Study of reviews in higher education in light of the perspective of genre style

Abstract

This article starts from the problem of teaching academic genres in higher education, specifically in the review genre approach. We analyze the review genre in the context of media entertainment and in the academic context, based on three examples of each. Next, we show a didactic proposal for approaching reviews in higher education, based on the results of the first analysis and using the experience in an introduction to scientific research course at a federal university, where this genre is included in the syllabus. To analyze the review genre, we applied the methodology of discursive analysis of the genre's style, associating the methodological path of French semiotics with Bakhtin's genre studies. This relationship is considered theoretically useful for studies of the style of the genre, which take into account the recurrence of a way of being of a given genre in its various realizations. The systematization of results shows that studies of genre style can contribute to a better understanding of discursive genres, as they allow us to understand their own way of construction and circulation in each sphere of communication. Comparing the same genre (review) in different contexts – media and academic – can facilitate the approach in the classroom and provide an interaction that ranges from the most informal to the most formal, following the orientation of the genre in both contexts. With this research, we relate results from theoretical research to practical applications, seeking contributions to higher education.