Abstract

This paper reviews the literature on metalinguistic reflection (MR) in mother tongue linked to writing, considering linguistic and discursive aspects of morphological, syntactic, pragmatic character and those related to the construction of discursive genres, in empirical research of the period 2009-2019, developed in school contexts. Empirical knowledge about RM is fragmented, in part, by the different denominations of this phenomenon in the literature. The results of the research that refer to the MR phenomenon under different terms are systematized to theoretically and methodologically nourish the field of educational linguistics and advance the conceptualization of MR. Six themes emerged from the analysis of the 30 studies found: characterization of student MR, teachers conceptions of MR; the impact of metalinguistic interactions; teachers knowledge for the development of MR; the importance of a common metalanguage, and relations between MR and writing quality. This review highlights that conscious reflection on language makes it possible to explicitly address the rhetorical demands of writing and connect linguistic resources with effects, making it possible to improve the writing process and the quality of texts, making their development very relevant in school contexts.