SYNTATIC COUNCIOUSNESS OF THE LIBRAS ABOUT DEAFS AND LISTENERS SPEAKERS

Abstract

ABSTRACT

This cross-sectional and experimental study aimed to investigate the level of syntactic awareness in Libras users before and after the initial learning of a writing system for sign language. To verify the referred level of syntactic awareness, we used the Sign Language Syntactic Awareness Test (TCSLS) as an instrument, developed by us from the tests: Phonological Awareness in Young Children (ADAMS et al, 2006) and Syntactic Awareness Test (CAPOVILLA AND CAPOVILLA, 2006). Through the application of the TCSLS, the existence of syntactic awareness, as well as the level of this awareness, was investigated in Libras users, who had not had, at first, any type of sign language learning. We analyzed the data of subject-informants divided into two groups: deaf and hearing. In a second step, these groups went through a simplified learning process of SEL (Libras Writing System), in which a small number of simple signs and phrases were worked on, in order to make teaching the system viable in a short space of time. . After this stage, the informants were again submitted to the TCSLS, to investigate possible changes in the levels of syntactic awareness about Libras, from the contact with the language in written form. To validate the research instruments, all tests passed, before their application, by a control group, with different informants from the test group. The motivating questions of the research were: 1. Is the user of Libras aware of what is a sign from the articulatory structure of the language? 2. Does the lack of knowledge of a Libras script interfere with the level of syntactic awareness of that language? 3. Is there a difference in syntactic awareness between deaf people who acquired Libras in childhood, deaf people who acquired Libras late, and bilingual listeners (Portuguese / Libras)? In order to answer such questions, we assume the following study hypotheses: 1. The Libras user is partially aware of the signs. 2. The acquisition of a writing system for Libras contributes to the user of that language having syntactic awareness of it, since previous research indicates that the more the literacy in a certain language expands, the more the syntactic awareness about it develops. 3. There is a difference in the level of syntactic awareness in Libras users who have had some kind of contact with language teaching. This study is based on the generativist principles and the innate hypothesis of language acquisition, focusing on a syntactic level approach, which is the identification and extraction of organizational rules. language, considering the syntactic functions of the phrases, which according to theory are the intermediate levels between the word and the phrase. The results indicate that the subjects of this research, deaf and hearing, have partial awareness of the signs, as well as a certain level of syntactic awareness, albeit weak. Listening speakers have a higher level of syntactic awareness than deaf speakers of Libras because they are influenced by the awareness they already have of the Portuguese language. The data also confirm that learning the written modality of the language contributes to the increase of this awareness.