Dossier: Syntax and Teaching

Organisers:

• Dr João Costa, Full Professor of Linguistics at NOVA University Lisbon, Director of the European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, Member of the Advisory Group of the OECD Global Forum “Future of Education and Skills 2040”, Chair of the OECD Education Policy Committee

• Dr Juanito Ornelas de Avelar, Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Coordinator of the Postgraduate Programme in Linguistics at the State University of Campinas

• Dr Gian Franco Moretto, Collaborating Professor and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, PIPD-CAPES fellow

Call for papers

Syntactic analysis is one of the topics that traditionally feature in subjects concerned with the teaching of both first and foreign languages across different curriculum frameworks. In this regard, we can identify at least two perspectives on the place of syntax in the school context.

One of these is linked to the idea that syntax is a grammatical component that helps create meaning in the composition of a text, alongside other grammatical and non-grammatical elements. From this viewpoint, syntactic analysis is a practice closely tied to work with texts, which are seen as the central focus in the classroom. The second perspective views grammar as an independent field whose aim is to lead students to reflect on linguistic structures through various analytical procedures (such as classification, hypothesis formulation, and so on). In this framework, syntactic analysis serves as a tool for promoting linguistic awareness.

We can also consider a third perspective, which draws on the previous two. This characterises syntactic analysis as a tool that enables students to reflect on their internalised linguistic knowledge and, from there, develop skills relevant to reading, writing, and speaking. It suggests that it is productive, in the school environment, to make space for both the description and analysis of syntactic constructions and the recognition and use of grammatical resources in the reception and production of texts.

Considering these and other possible perspectives, we encourage the submission of articles, preferably (though not exclusively) related to the following topics:

• The teaching and learning of syntax within curriculum frameworks, such as the Base Nacional Comum Curricular (Ministry of Education, Brazil, 2017), the Perfil dos Alunos à Saída da Escolaridade Obrigatória, the Aprendizagens Essenciais de Português (Ministry of Education, Portugal, 2017), and the Guião para a Implementação do Programa de Português do Ensino Básico (Ministry of Education, Portugal, 2011)
• Syntax in relation to practices of textual production and reception
• Experimental syntax and language teaching
• L1/L2 acquisition and the teaching of syntax
• Syntactic complexity in mother-tongue and foreign-language teaching
• Metalanguage and grammatical terminology in syntactic analysis
• Grammatical variation and change in the teaching of syntax
• Language contact and the teaching of syntax in multilingual contexts
• The teaching of syntax at the interface with other levels of linguistic analysis (phonology, morphology, semantics, pragmatics, etc.)
• ICTs in the teaching of syntax
• Inclusive education, the teaching of syntax, and language learning

Editors’ note: due to the high volume of submissions received, up to 15 articles from the referenced dossier will be published.
Submission due date: June 15, 2026.