ABSTRACT
SIGNWRITING SYMPOSIUM 2016

Ph.D Dissertation:
"SignWriting as an appropriate
writing system for sign languages.
A contribution to the development
of the Deaf student's writing skills?"

PhD thesis presented at
the FPCEUP (Faculty of Psychology and
Educational Sciences at University of Porto)
under the guidance of:
Professor Doctor Orchid Coelho (FPCEUP)
Professor Marianne Stumpf (UFSC -
Federal University of Santa Catarina)
Professor Rui Trindade (FPCEUP)

Author:
Jorge Manuel Ferreira Pinto
UTC de Educação Especial
Escola Superior de Educação
do Politécnico do Porto
Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 602,
4200-465 Porto, PORTUGAL
jpinto@ese.ipp.pt

SignWriting (SW) system has been receiving our special attention once we found an empty response concerning the acquisition and development of written language in deaf students. This writing system that adapts to any sign language is considered by some researchers (Stumpf, 2005; Pontin & Silva, 2010; Zappe, 2008; Hautrive & Souza, 2010) as a linguistic instrument applicable to educational practices and a fundamental support for the cultural and sociolinguistic development of Deaf child. To obtain clarifying answers, SW has been constituting our research field. Contrary to what happens in other countries, in Portugal this system is not applied to teach deaf children.

In Portugal, information about this thematic is almost inexistent, although there are some Brazilian, North American, Norwegian, Nicaraguan, German, Spanish  and French authors that dedicated themselves to study some aspects of sign writing. According to these authors’ studies, this writing system (SW) not only carries a potential to cover the forms of registration of each detail of each linguistic sign’s simatosêmica composition, but also has revealed to be a pedagogical tool capable to help overcoming some obstacles concerning the acquisition of writing by Deaf children.

With this first study we aim to know the state-of-the-art concerning this subject and also try to clarify, extrapolating from other countries’ languages, whether we are or not before an investment capable to enable better performances in written Portuguese language Deaf students, so that they can attain levels of knowledge similar to those of their hearing pairs.

In this way, we draw here a research proposal through which we seek to study, systematize and expose wide information about SignWriting, its applicability and results, and therefore contribute to a wider consideration for sign languages, their written forms and its contribution within pedagogical work.