Reading plurilingual texts by deaf students from an intercomprehensive approach: a focus on the psychological dimension

ABSTRACT Intercomprehension as a multilingual approach can favor the development of the multiliteracies of the deaf and their integration in a multilingual and multimodal world. This article is based on the implementation, with deaf students from Brazil and Portugal, of a Language Intercomprehension Program focused on reading, which aimed at the development of their multiliteracies. The psychological axis of the framework that supports the Program involves aspects such as openness to languages and diversity, motivation and confidence to deal with the new, the discovery of the relations between languages, the willingness to explore them. The data analyzed come from video recordings of the sessions; records in the investigator’s journal; students’ activities. The results indicate that meaning-making in languages little known by students required effort and cognitive and psychological investment, in which self-confidence, willingness to risk and resilience were fundamental. Dialogue and valorization of all opinions, the multimodality of the Program and the combination of linguistic modalities in communication have encouraged the mobilization and expansion of the participants’ repertoires and the development of their multiliteracies.