Proposed Solutions of Some Difficulties in the Teaching of Portuguese

A CONSENSUS would seem to point to the choice of the language of Brazil as being the most suitable linguistic norm to be employed in the teaching of Portuguese to North American students. However, the language of Brazil does not present a homogeneous linguistic front. To speak of a Brazilian pronunciation is to speak of something which does not exist. The problem that confronts the American teacher, therefore, is to determine which one of the many pronunciations is to be adopted. A decision based on the works of Brazilian grammarians and phoneticians cannot be arrived at because of the lack of unanimity among them. Differences of opinion are to be noted in texts published in this country and written by Brazilians. Recent grammars written by North Americans purporting to give an expose of Brazilian pronunciation also differ in the treatment of this all-important phase of the language. In order to arrive at some satisfactory solution of the problem, the writer decided to study the speech employed by professional Brazilian radio-broadcasters. The Brazilian section of the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs was most helpful in putting at his disposal transcriptions of recent broadcasts to Brazil. The writer concentrated on the speech of the individual who was generally conceded to be an outstanding Brazilian broadcaster. The reasoning behind the choice was that if the speech of this broadcaster was sufficiently good for the radio-listening public of Brazil, it should, in consequence, serve as a satisfactory model for instruction in the classes of the writer

Linguistics · Mathematics education · Portuguese · Computer Science · Linguistic Studies and Language Acquisition · Linguistics and Education Research · Linguistics and Language Studies · Philosophy · Psychology

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  Manoel Da S S Cardozo, Manoel Cardozo•Hispania•1944

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