Perspectives on the Literacy of Deaf Individuals in Adult and Continuing Education

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze how literacy occurs for deaf learners in Adult and Continuing Education (EJA). We understand that literacy is a necessary process for human autonomy and emancipation, and the guarantee of this fundamental right also needs to be consolidated in EJA. Linking literacy to the process of inclusion, this article discusses the literacy of deaf individuals in EJA. The central issue we question is: how does the literacy of deaf learners in Adult and Continuing Education (EJA) occur? As a methodology, we initially conducted a review of the state of knowledge about the object of analysis, namely, the literacy of deaf individuals in EJA. Following this, we interviewed two professionals from EJA in a municipality in the western part of the state of Santa Catarina, one serving as a Libras interpreter and the other as a literacy teacher for two deaf students in the literacy phase. From a historical-cultural perspective, we analyzed the results and found that, initially, with the support of related productions, we identified that EJA faces challenges regarding teaching and specific adaptations to meet the needs of deaf learners, and this is historically marked. Through the interviews, we highlighted as main results a teaching approach based on the bilingual literacy process, but it also reveals the difficulty of literacy for deaf individuals in EJA, especially due to the fragility of professional training. Finally, the considerations highlight that bilingual education requires efficient teaching strategies, investments in the continuous training of educational interpreters, as well as didactic materials and methodological resources that aid and make student learning effective.