Aproximações e distanciamentos entre a parte escrita das avaliações de proficiência em português como língua estrangeira : Celpe-Bras e CAPLE

Abstract

This research, which is developed in the line of description, analysis, and linguistic uses, presents a comparative and correlational analysis, aligned with the studies of Applied Linguistics (AL) focused on proficiency tests in Portuguese, seeking to investigate the operation of these exams from the description area in order to collaborate with the understanding of what characterizes each one of them. The study is developed based on the following question: is there any possibility of approximation between the writing part of the proficiency levels certified by the DEPLE, DIPLE, DAPLE, and DUPLE tests in Portugal, and by Celpe-Bras in Brazil? Considering this question, we describe aspects related to proficiency tests, as well as present topics that are intrinsically related to them. The main focus of this research is on the writing part of the tests. Therefore, our corpus is composed of test models made available by the bodies responsible for them, as Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais Anísio Teixeira (Inep) and Centro de Avaliação e Certificação Português Língua Estrangeira (CAPLE). We are guided by the choice of models from the tests carried out recently, considering the adjustments made in the tests for the maximum adequacy to their theoretical constructs. Having said that, we restrict our analysis to the 2019.1 test with regard to Celpe-Bras and, although they are not dated (by the year of each edition, for example), the models made available by CAPLE somehow represent the current format of the tests. In this way, we initially broadened our analytical work with an individual look at the writing production part of each country's exams, in order to subsequently compare the aspects found. For its implementation, we made use of the knowledge of Dell’Isola (2019), Schoffen and Martins (2016), Scaramucci (2000, 2004), and other researchers of Portuguese as a Foreign Language, focusing on studies on proficiency exams. We also expanded our discussion with the support of theorists such as Diniz (2008, 2012, 2015) and Carvalho (2012) who addressed political issues involving language. The results indicate a clear distinction between these tests regarding the theoretical basis, the format of the writing part, and the way of assessing proficiency in Portuguese, which does not prevent us from finding some similarities between the levels certified by them. With this research, we seek to contribute to the visibility of the area of studies in PLE in the state of Sergipe, as well as to enable debates about Portuguese proficiency tests, problematizing political issues that may have been ignored by other researchers.