sessions they would have to produce a synopsis, then this condition (of author), anticipated in reading, made them think about these questions. D said: if it was with me, I think I wouldn't be able to write the synopsis of Harry Potter... Very difficult
In this third session, in which we analyzed some other kinds of synopses, we were able to review some issues related to the regularities of the speech genre we had been analyzing so far. The subjects seemed to be already aware of many of the properties of the genre.
In the fourth and final session dedicated to synopsis reading, we took to the therapy session the magazines CartaCapital and Veja, so they could handle them and read what we might call critical synopses. In the synopses found in both magazines, we could notice that the position and opinion of the authors (representing the magazines themselves) is more explicit, recommending or not the consumption of a particular cultural product (book/film/show). We thought that, unlike the synopses that aim to convince the consumer to buy/consume a product (which we had analyzed so far), these may act (or not) in the opposite direction. We read the first synopsis (from the section Bravo! of CartaCapital) and then we started to discuss some of its aspects.
Premiere
In Short Stories, being held since Friday 11, Helvédio Ratton returns to the children's theme. In Nutty Boy (1994) the director had a character inventive in itself, here he unfolds the world of imagination into different stories. His purpose is to make a "family film" and recover the stories told in the ear.
The warmth and sincerity with which he treats the reports is evident. But some stories sound too naive and the verbal magic is not always reflected in the images.
His great success is the funny episode Ze Burraldo with Gero Camillo.
We asked them to try to observe the appreciative tone with which the film is treated, that is, our goal was to make the subjects realize that this synopsis had a kind of evaluation, which purpose was not to induce the reader of the magazine to watch the movie, but really to express a critical position.
The subjects thought that the synopsis looked uncommon. J said: It is not telling the story, I didn't understand anything...
(8) [06/08/09]
(Silence)
M: There are good things and bad things (referring to but).
T: That's it. Do you think this synopsis... when the film goes to the DVD… that this synopsis can be this way in the DVD?
D: No.
T: Why not?
M: Because there (in the DVD) you cannot say bad things, only good things.
T: If not?
M: There you have to say good things or maybe people will not want to get it.
T: There the objective is making people get it. Then the aim is another. That is why a said that it is important to know where the text is to know a little about its role, isn't it?
J: But it also talks below... here... about the great success of the episode of Zé Burraldo (laughs).
T: People, oh, criticism doesn't need to be only bad things ok, you can write a critical review and only say good things, or only bad things, or bad and good things, criticism is... for example... you watch a film and analysis it… expresses your opinion, you can compare with other things. Take a look, it is comparing the film with another film the guy directed Nutty Boy.
We also read other critical synopses from the mentioned magazines, always thinking about the conditions of production of these texts, considering, of course, the sphere of journalism and the purpose and style of the genre. We also observed longer critical film reviews that had written in a more argumentative style and that, unlike the synopses, had some indication of authorship.
In the next session, after the process of reading and analyzing selected synopses, the subjects started writing the synopsis of the play that they had produced. We gave them some written comments before the production of texts, which are listed below.
1- Think you are going to write a synopsis, then remember the characteristics of this genre of text. [We reviewed the main characteristics of the genre].
2- Remember the aim of your synopsis, that is, with which objective you are writing this text. To do so, reflect about THE PLACE where your text will be posted.
3- Remember your target public, the ones who will probably read your text.
4- Write your text and then reread it, see if it is understandable, clear
We must remember that the writing sessions were performed individually and that the proposal of them was to prepare a synopsis of a play that was written by the group. Due to the length of this paper we do only present here J's process of writing.
We explained J what should be done (textual production of the synopsis), paying special attention to the questions above, and she, showing to be quite self-confident, began writing. J did not make any question and produced the following:
[13/08/2009]
In the new house KAT finds something that brings a lot of bad luck to the one who finds it.
Kat will almost die but she will discover how to finish with grool.
Firstly, after the production of the synopsis, we emphasized the positive aspects of her text, such as the fact that she was able to mention relevant aspects of the play in a very short text. We told J that she had written a good summary of the play, but, at the same time, there were things to improve. So we gave J some suggestions to help her improve the text, in order to make it more suitable for the genre that was being studied.
(9) [13/08/09]
T: J, I think to make your text more similar to a synopsis and less like a summary, you will have to tell less...
J: Is it too long?
T: No, the size is ok, but... look... you say she will almost die, but she will discover how to finish grool... that is, you're telling everything, you are telling the ending... do you remember in the synopsis you don't tell the ending? You create a desire in the person how is reading... If you tell everything it is not funny... Do you remember?
After our conversation, she wrote the second version of her synopsis:
KAT and her brother Daniel move to a new house. There they find a sponge that brings a lot of bad luck. KAT cannot kill the foam or she will day in a day. The problem is that grool seems immortal...
We read her second production and, after that, we told J that she was able to improve her text a lot. Now it looked more similar to a synopsis, due to some characteristics of her text: it approached the theme in a brief way, it did not mention the ending (we found it very interesting that she used suspension points in order to suggest suspense or a mysterious atmosphere) and, at the same time, it motivated people to watch or read the play. However, we noticed a detail that could denote a contradiction. When she wrote: KAT cannot kill the foam or she will day in a day, she suggested that Kat could not kill it, but then she said The problem is that grool seems immortal. This last sentence could lead the reader to infer that Kat tried to kill it. But if she could not kill it, why, then, did she try to do so? When we talked to her raising the questions above, we created a kind of conflict so that we could think together in a possible solution. J thought and said she did not know what to do. We suggested her, therefore, a possible way to write it: she would simply omit the information that the character could die if Kat tried to kill grool. J produced, then, the third version of her synopsis:
Kat and her brother Daniel move to a new house. There they find a sponge that brings a lot of bad luck. They tried (will try) to finish it, but the problem is that the sponge seems immortal...
This third version showed to be more suitable for the genre. Just as in the previous version, the text presents an overview of the plot and leaves the ending in suspense. It also creates an expectation in the reader regarding the unfolding of the plot, as it can be seen in some passages: they find a sponge that brings a lot of bad luck; they tried (will try) to finish it, and the end of the text is well written, but the problem is that the sponge seems immortal.... The reader might feel stimulated to read and watch the play due to the desire of finding a solution for the mystery, which is the goal of speech genre synopsis. Thus, we can conclude that the text produced by J fulfilled its social function and that J was able to materialize her discursive intention when producing the synopsis. The latest version of the text aimed at revising the formal aspects of language:
KAT and her brother Daniel move to a new house. There they find a sponge that brings a lot of bad luck. They will try to finish it, but the problem is that the sponge seems immortal...
After the production of J’s text and of the other group participants' texts, there was a session in which we worked together to produce a single synopsis based on all the texts they had produced, as already mentioned. The purpose of joining all the texts in a single text was not to give privilege to a single production.
It should be noticed that working with the synopsis from the perspective of Bakhtin's speech genres aimed to create a dialogical situation which could lead to the development of reflexive processes around language. Then, for example, when they were writing their synopses, we acted (the therapist) as their immediate interlocutor in order to, through our questions/ considerations, provide them, subjects of therapy, an analytical and critical position necessary to build a linguistic and discursive knowledge. We believe that the words of another materialize themselves in our own words, as in the case of the appropriation of a given genre, when we give this other one conditions to develop an effective learning process; conditions those that involve the production of a discourse project which must involve, among other things, a discursive purpose and a defined interlocutor. In this sense, it was observed that J and the other group subjects were able to produce suitable synopses, once they produced texts which presented the main characteristics of the genre.
Final considerations
Bakhtin's theory of speech genres presupposes conceiving language as a sociointeracional, ideological, and therefore dialogical phenomenon. When bringing this theoretical perspective to the field of speech-language intervention with subjects referred for clinical care, due to learning difficulties concerning reading and writing that they presented according to the "diagnosis" of the schools attended by them, we wanted to make these subjects approach written language through meaningful contexts of language use, in which we observe the way the concept of genre works, breaking, thus, the stigma of difficulty
We also aimed to develop/improve their linguistic and discursive skills through the social practices of reading and writing developed on group interaction. In other words, our intention, among others, was to provide them a written language learning environment that could favor the apprehension of knowledge about language and its uses, and that, in this process, they could be able to ressignify the practices of reading/ listening and textual production in which they were involved inside and outside school.
Based on this understanding of language, we chose to develop a sociodialogic process of writing acquisition in speech therapy sessions. The activities we developed and analyzed during this study led us to realize that when we take dialogue as a space for the production of written language and, in this space, the subjects' assumptions as tools to think about their own writing and communicating practices, we can observe the subjects producing texts, we can notice the acquisition of speech genres and, therefore, the development of skills required for that. When working with genre acquisition, the subject, in contexts of meaning, not only operates the construction of the text itself, but also works with language from a critical and analytical point of view, from the condition of reader and author.
Still, the subject himself realizes, while approaching written language, that his resistance to reading and writing practices comes not from a real difficulty in learning, but from a negative relationship with writing due, probably, to ineffective pedagogical approaches. When he becomes aware of his possibilities in relation to language and gradually feels more comfortable in relation to writing practices, giving them meaning, the subject tends to assume a different position as an individual who interacts and expresses himself through/in language. An attitude that reveals a subject who learns, teaches, states, asks, reflects; someone who allows himself to be and know the reality and the values of the literate group with which he lives together.
REFERENCES
- BAKHTIN, M. Os gêneros do discurso. In: Estética da criação verbal. Trad. Paulo Bezerra. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2003.
- BARBOSA, J. Trabalhando com os gêneros do discurso: uma perspectiva enunciativa para o ensino de Língua Portuguesa. 2001. 222 p. Tese (Doutorado em Linguística). Pontifícia Universidade Católica, São Paulo.
- BERBERIAN, A. P.; MORI-DE ANGELIS, C.; MASSI, G. Letramento: referenciais em educação e saúde. São Paulo: Plexus, 2006.
- KLEIMAN, A. Os significados do letramento: uma nova perspectiva sobre a prática social da escrita. Campinas: Mercado de Letras, 2008.
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
07 Aug 2012 -
Date of issue
June 2012
History
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Received
20 Dec 2011 -
Accepted
12 June 2012
