Qualitative Reasoning in Education of Deaf Students: Scientific Education and Acquisition of Portuguese as a Second Language

Abstract

Brazilian educational system is faced with the task of integrating deafs along with non-deafs in the classroom. A requirement of a bilingual education arises, with the Brazilian Sign Language as the native language and Portuguese as the second language. Qualitative Reasoning may provide tools to support Portuguese acquisition while developing scientific concepts. This study describes an experiment with eight deaf students being exposed to three qualitative models. Five students were successful in exploring causal relations and in writing up a composition about an ecological accident. The results encourage us to explore the potential of qualitative models in second language acquisition.