What Portuguese as a Foreign Language tells us about forms of address: an analysis of discourses of legitimation

Abstract

This study examines how didactic materials of Portuguese as a Foreign Language (textbooks, grammars) describe forms of address in European Portuguese and the discourses they postulate to legitimise verbal addressive behaviour, in particular when it comes to the pronoun você. The main findings are: textbooks and grammars legitimise the usage of você whilst excluding vós, despite the fact that some acknowledge the ambiguous status of você as neither a T nor a V form; the complexity and instability of the system of forms of address means that they are present in textbooks primarily apropos of other linguistic content (grammatical items such as verb conjugations, speech acts such as requests, introductions, greeting), usually precluding the field of Portuguese as a Foreign Language from postulating clear, transparent explanations guiding foreign learners in how to address others.