A atenção conjunta na aprendizagem de vocabulário da língua inglesa por crianças autistas

Abstract

Given the growing number of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) currently enrolled in regular schools, as well as the difficulties presented by this specific population, there is an urgent need to discuss the topic of autism and bilingualism. Therefore, this qualitative and action research was based on a case study and aimed to analyze the influence of the joint attention process on English vocabulary learning by autistic children, based on a didactic proposal using the animated video genre. The pedagogical interventions, recorded on video, were carried out in a class of 5-year-old children at a private school located in the municipality of João Pessoa, which had a bilingual program in its school curriculum and involved 19 children, two of whom had been diagnosed with the disorder. The proposal consisted of five lessons based on a specific episode of the cartoon Dora the Explorer, whose interactive structure encourages the involvement of children through direct questions, strategic pauses, and visual and sound elements. The analysis of the data, focusing on the analysis of 30 scenes of joint attention—especially moments of shared gaze and joint verbalization—was supported by theoretical contributions from Tomasello (1999), Gómez and Terán (2016), Cavalcante (2022) and Costa Filho (2011). The mediation strategies adopted by the researcher teacher, such as the use of static images, repetition of vocabulary, encouragement of eye contact, and activities with concrete objects, contributed to maintaining joint attention and communicative engagement. The results indicate that one of the children demonstrated learning of five words in English, while the other child showed more modest progress, with increased attentional involvement, although with less oral production in the additional language. The study concluded that the pedagogical use of animated videos, when combined with practices that promote joint attention, can be a powerful resource in teaching English vocabulary to children with the disorder, promoting not only inclusion but also the development of linguistic and sociocognitive skills.