TEACHING PORTUGUESE IN EAST TIMOR: THE EMPHASIS ON DISCOURSE GENRES

This paper aims at presenting how Portuguese language teaching takes place in high school in Dili, East-Timor. The theoretical background used in the discussion are linked to discourse genres, which are connected to teaching-learning activities and provide for changes in the pedagogical practices. The alterations in the curriculum guides and in the curricular plan for high school in East Timor propose to teachers some changes in their practices, placing in perspective reading and text production learning. However, results point to the fact that, in spite of changes in the curricular level, teachers used to work based on their own experience, having little theoretical knowledge and many doubts about the application and use of the discourse genres proposed by the guides. Thus, in order to better understand the social, historical context, we offer a brief exposition on the Portuguese languages expansion in East Timor, where Portuguese is the official language together with the Tetum. As foundation, we have selected Thomaz (2002) and Albuquerque (2011) in relation to the historical, social, linguistic context, having also as reference authors like Bakhtin (2003), Schneuwly and Dolz (1999), and Marcuschi (2008), who work with language in the interactionist perspective. We have used class room observations, field notes, interviews, and questionnaires as tools for data collection. As a result, we perceive the need of investing in Portuguese language teachers' formation so that they can work according to what is established by the high school curricular plan in East Timor.