The teaching of orthography for João de Morais Madureira Feijó: “Breve instrucçam para os Mestres das Eschólas de Lêr, e Escrevêr” (1734)

Abstract

This article presents metalinguistic texts as a valid source of information to collect methodological and pedagogical information concerning the language teaching process, and, to this end, proposes the Linguistic Historiography as a theoretical approach. On this matter, it focuses on the chapter “Breve instrucçam para os Mestres das Eschólas de Lêr, e Escrevêr” [Brief instruction for the teachers of the schools of reading and writing], which appears on the final pages of João de Morais Madureira Feijó’s Orthographia, ou Arte de Escrever e Pronunciar com Acerto a Língua Portugueza [Orthography or the art of writing and pronouncing correctly the Portuguese language] (Lisbon, 1734). Through the analysis of that text, it will be possible to identify the author’s critiques and proposals in relation to the elementary teaching of orthography during the eighteenth century, as well as to trace some signs about the image of teachers conveyed in this work.