A participação de estudantes surdos em práticas de letramentos acadêmicos e a construção de oportunidades de aprendizagem

Abstract

This paper examines the participation of deaf students in academic literacy practices from an academic literacies practices approach. We analyse how a deaf student, a user of Brazilian Sign Language (Libras), engages in these practices, identifying the linguistic and institutional challenges faced by herself and her teachers. This ethnographic research included participant observation, video recordings, field notes, and document analysis. The results indicate that the student's participation in academic literacy practices is shaped by challenges such as understanding polysemic concepts and reading and interpreting texts in a second language (L2). Furthermore, the interactions between the student and her supervisor were marked by some linguistic mismatches, which revealed challenges for the student that had until then been invisible to various institutional actors (teachers, interpreters, and administrators). Results also uncovered efforts to provide learning opportunities mediated by interactions in Libras, highlighting the importance of pedagogical practices that recognize and appreciate linguistic diversity in higher education.