This book synthesizes the results of fieldwork conducted using the method of participant observation in German and Brazilian classrooms at the same level of education (the German «vierte Klasse» of the «Grundschule» and the Brazilian 5th grade of elementary school). The author analyzes the phenomenon of distancing as related to linguistic and discursive behavior which is manifest through the use of the word in classroom interactions. This intercultural research contributes to a reevaluation of the understanding of classroom culture and to the perception of what cultural aspects inform institutional behavior within schools. The discursive analyses of transcribed classroom scenes and of narrative vignettes reveal aspects of the school within both culture and school culture.

Fernanda de Castro Modl holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics. She uses discourse analysis, applied linguistics and the theory of social representation along with ethnographic approaches to investigate notions such as didactic interaction and school culture from an (inter)(intra)cultural perspective.