Pedagogy 2025
Abstract
The rapid circulation of information — especially through the internet and social networks — demands that students develop critical awareness of language and recognise its central role in the construction of meaning(s) in what they read, write, hear, and say. Language education must therefore promote both grammatical competence and critical literacy from an early age. This study, carried out in a 4th-grade class, investigates how students can develop their grammatical competence, with a particular focus on word classes, through the analysis of fake news. Two main objectives were defined: (i) to analyse the relationship between the development of grammatical competence — word classes — and the analysis of fake news; and (ii) to investigate the didactic potential of fake news as a tool for grammar teaching. A didactic intervention was designed to foster students’ grammatical knowledge through structured tasks involving the identification, linguistic analysis, and reformulation of fake news. Using a qualitative case study methodology, data were collected based on students’ performance during the proposed activities, using written and audio records. Findings suggest that fake news can function as an effective and meaningful contextualised resource for promoting students’ grammar development, particularly in the area of word classes. Participants not only identified characteristics of fake news but also produced reformulations using more accurate and appropriate word classes. These findings highlight the importance of contextualised grammar pedagogy that incorporates real-world, digitally mediated texts and enhances student engagement, promoting a deeper understanding of language.
Rita Costa holds a Master’s degree in Primary Education and in Teaching Portuguese and History and Geography of Portugal for Lower Secondary Education. She also completed a Bachelor’s degree in Basic Education. Her research interests focus on grammar pedagogy and the integration of critical literacy into language education. She is particularly interested in exploring how current social issues, such as fake news, can be mobilized to foster students’ grammatical awareness and critical thinking. Her work aims to strengthen connections between educational research and classroom practice.
Madalena Teixeira is a professor at the University of Aveiro and a researcher at the Centre on Didactics and Technology in the Education of Trainers (CIDTFF). She holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics and is a Specialist in Education – Didactics. Her research focuses on teacher education, didactics of Portuguese, and the critical use of digital technologies. She was involved in the CoMMiTTed international project, addressing fake news in education, and coordinates, in Portugal, the AI Literacy Network in Primary School (international project). She publishes regularly and collaborates with schools on research-based pedagogical innovation.