Abstract
Based on socio-historical perspectives of human and bilingual development in the education of deaf children, this paper analyzes interactions in Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) between peers of similar age enrolled in a pre-school class, as well as their teachers, in order to observe how this language is appropriated in daily exchange and children’s participation in the class’ routine. For data collection, both guided and free activity situations were observed for two months in three consecutive terms, in a bilingual pre-school class for deaf children, Libras being their first language. Also for data collection, the group’s teachers were interviewed, as were the pedagogical coordinator and the principal of the institution. Results indicated the importance of organizing educational environments for pre-schools that are linguistically, culturally prepared for the development of deaf children. Interaction situations revealed that the learning of Sign Language takes place quickly and in routine exchanges in the classroom context, whilst interlocutions in this language gradually allow children to share concepts and practices that are common to the class’ daily activities.
Pre-School education; Deaf education; Language; Libras (Brazilian Sign Language)