The place of language sciences in the production of technological innovation has been a constant subject of reflection and debate among the specialists of the field within the scenario of graduate education in Brazil. Aiming to enable more comprehensive and thorough discussion on this subject, this study initially presents a reflection about the impact of technological innovation on different areas of science and technology, within the modern paradigm, as compared to the technical-linguistic revolution of grammatization. Secondly, this paper aims to identify the perspectives of innovation in language study in the current Brazilian context of graduate education, as configured by transitional flows between the modern paradigm, guided by the Cartesian reasoning, and the post-modern paradigm, which highlights complex and multidisciplinary thought.