The use of Skype on smartphones in the teaching of english to the visually-impaired

Abstract

This project of Applied Linguistics aimed to investigate the role of Skype on smartphones and Personal Computers as an alternative media to teach English to visually-impaired students. This study took place at the Federal University of Technology-Paraná (UTFPR) in the project English for Us which was offered by the Academic Department of Modern Foreign Languages – DALEM. As for the method, it was a qualitative study in which an interview was conducted to these students. The learners had online classes by means of Skype. After the classes, the learners were interviewed, in order to evaluate the process undertaken. The theoretical framework which underlies this paper comprises the concepts of ‘Digital Literacies (DLs)’ by Lankshear and Knobel (2005), Mobile Literacy by UNESCO (WEST ; VOSLOO, 2013), Dysontogenesis by Vygostky (1993 apud RODINA 2006) and Assistive Technologies by Kelly and Smith (2011). By the end of this project, we were able to observe that Skype can be used as a tool for teaching visually-impaired leaners, for it provides them with the opportunity of being digitally literate and of using assistive technologies to learn the English language.