"Portuguese mistakes" committed by deaf students: observation of translanguaging practices as manifestations of interactions and learning

Abstract

The linguistic landscape of contemporary society encompasses a multiplicity of languages and forms of language, mediated or not by technologies. In the Brazilian context, which is predominantly composed of hearing people who speak Portuguese, the identity of Deaf individuals as enunciators transcends and challenges the Portuguese–Libras binary. Within this sociolinguistically complex context, from the perspective of translanguaging studies, Deaf individuals construct a single linguistic system drawing on the languages they have been exposed to and mobilize their available linguistic and multimodal resources to make sense of their world and interact with others. This ethnographic study investigates the concept of translanguaging, with the general objective of presenting and analyzing the translanguaging practices of a group of Deaf students and their Deaf teacher within the context of interactions and the teaching and learning of Portuguese. Data generation was guided by participant observation and involved video recordings, photographs, and field notes. For data analysis, excerpts were selected and examined in light of the relevant literature. The findings revealed that the students and their teacher incorporate translanguaging practices into their communication and teaching strategies, drawing on a broad linguistic repertoire that is multilingual, multimodal, and multisemiotic. Thus, this study sought to highlight the systematic nature and logical richness underlying translanguaging practices, challenging the notion that linguistic constructions that deviate from standardized forms constitute distortions of language.