Writing by deaf subjects

Abstract

This work emerges from my questioning in relation to deaf people acquiring writing in Portuguese. The last ten years of clinical practice as a speech language therapist have enabled me to reflect about deafness and the different language conceptions that characterize the work with deaf people. As there are only a few linguistic studies that analyze the writing productions of deaf people, this study aims at clarifying the position of the other in the construction of writing productions by deaf people. It attempts to demonstrate the importance of this other persons knowledge of sign language so as to allow the experience with writing to be shared effectively. This study is a result of the analysis of writing productions of one 15 year-old deaf subject in light of textual linguistics, more specifically, the studies of Koch and Marcuschi (2002) in their discussion of referential processes, and Marcuschi (2001)s proposal of the retextualization process. Writing data were collected during the speech language therapy sessions in which I acted as a co-author. The analysis show that deaf people are capable to write and to approach their writing to standard Portuguese, as long as they are given the opportunity to interact with writing through significant activities, and as long as there is an effort by the reader to ascribe meaning to the production.