The academic fields of study in literacy and reading in Brazil: Conditions and perspectives in Applied Linguistics research

Over the past forty years, we have witnessed the emergence of a new academic field of research in Brazil called literacy, which resulted in a revolution in the understanding of the definition and boundaries of literacy and research in Applied Linguistics. In this brief study, the motivations and the general aspects of this academic field will be discussed, pointing out the need to define its predominantly multidisciplinary nature, which exceeds the limits of the classical notions of structure and incommensurable paradigms.