The representation of people with disabilities in modern languages textbooks

Abstract

This paper discusses the contemporary tendency to represent people with special needs in the textbooks of foreign language, specially based on Teens Club – materials for teaching English language for teens. Such representations are limited and restricted to specific groups – in general the wheelchair user – and are usually established through visual language only. The focus of this paper is the discussion about who the represented subject is and what kind of visual discourse is constructed and for what purposes. The discussion also extends to the fact that these representations are not built in terms of verbal language. It examines as well how they contribute to the identity formation and social discourse of disability.