Contributions of Multimodality in understanding visuality in Portuguese as L2 teaching materials for deaf

Abstract

In this article, we intend to present and comment on some partial results of ongoing research funded by CNPq (Call PQ4/ 2021), which is guided by the following questions: What would be the characteristics of teaching material for teaching Portuguese as a second language (PL2) for the deaf? How can these characteristics contribute to promoting language knowledge and its use? It is intended to show the specific treatments given to visuality in teaching materials for deaf through teaching materials prepared by Freitas (2018) and Silva and Guimarães (2018). The visuality present in these materials for deaf is approached from studies on multimodality under a social semiotic perspective, based on Kress (2010), Van Leeuwen (2005), Kress and Van Leeuwen (1996) and Kress and Van Leeuwen (2001), focusing on the concepts of representation, semiotic mode, semiotic resources, and issues linked to the Grammar of Visual Design concerning representational, interactional and compositional metafunctions. Analyzes are presented that have indicated visuality as a fundamental element for the education of deaf people, involving images (photos, drawings, graphs, and pictures), Libras in static images or videos, and writing in Portuguese. The analyses show that different images contribute to the development of PL2 content for deaf people, integrating and highlighting, methodologically, static images, videos, use of Libras, written Portuguese language, promoting representations, interactions, and textual organizations that can help in the development of the language target, respecting visuality as something fundamental in communication between and with deaf people.