O processo de (res)significação dos sinais caseiros para Libras: um estudo com Surdos adultos da EJA no município de Medianeira/ PR

Abstract

This study investigates the process of (re)signification of homesigns into Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) within the context of Youth and Adult Education (EJA). It focuses on deaf adults who, due to histories of linguistic isolation and the lack of early access to a formal sign language, developed domestic gestural systems as their primary means of communication. Homesigns, also known as “sinais caseiros,” are gestural systems developed by deaf individuals in family contexts where there is no contact with a structured sign language. The theoretical framework draws on the studies of Goldin-Meadow (2003), Miranda (2001), and Fusellier-Souza (2006), which recognize homesigns as emerging linguistic systems with their own structural properties. The methodology is a qualitative case study conducted at a bilingual school for the deaf in Medianeira, Paraná. The participants are three deaf students aged between 50 and 57, whose classroom interactions were video-recorded and analyzed with the support of ELAN software. The aim is to investigate how deaf adults express themselves through homesigns and how they can expand their linguistic and communicative repertoire through the appropriation of Libras, examining in practice, within the classroom context, how the acquisition of basic Libras signs for communication takes place. The specific objectives include: (i) distinguishing homesigns from Libras signs; (ii) promoting the teaching of Libras to broaden deaf adults’ knowledge of the world; (iii) identifying the incorporation of Libras signs into the students’ communicative repertoire; and (iv) analyzing similarities and differences between the two systems in communicative situations. Based on these objectives, the central research problem is to answer: how does the transition to, and incorporation of, Libras signs into these individuals’ communicative repertoire occur in pedagogical practice, without devaluing their prior cultural and linguistic identities? The results indicate that, although homesigns serve as an initial and vital basis of communication for deaf adults, systematic contact with Libras in the EJA school environment promotes a significant expansion of their linguistic repertoire and their knowledge of the world. The study shows that the process of (re)signification does not occur through the replacement or annulment of domestic gestures, but rather through integration and complementarity between the systems, enabling students to establish connections between their prior visual experiences and the conventional signs of Libras. It is concluded that acquiring a sign language in adulthood is a gradual and subjective construction that depends directly on the student’s desire and willingness to incorporate “new signs,” requiring pedagogical practice that values these individuals’ cultural identity and communicative roots in order to ensure effective social and educational inclusion.