ENGLISH TEACHING FOR BLIND STUDENTS: ADAPTATION SUGGESTIONS FOR DIDACTIC ACTIVITIES OF A TEXTBOOK

The purpose of the present work is to present adaptation suggestions of activities from an English language textbook, to be used by blind students in the sixth year of Basic Education. In this qualitative research, inscribed in the area of Applied Linguistics, we sought to provide a Review of Literature on research about the adaptation of materials for blind students, which comprised our previous studies. Highlights of themes approached include the lack of research and of adapted materials for blind students, the lack of preparation of teachers to deal with the specificities of those students and problems in the development of autonomy and inclusion of blind students in class. In addition, we searched on those studies for understanding and ideas of methodologies and adaptations of didactic materials for the proposals developed in the English field. In a second moment, the sixth grade English textbook most chosen by public schools in Santa Maria in 2021, entitled “Way to English for Brazilian Learners - 6” (FRANCO; TAVARES, 2015), was analyzed. Furthermore, the analysis of the textbook revealed that the most relevant section to be adapted is the “Vocabulary Corner”, which encompasses vocabulary activities referring to all units of the book. After this process, adaptations for six activities in the book were suggested, built on the basis of the Literature Review, in order to make them inclusive and accessible for blind students.