Proposta de desenvolvimento da competência argumentativa: os operadores argumentativos

Abstract

This study aims to analyze how the teaching of argumentative operators can contribute to the development of discursive competence among students in the final years of elementary school in the municipal network of Bacabal, Maranhão. The motivation for the research arose from the unsatisfactory results achieved by the municipality in the 2021 and 2023 editions of the Basic Education Development Index (IDEB), which remained below the targets established by the state. It is based on the assumption that argumentation is an essential skill for both citizenship formation and success in external assessments, with argumentative operators playing a fundamental role in building textual cohesion, clarity, and logical organization. The research adopts a qualitative approach and is grounded in theorists such as Irandé Antunes, Ingedore Koch, Luiz Antônio Marcuschi, and Mônica Cavalcante, who discuss language as a social practice and emphasize the importance of argumentative literacy. As a pedagogical intervention, the study presents a didactic sequence focused on argumentative operators, structured through epilinguistic and metalinguistic practices. The proposed activities include the reading and analysis of opinion texts, exercises to complete logical connections with appropriate discourse markers, and the production of an opinion letter. The sequence is aligned with the guidelines of the Base Nacional Comum Curricular (BNCC) and the Documento Curricular do Território Maranhense (DCTMA), with an emphasis on descriptor D15 of the Basic Education Assessment System (SAEB), which assesses students' ability to establish logical-discursive relationships. Although it has not yet been empirically applied, the sequence shows potential to address learning challenges in the local educational context by strengthening students’ linguistic skills, critical thinking, and argumentative autonomy.