Pablo Arnáez Muga’s research while affiliated with Libertador Experimental Pedagogical University and other places

Este trabajo analiza los elementos de un Proyecto de Trabajo de Grado ( PTG ) y las variables que intervienen en su elaboración. La comprensión y la producción textual están en relación con el área de conocimiento del escritor, pues la práctica discursiva se ejecuta en la esfera social de los maestrantes. El estudio comprende: análisis del proyecto, descripción de sus elementos, exposición de las características textuales y valoración de lectura y escritura en los textos universitarios. De la investigación se deriva: el PTG constituye un producto que demanda capacidades comprensivas y productivas; requiere del saber lingüístico y disciplinar; involucra a las diversas propiedades textuales y su heterogeneidad temática deviene de los diversos saberes humanos. En suma, el PTG es una experiencia discursiva universitaria e implica un trabajo interdisciplinar en el que la lectura y la escritura se imbrican con otros conocimientos para elaborar un producto valorado por la comunidad científica.

This paper analyzes the components of a Master’s Degree Paper Proposal (MDPP) and the variables involved in its development. The textual production and comprehension are connected with the writer’s area of knowledge, since the discourse practice is performed in the master’s students’ social sphere. The study comprises: proposal analysis, description of its components, presentation of the textual features and evaluation of reading and writing in university texts. From the research it is arisen: the MDPP constitutes a product that demands productive and understanding abilities; it requires disciplinary and linguistic knowledge; it involves the different textual properties and its thematic heterogeneity comes about the diverse human learning. To sum up, the MDPP is a university discourse experience and entails interdisciplinary work in which the reading and writing are linked with other pieces of information in order to develop a product evaluated by the scientific community.

Este trabajo pretende analizar la orientación y los alcances teóricos y metodológicos de los programas de lengua de Educación Básica en el bloque de contenido �!A leer y a escribir¡�. Metodológicamente se procedió con el análisis de contenido a partir de las categorías y unidades extraídas de la presentación del área de Lengua, del bloque de contenido y del eje transversal Lenguaje. Los resultados del estudio confirman la orientación funcional y comunicativa de los programas y proponen la interacción permanente en actividades de lectura y escritura; además, se hace hincapié en el saber-hacer como lector y escritor en el que predomina la escritura basada en procesos cognitivos y la lectura como capacidad para comprender los significados.

Among all the possible educational resources, that which enjoys the greatest level of acceptance by teachers themselves is the textbook, a key element for the development, consolidation and preservation of curricula reforms in the Venezuelan education system. It is therefore necessary to examine such materials to confirm whether they truly embody the spirit of these reforms. Within the limits of this study, we confine ourselves to analyzing the concept of writing in sixth grade textbooks on the basis of the proposals set out in the Programs of Language and Literature and on the activities suggested in the texts selected to consolidate the production of written argumentative texts. We have followed the theoretical presuppositions of Hernández and Quintero (2001), Parodi (1999) and Díaz Barriga (2000), who all stress the treatment of the different sub-processes that are involved in writing composition, the diversity in ways of handling text structures and the value, both social and communicative, of writing. We conclude that: (a) in the National Basic Curriculum and the language programs for sixth grade, writing is assumed to be a cognitive process as shown in the procedural contents; (b) textbooks respond to these demands; however, they visualize the writing process as conceptual content, not procedural; the phases of the writing process are set out, but no direction is given as to how to carry out these phases.

Among all the possible educational resources, that which enjoys the greatest level of acceptance by teachers themselves is the textbook, a key element for the development, consolidation and preservation of curricula reforms in the Venezuelan education system. It is therefore necessary to examine such materials to confirm whether they truly embody the spirit of these reforms. Within the limits of this study, we confine ourselves to analyzing the concept of writing in sixth grade textbooks on the basis of the proposals set out in the Programs of Language and Literature and on the activities suggested in the texts selected to consolidate the production of written argumentative texts. We have followed the theoretical presuppositions of Hernández and Quintero (2001), Parodi (1999) and Díaz Barriga (2000), who all stress the treatment of the different sub-processes that are involved in writing composition, the diversity in ways of handling text structures and the value, both social and communicative, of writing. We conclude that: (a) in the National Basic Curriculum and the language programs for sixth grade, writing is assumed to be a cognitive process as shown in the procedural contents; (b) textbooks respond to these demands; however, they visualize the writing process as conceptual content, not procedural; the phases of the writing process are set out, but no direction is given as to how to carry out these phases.

La escritura, proceso complejo y valorado socialmente, es entendida grosso modo como una habilidad adquirida y desarrollada en las primeras etapas del sistema educativo y, en consecuencia, el nivel superior recibe usuarios capaces de demostrar sus competencias discursivas y textuales. Después de once años de escolaridad, esta pareciera ser la realidad; sin embargo, los hechos demuestran que los escritos universitarios presentan carencias en lo conceptual, lo estructural-textual y lo formal. Ante esta situación, la cultura escrita en la universidad exige una concienciación institucional y personal (alumnos y docentes), razón por la cual se propone reflexionar sobre esta realidad y ofrecer un plan de trabajo interdisciplinario entre la lengua y las otras áreas del conocimiento.

Language Teaching plays an outstanding role in current studies and research work, since, on the one hand, language constitutes a fundamental tool for the human being to grasp the world and to relate to various contexts and situations, and on the other, because research results on the communicative competence of language users are worrying. With this reality before us, this paper provides essential parameters upon which one should support the research line "Linguistics applied to language teaching". The first aspect approaches the set of problems around language teaching; secondly, its relevance and goals are foregrounded; in the third place a general vision is offered of the theoretical frameworks upon which the line should be supported; then some of the problematic areas which are feasible to be studied are suggested. Last, certain strategies that might lead the work are proposed.