A PRÁTICA DA LINGÜÍSTICA E A LINGÜÍSTICA DA PRÁTICA : UM DEPOIMENTO PESSOAL

Abstract

This paper takes a quick look at the more than three decades of my involvement in language related work and research, leading to my current job placement as a linguist at the State University at Campinas (since 1984). I argue that the time has come for us to break away from the disciplinary barriers imposed upon academic research and assume an ‘indisciplinary’ stance vis-à-vis some of the good old problems posed by theoretical linguistics as well as some of the widely accepted solutions usually bandied about. It is my contention that the choice before the working linguist today is one between, on the one hand, an ethically responsible way of conducting research and, on the other, tenaciously remaining closeted in the ivory tower of pure theory, unmindful of the practical consequences and the ethical dimensions of one’s reflections.