Phonological grammar and the teaching of english as an additional language: bringing formal and applied linguistics together

Abstract

From the assumption that phonological theory can dialogue with the educational context, this work has as its main objective to present and to explain the relevance of the phonological grammar for the teaching of additional languages, in this case, English. In order to do so, we discuss acquisitional data from Brazilian learners of English (GUTIERRES, 2016) for the development of the target language grammar, analyzed in the light of the Stochastic Optimality Theory (BOERSMA; HAYES, 2001). The data show in the learning of the nasal velar [?] of words that end in -ing in English, there is a systematic alternation between the velar / velarized and the palatal nasals (variation), demonstrating the gradualness that characterizes the acquisition and the variability that is inherent in language learning. Thus, there is a demand for the updating and clarification of the concept of grammar, seeking to dissociate it from the uniqueness of the traditional conception that ignores the linguistic production of the learner and only prescribes forms considered as correct expression.