All different but not all opposite: contributions to lexical relationships teaching in primary school

Abstract

The lexicon allows the expression of particular cosmovisions, which is why there are a wide range of lexical relationships, involving different linguistic particularities (Coseriu, 1991; Teixeira , 2005). We find, however, in teaching context, that these variations are often replaced by dichotomous and decontextualized proposals of lexical organization, presented, for instance, in textbooks and other supporting materials (Baptista et al., 2017). Thus, our paper is structured in two parts. First, we will try to account for the diversity of lexical relations (Choupina, Costa & Baptista, 2013), considering phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic, pragmatic-discursive, cognitive and historical criteria (Lehmann & Martin-Berthet, 2008). Secondly, we present an experimental study that aims at verifying if primary school pupils intuitively organize their mental lexicon in a dichotomous way. This study has as its starting point three illustrated stories with words that may establish relations of opposition among themselves. This study was carried out in four second grade Portuguese classes, when formal teaching of lexical relationships begins. Although this content approach starts with antonyms and synonyms (according to Portuguese primary school curriculum), we can see that the students presented different responses, possibly reflecting a cognitive organization of the mental lexicon that escapes the dichotomy of certain oppositions taught in a decontextualized way. We find lexical items grouped according to the same morphological basis, the same seme, the same class of words or specific experiential criteria. We then believe that, if children intuitive knowledge on words is not confined to oppositional structures and rigid perspectives, it is important to promote lexical relationships heterogeneity awareness through contextualized and scientifically sustained didactic paths, considering lexicon uses as a full exercise of pro-active citizenship.