Desmistificando a sintaxe do verbo : estratégias pedagógicas para o ensino da transitividade verbal no ensino fundamental

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of an Educational Product designed to teach verbal transitivity to 8th-grade students at a public school in the countryside of Sergipe, Brazil. Verbal transitivity, a core element of Portuguese syntactic analysis, plays a crucial role in constructing meaning within utterances and, consequently, in developing reading and writing skills. Empirical observation of teaching practices revealed that students frequently struggled to identify different types of verbs and their complements, which hindered their learning process. Additionally, the prevalence of rule-based, memorization-focused approaches proved insufficient to foster a meaningful understanding of the grammatical phenomenon in question. The research was therefore justified by the need to bridge theory and practice in grammar teaching, proposing a playful, functionalist methodological strategy. After administering na initial diagnostic assessment, it was found that over 80% of students lacked even basic knowledge about verbal transitivity and the fundamental concepts necessary to understand the topic. Based on this scenario, an Educational Product was developed, consisting of teaching activities that culminated in the creation of the pedagogical game “Transitiva em trânsito” ("Transitive in Transit"), conceived as a mediating tool to reframe the study of grammar. The playful approach is supported by theoretical contributions on the use of games in education, particularly Crepaldi (2010) and Azevedo et al. (2022). The broader theoretical framework is grounded in Possenti (2000), who offers a sociolinguistic perspective on language teaching; Bechara (2009), regarding the teaching of Brazilian Portuguese grammar; and Neves (2001, 2006, 2019, 2023), whose functionalist approach underpins the operational concepts mobilized in this research. The results of the final assessment showed a significant improvement in student performance compared to the initial diagnosis: all students reached or exceeded the minimum passing score of 50%, as required by the school. This outcome suggests that grammar teaching can be substantially enhanced when teachers diversify their strategies and adopt dynamic, interactive, and theoretically grounded practices, rather than relying solely on traditional, prescriptive methods. It is therefore concluded that adopting a functionalist perspective combined with the use of pedagogical games provides a fruitful path for addressing verbal transitivity in schools, promoting meaningful learning and expanding students’ analytical autonomy.