AMBIENTES BILÍNGUES BIMODAIS

POSSIBILIDADES DE ACOLHER A DIVERSIDADE LINGUÍSTICA

Abstract

Literacy stands out among the main concerns of family members and teachers of children entering school, and its learning presupposes involvement with a language. In general, language acquisition is not usually as much of a concern as children’s reading and writing skills. When it is perceived, deafness is understood as an impeding disability and not as an experience that enables a different communication form, leading to language acquisition implications and consequences. As a result, those responsible for deaf children tend to focus on the their literacy, ignoring the fact that in order to be literate, a minimally established language is necessary. Based on the theoretical assumptions of translanguaging and using the concept of host language, this paper discusses possible ways of addressing deaf children’s linguistic issues, considering the present Brazilian educational context. To this end, a brief mapping of Brazilian public policies on deaf education is carried out in order to think about a school environment capable of welcoming signers’ linguistic diversity and of promoting their development while respecting their conditions. Based on this discussion, there is encouragement for bimodal bilingual educational environments that are not limited only to deaf people, but welcome other linguistically diverse profiles.