Signum: Estudos da Linguagem (Apr 2017)
WASHBACK AND MULTIMODALITY IN THE BRAZILIAN NATIONAL EXAM OF UPPER SECONDARY EDUCATION (ENEM): ANALYSES OF ITEMS IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH
Abstract
This study aims at discussing the potential washback of the Brazilian National Exam of Upper Secondary Education (ENEM) by analyzing some of the items in English and Spanish used in the 2013, 2014 and 2015 exam editions. This discussion is based on the studies by Alderson e Wall (1993), Bachman & Palmer (1996), Scaramucci (2004) and Quevedo-Camargo (2014) as well as on the Multimodality Theory by Kress & Van Leuween (1996) and Baldry & Thibault (2006), who define a multimodal text as the one whose meanings are realized by several types of semiosis such as language, gesture, movement, image, letter, colours, among others. This is a qualitative study which favours interpretation and reinterpretation of data. The analyses of the items in English and Spanish lead us to reflect upon the elements that constitute the teaching of reading of both verbal and non-verbal texts, and upon the importance of developing multiliteracies at school.
