Reading and learning in the University: a social, historical and cultural practice

Abstract The present essay aims at delineating a theoretical and methodological discussion about the reading and writing teaching and learning practices in academic sphere based on social and historical epistemological considerations. To do so, we review Bakhtin's Circle and New Literacies studies in order to construct a debate concerning the use of written language in the university. We believe that this essay is relevant not only because it seeks to contribute with the Applied Linguistics current discussions about reading and learning in the academic sphere as well as it corroborates the contributions of bakhtinian studies and the researches of academic literacy to the reframing of pedagogical practices around the reading and writing teaching at the university.