Video summary

TUDO sobre FUNÇÕES DA LINGUAGEM pro ENEM - Referencial, conativa, metalinguística, poética, fática

Main summary

Key takeaways

Educational

Main ideas and lessons (language functions for ENEM)

The video teaches Jakobson’s language functions in a way aligned with how questions are asked in the ENEM (Brazilian high-school exam). It argues that simply memorizing short definitions (e.g., “poetic = form”, “metalinguistic = code talking about code”) is not enough—students must interpret texts under time pressure, identifying which function is predominant even when multiple functions appear at once.

Framework: the language functions (with ENEM-style “what to look for”)

1) Phatic (contact) function

  • Focus: the communication channel.
  • Purpose: start/maintain contact and test whether communication is working.
  • Typical signs/examples mentioned:
    • “Hi, hello”
    • “Are you listening?”
    • “Ready?”
    • Questions that check attention: “Are you paying attention?”
  • ENEM note from the video: said to appear less frequently, but it still must be recognized.

2) Emotive / Expressive function

  • Focus: the speaker (their feelings, attitudes, self-expression).
  • Purpose: express emotions or subjective stance.
  • Typical signs/examples mentioned:
    • “I think…”
    • “I feel alone / nervous / angry…”
    • Rants/chronicles where objects and details mainly serve to show the speaker’s emotional state.
  • ENEM reasoning emphasis: predominance can occur when the speaker’s attitude overshadows what is being said, even if there’s additional content.

3) Conative / Appellative (persuasive) function

  • Focus: the listener/interlocutor.
  • Purpose: influence, persuade, or address the reader/listener directly (often via calls to action).
  • Typical signs/examples mentioned:
    • “You should stay…”
    • Marketing/sales approaches aimed at creating connection to sell.
  • Key warning: “Persuasive” and conative/appellative are treated as the same function, but it must not be confused with expressive/emotive.

4) Referential function

  • Focus: the object/subject being talked about (information/concepts).
  • Purpose: provide denotative, conceptual, informational content (often dominant in scientific/academic-style texts).
  • Typical signs/examples mentioned:
    • Definitions and explanations about objects/phenomena.
    • Scientific style: “A certain cell has…”
    • Texts primarily about biosphere/ecosystems, mechanisms, facts, etc.
  • ENEM reasoning emphasis: predominates when the text uses denotative language and centers concepts/data, not persuasive aims or speaker feelings.
  • The video also notes that referential language tends to avoid heavy “point-of-view” markers like explicit “I think…” dominating the passage.

5) Poetic function

  • Focus: the form/organization/aesthetics of the message.
  • Purpose: how the message is shaped—sound, rhythm, rhyme, stanza structure, stylistic arrangement.
  • Typical signs/examples mentioned:
    • Rhymed/structured phrases: “Roses are red, violets are blue…”
    • Texts where format is actively chosen to create aesthetic effect.
    • Even in poems about a subject (or even about the speaker), poetic function can dominate if form is foregrounded.
  • Important ENEM nuance in the video:
    • Poetic ≠ simply “about poetry.”
    • Poetic is about when the text is actually built with emphasis on form, not merely when someone describes aesthetics.

6) Metalinguistic function

  • Focus: language/code talking about language/code.
  • Purpose: explain, discuss, or use language to reference the code itself (including grammar, writing, books, reading, or language systems).
  • Typical signs/examples mentioned:
    • “This class/video is about language functions.”
    • Talking about writing: “It’s impossible to write…”
    • Texts that comment on the genesis/writing process of a poem.
    • Discussions of grammar, reading, or how meaning is produced.
    • Any case of “code talking about code,” such as a book talking about books.

How to answer ENEM questions about “predominant function” (method)

The presenter stresses that multiple functions may coexist, but the exam asks for the predominant one. The “method” shown is essentially:

  1. Identify what the text is mainly doing

    • Mainly about content/data/concepts → likely referential
    • Mainly trying to influence/address the reader → conative/appellative
    • Mainly showing the speaker’s feelings/attitude → emotive/expressive
    • Mainly organizing/foregrounding form/aesthetics → poetic
    • Mainly about language itself (talking about grammar, writing, reading, “the code”) → metalinguistic
    • Mainly checking channel/contact (“are you listening?”) → phatic

  2. Don’t rely only on isolated words

    • Words like “I think” can suggest expressive/emotive, but you must verify whether the passage’s main purpose is informational, persuasive, poetic, or metalinguistic.

  3. Use “predominance” logic

    • Choose what overshadows everything else in the passage.
    • Example logic shown: in a “rant/chronicle,” small factual details may be less important than the emotional stance they serve.

  4. Use distractor elimination via internal coherence

    • The presenter teaches an “advanced test trick”:
      • Choose options that are internally plausible and match the passage’s purpose.
      • If an alternative cannot be true under the passage’s criteria (e.g., calling something poetic because it talks about aesthetics rather than using aesthetic form), discard it.

  5. Interpret the text

    • The video warns against thinking a “Reference Matrix” alone will answer.
    • Correct answers require reading and interpretation, not just terminology recognition.

What the video demonstrates (using ENEM questions)

Across the solved questions, the presenter repeatedly:

  • Confirms referential dominance in explanatory/academic content (e.g., biosphere/ecosystems; academic article summaries).
  • Shows expressive/emotive dominance where tone/attitude drives meaning (e.g., a Monday-morning rant where “bills/messages/lights” mainly function to display frustration).
  • Identifies poetic dominance when verse structure/rhyme/form is foregrounded.
  • Detects metalinguistic dominance in texts where writing/reading/poetry/grammar are discussed as language systems or as “code talking about code.”
  • Explains how distractors fail due to:
    • confusing poetic with merely talking about poems,
    • confusing metalinguistic with merely using intertextuality language,
    • mixing up conative/appellative with expressive.

Speakers / sources featured

  • Speaker/Instructor: Pedro Assad (host of the class; also referenced as “Pedro” within examples)
  • Referenced literary/academic source (examples):
    • Manuel Bandeira (poem cited and discussed)
  • Referenced platforms/brands (examples/advertising):
    • SAD platform
  • Referenced exam context:
    • ENEM (Brazilian exam)

Original video