A Framework to Inform Design of Learning Objects for Teaching Written Portuguese (2nd Language) to Deaf Children via Sign Language (1st Language)

Bilingualism is the philosophy of choice for deaf education and literacy: deaf children should learn Sign Language for intellectual development, and the written form of the oral language. Unfortunately, educators are still influenced by the clinical view of deafness as a deficiency to be removed, and that view influences their pedagogical praxis that lack proper pedagogical tools. Additionally, there has been a political setback: special schools for the deaf in Brazil are being closed. Mainstream schools are not able to cope with the demands and the deaf are thus further marginalized. This research presents a pedagogical framework that educators have used successfully to prepare classroom-teaching materials. The framework was implemented into a system that guides educators in the design of Learning Objects.