THE "ITEM" AND "QUESTION" CONCEPTS: BAKHTINIAN PERSPECTIVE FOR THE DISTINCTION OF TERMS

Being part of the evaluation context, "item" and "question" are terms used as denominative variations, that is, both designate the same thing. These "synonyms", so far, have been used to name a discrete evaluative unit, both in exams and school tests. Once studied from the discourse genre point of view (BAKHTIN, 2003), the differences from the objects "item" and "question", become clearer, in distinguished levels of analysis. For example, the social practices from which these genres originated are systematized in different historical moments, and are also created to fulfill distinct social-communicative needs (PILETTI e PILETTI, 2012; PASQUALI, 2013). Moreover, the genres "item" and "question" have very particular structural elements, able to offer enough bases to arguments in favor of the conceptual distinction of the terms (OSTERLIND, 2004; CUNHA, 2010). This job is based on the studies of the discourse genre to support the thesis that there is a conceptual difference between the terms "item" and "question".