Language and “communicative strategies” in the interaction between hearing teachers and deaf students

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to discuss whether, and to what extent, hybrid communicative strategies, that is, combinations of oral enunciation, signs and diverse semiotic resources may constitute a basis for knowledge construction by the deaf student. The theoretical basis assumed here is that of the socio-interactionist paradigm, especially the main points of convergence between Vygotsky and Bakhtin. From the analysis of interactions in the classroom, we observed constant repetitions of enunciations on the part of the teacher. Turning these repetitions into an object of discussion, we distinguished two basic types: topical recurrence and echoic recurrence. It is argued that both types not only demonstrate clearly negative discursive representations by the teacher in relation to the deaf student, but also disable knowledge elaboration, since the interlocutionary play ends up by being consumed by the construction of very communicative strategy.