Literacy Teaching and Bilingualism in Visual Learning Processes: Contributions from Deaf Epistemologies
Reading/writing teaching and learning processes for deaf students enrolled in bilingual contexts are examined in this study. The objective is to contribute to theoretical and practical reflection on the educational answers to the demands of literacy teaching for this particular population. The type of education now being offered in Chile and in other Latin American countries does not respond to the linguistic, cultural and learning characteristics of the deaf. In other words, current educational proposals do not consider the features of visual learning, the incorporation of sign language in learning processes, nor the cultural beliefs and modes of the deaf. A model of bilingual intercultural education (IBE) that is based on deaf epistemologies, values the language and culture of deaf communities, and inspires models for literacy instruction and teaching practices centered on the features of visual learning by the deaf is needed.