ABSTRACT
In Brazil, both alfabetização científica and letramento científico have been used to refer to scientific education. The reading of the main Brazilian authors on the topic shows that use of these terms may not present consistency of signification. The introduction of letramento (literacy) in language and education studies, in the 80’s, was intended to distinguish the abilities necessary for reading and writing, such as encoding and decoding the alphabet, from the social practices of reading and writing. Alfabetização científica and letramento científico are both translated to English as scientific literacy. Considering that alfabetização científica and letramento científico are even more recent concepts, we seek, first, to analyze the conceptual differences between alfabetização and letramento and, secondly, to analyze how authors and scholars in the field of science education have used them. In conclusion, while for some authors it is a mere variation of denomination, for others there is a conceptual difference.
KEYWORDS:
letramento; letramento científico; alfabetização científica; science education