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IADIS International Conference WWW/Internet 2010BILINGUAL ALPHABETISATION OF DEAF CHILDREN:REQUIREMENTS FOR A COMMUNICATION TOOLJuliana Bueno 1 , Laura Sánchez García 1 and Aléssio Miranda Júnior 11Computer Science Department – Federal University of Paraná,Centro Politécnico, Jardim das Américas, ZIP CODE: 81531-980 – Curitiba - PRABSTRACTThe present work was inspired by the wish to contribute to the bilingual alphabetisation of deaf children whose mothertongue is Libras (Brazilian Sign Language). In this light, we came up with an internet environment to encourage deafchildren to engage in informal conversations and, at a later stage, in educational activities (both oral and written). In orderto create the environment, we first carried out extensive research as an essential methodological step, which then led tothe establishment of three sets of requirements. These requirements gave rise to the possibilities offered by the system, aswell as to its general interface and interaction solutions. Finally, we described the overall features of the technologicaltool proposed in the present paper.KEYWORDSDeaf Children, Libras (Brazilian Sign Language), Bilingual Alphabetisation, Virtual Environment, Interface.1. INTRODUCTIONThe origin of the present work traces back to the questioning of social and production habits of people.People with special needs, the deaf included, make up a minority and thus tend to be discriminated against. Inorder to change this situation, one must acknowledge the differences inherent to these minorities, respectingthe way in which the members of these groups interact and communicate, rather than imposing on them whatseems “normal” to the majority of the population.By analysing these minorities – in this case, deaf people – and thinking of ways to both respect theirdifferences and bring them closer to the so-called hearing community, we arrived at the conclusion thatstudying the alphabetisation process of deaf people might be a great contribution, starting at early childhoodstages. Normally, in order to obtain positive results, deaf children must first learn sign language (L1) beforelearning a second language (L2), in this case Portuguese. This process is entitled bilingual education(Quadros, 2006).Nowadays, computers have become a resource which - if used efficiently – may greatly contribute to thisteaching-learning process (Masetto, 2000). Indeed, thanks to the latest developments in Computer Science,communication has been changing and schools have been trying to adapt by using computers as a teachingtool (Stumpf, 2005). Especially concerning deaf people, computer resources bring even more advantages dueto their particularly visual character.In this light, the main objective of our project was to call attention to the issue of the bilingual educationof deaf children and to highlight the role the computer plays in the process of language teaching and learning.Therefore, our main motivation was to contribute to the process of Portuguese learning by deaf children(or Libras, which is a term used to describe people who know Libras, i.e. Língua Brasileira de Sinais, orBrazilian Sign Language). Having this objective in mind, we think about developing an attractive andalluring Internet environment to help these students with their writing.In order to build the environment, we first had to carry out a detailed study to identify its mainrequirements, which in turn is perhaps the main contribution of the present work. To fulfill this task, welooked into the culture and identity of deaf people, as well as into sign language and its importance for deafchildren learning other languages. As our target public consisted of children, we had to become acquaintedwith more comprehensive research within the area of Visual Communication on the likes and preferences of361