SOCIOLINGUISTIC PERCEPTIONS OF ORAL UTTERANCES

A COMPARISON BETWEEN BLIND AND SIGHTED PEOPLE IN PARAÍBA

Abstract

This research is situated within the field of variationist Sociolinguistics and aims to examine the enunciative perceptions of blind and sighted students from Paraíba when listening to oral utterances. The central objective is to analyze the factors that motivate the identification of linguistic variation by blind students, comparing them to the perceptions of sighted participants. Methodologically, it is a qualitative, descriptive, and inductive investigation, conducted through sociolinguistic interviews with students from specialized institutions and regular schools, using audio recordings of speakers from different regions of Brazil. The theoretical framework draws on Vygotsky (1997), Bagno (2007), Labov (2008), and Tarallo (2002), articulating compensation theory, linguistic variation, and prosody. Preliminary findings indicate that both groups recognize phonological, regional, and cultural variations; however, blind students place greater emphasis on prosody as a resource for intelligibility. The study contributes to broadening the understanding of linguistic diversity and inclusion, providing contributions to more equitable pedagogical and social approaches sensitive to the perceptual specificities of blind students.