O termo “língua-padrão” no QECR e o panorama normativo brasileiro

This paper provides an analysis of the term “standard language” (língua-padrão) in the Portuguese version of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching, assessment - CEFR (Conselho da Europa, 2001), with the aim of verifying whether the use of the term is in line with the Brazilian sociolinguistic panorama, more specifically with one of the components of what seems to have become conventionally known as its normative triad, consisting of the standard norm (norma-padrão), cultivated/prestigious (urban) varieties (norma culta) and popular varieties/norms (normas/variedades populares) (Faraco, 2004; 2008; 2015a; 2015b; Lucchesi, 2004; 2015; Mattos; Silva, 2001; 2004). Although the CEFR is not intended to cover the linguistic reality of non-European societies, it is widely used outside Europe as one of the reference documents for the development of curricula, textbooks and language policies in the field of teaching and learning additional languages, including Brazilian Portuguese as an additional language. After analysing a total of 16 occurrences of língua-padrão (including the variants linguagem-padrão and dialecto-padrão), we found that the term, as it is presented in the document, cannot be assimilated to what is generally regarded in Brazilian linguistic literature as norma-padrão (i.e., what is accepted/prescribed in traditional normative grammars), but rather to one of the models used by the more educated population, typically encompassed under the label “prestige (urban) varieties” or norma culta (cultivated variety). An interpretation that equates the concept of standard language in the CEFR with the prescriptions of traditional normative grammars would have significant implications for the teaching of Brazilian Portuguese as an additional language, as it would tend to promote an idealized standard norm as the sole model to be followed. It is advocated here that teachers, exam developers, curriculum designers, course and textbook authors of Brazilian Portuguese as an additional language, as well as individuals involved in language policy development, may benefit from the CEFR without being subject to interpretations that are at odds with the advances in Brazilian linguistic studies — particularly with regard to the conceptual refinement of its normative framework.