Comunicação de uma indígena surda no ensino superior: um estudo de caso

Abstract

A language is a structured system with signs and grammatical rules, and it can be understood through graphic signals, sounds or gestures, whose objective is to promote communication, a primordial element for the life of the human being, also considered the basic principle of social relations. This paper approaches an investigation on the use of signs by a deaf indigenous from an ethnic group called Terena, who lives in Jaguapiru village, in Dourados Indigenous Reserve, a student from the Faculdade de Comunicação, Artes e Letras, do curso de Artes Cênicas (FACALE) of the Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados (UFGD). The general aims of this study is to investigate the nature of the language used by the informant. The specific aims are: a) Knowing the personal and academic trajectory of the informant; b) Documenting and analyzing her signs based on the phonological parameters determined by the sign languages, describing its functioning logic from the communication system, and to systematize the observed rules on the identified patterns in the composition of the generated signals, c) Discussing the impacts and effects on the late language acquisition of the academic trajectory. Authors such as Quadros and Karnopp (2004), Ferreira Brito (1995, 2010), Gesser (2009), Skliar (1997), Vilhalva (2009), Strobel (2008), Xavier (2010, 2011, 2014), among others were used as theoretical references. As for the nature of the paper, it is based on transdisciplinary research with descriptive characteristic and field research, which uses as technique records such as: videos, interviews and field diaries. Eight collaborators (informant, mother, interpreters, social assistant, and teachers) comprised the universe of research. After analyzing the material, it was concluded that the informant problems, in higher education, stem from the difficulties in her school and social trajectory, because she had a late acquisition of sign language and a basic knowledge of it. It is expected that this research can collaborate with the registration and description of the linguistic structure of this language, considering form and meaning.