DISTINCT APPROACHES TO MOTHER TONGUE TEACHING BASED ON DISCURSIVE GENRES: NEVER-NEUTRAL CHOICES REGARDING THE LANGUAGE–SOCIETY RELATIONSHIP

Abstract

This article proposes a theoretical discussion on the teaching of the mother tongue in schools through discursive genres. From the perspective of the epistemological foundations of contemporary Applied Linguistics, it seeks to problematize three distinct theoretical-methodological frameworks, which underpin many pedagogical practices that adopt this approach: the Sydney School, the Geneva School, and New Rhetoric. It is posited that, despite stemming from a transgressive and emancipatory premise – which opposes the hegemonic view of mother tongue instruction – schoolwork with discursive genres may, depending on the underlying conception of the relationship between language and society, run the risk of reproducing, in a new guise, traditional prescriptivist practices. It is argued that, even while proposing change, if focused on transmitting an alleged homogeneous linguistic standard, genre-based teaching may serve to reinforce the maintenance of the social "order" by legitimizing the silencing of many voices.