Brazilian Sign Language in Teaching degrees at the Universidade Federal do Maranhão/Brazil

Abstract

The primary goal of this article is to describe the context of the Brazilian sign language (Libras) in Teaching Degrees at Universidade Federal do Maranhão (Ufma). In this sense, we developed an exploratory research with a qualitative approach. Four professors who teach Libras for Teaching degrees and 98 students participated in this research. We collected the data through semi structured interviews with questions regarding the object investigated. Results revealed that, among the 17 teaching courses in the Dom Delgado campus, only five offered the Libras course for students. We observed the need for more clarification regarding the objectives of the Libras course, and considered its coursework inadequate for making students bilingual. Certain courses were offering the Libras course as optional instead of mandatory. Our findings correspond to the fact that good teacher qualification is extremely necessary to accomplish a bilingual education under the perspective of educational inclusion.