Teaching writing in secondary education: where's the dissertation?

Abstract

With the purpose of clarifying to what extent students do learn to write a dissertation in their Portuguese language secondary school classes, we have analyzed 2,434 hours of classes previously recorded in field diaries; the classes were held from 2006 to 2008 at 61 different public schools of the city of São Paulo. Data analysis revealed that literature was the subject of choice in half the classes, with grammar occupying a quarter of the total time. Only 15% of the time was devoted to the teaching of writing, with emphasis on non-dissertational texts. Therefore, the study found out that the teaching of writing has been neglected. Only 6% of the time of Portuguese classes was dedicated to the explanation of the characteristics of this type of text, and then followed by the request for a written production. The moments dedicated to collective correction and rewriting were almost inexistent, and those applied to a reflection previous to the practice of writing were very rare. In view of the recurring reports of severe problems found in the texts produced by students leaving secondary education, which obstruct their access to public universities, there remains here a warning to teacher educators and to researchers devoted to the teaching of writing.