The Teaching of Grammar in the First Republic (1889-1930): an Analyses of the Gramática Expositiva From Eduardo Carlos Pereira

Abstract

In the Portuguese language teaching ministered for the secondary course between the years of 1889 and 1930, it is possible to observe the primacy of grammar comparing to the reading and writing of texts. The purpose of this article is to discuss the grammar teaching for the second and third years of secondary course in the First Republic (1889-1930), through the analyses of the Gramática expositiva: curso superior, from Eduardo Carlos Pereira. As the work has had a high number of editions since its first publication in 1907, it can be representative for grammar teaching in this period. The analyses belongs to the field of Applied Linguistics and establishes a dialog with other areas of knowledge such as History of Education, History of School Disciplines, History of Linguistic Ideas, Sociolinguistics and Literary Theory. In the last two decades of the 19th century, and the three first decades of the 20th century, the expositive grammar prevailed in the grammar teaching, recommending a single norm of language and revisiting elements of the occidental tradition of grammar studies in the explanation of rules, as well as in its exemplification through exerts taken from literature, mainly the Portuguese literature.