LITERACY PROJECT: WHOEVER TELLS A TALE, INVENTS A STORY.

QUEM CONTA UM CASO, INVENTA UM CAUSO

Abstract

Given the advancement of technology, it becomes essential to integrate strategies that value language diversity, connecting learning to students’ realities and enabling the development of skills to interpret and produce texts in varied formats and contexts. In this scenario, the literacy project “Whoever Tells a Tale, Invents a Story” was implemented with the aim of expanding reading and writing competencies, as well as exploring orality through the discursive genre Causo. This genre, characterized by short, humorous oral narratives of oral tradition, often marked by regional linguistic variations, captures the interest of listeners and proved effective in the educational process. The research is grounded in the gap of studies on the retextualization of orality into writing within the context of the Causo genre. To this end, we engaged in dialogue with theorists such as Marcuschi (2010), who addresses speech and writing; Kleiman (2008), who emphasizes the omnipresence of writing; Street (2014), who discusses literacy in social and cultural contexts; Oliveira (2014), with his perspective on literacy projects in the school environment; and Batista (2007), who explores the Causo genre, among others. The method of retextualizing speech into writing, grounded in Sociolinguistics, guided the research. The collected data showed that storytelling through Causos had a significant impact on the development of writing skills, enriching the educational experience of students at Rosina Labanca Municipal School. The project strengthened reading, writing, and literacy practices, while also valuing students’ lived experiences both inside and outside the school environment.