INTERAÇÃO EM SALA DE AULA DE LÍNGUA ESTRANGEIRA DEDEFICIENTES VISUAIS

by SILVA DO, KÁTIA REGINA

The study aims to inquire the interaction between teacher and learners and between learnersin a Foreign Language (FL) classroom of visual handicapped learners of the SpanishLanguage. The data for the analysis come from the texts produced by the teacher, thelearners? interaction in the classroom, from the teacher?s diaries and from the interviewswith the learners. The results show the difficulties of the teacher in adapting to the newpedagogical situation of the learners? needs. The teacher frequently uses discriminatorylanguage, finds it difficult to solve problems because she cannot make use of thepedagogical and linguistic resources used in the classroom of students without visualdeficiencies. Such resources include the blackboard, gestures, facial expressions and thelinguistic deitic elements. The teacher also felt very insecure in scheduling the activities forthe students because she was not familiar with the strategies used by visually handicappedlearners to solve their problems. She was always concerned about their needs and she wasconvinced that learning would only happen through interaction. But, she soon found outthat learners with visual difficulties are always willing to fill in the moments of silence andto assist the teacher in her difficulties. They have a great capacity to listen to the teacherand colleagues, because it is from hearing that they perceive reality and build their mentalrepresentation. Students use special learning strategies, taking notes in Braille, recordingthe class for later listening and study, careful repetition, taking the turn promptly when theproblem appeared or when the teacher gave them the turn to speak. They also have apositive attitude towards learning and proposed activities and competently use tact andinference in their learning. These strategies combined with the curiosity are some of themost remarkable features of their learning. The study concludes stating that there is anurgent need to prepare teachers for learners who have special visual needs and offerssuggestions for further research.