BILINGUISMO, ACESSIBILIDADE E INCLUSÃO: Percepções de Alunos, Egressos e Docentes no Curso de Licenciatura em Letras Libras da UFGD

Abstract

ABSTRACT In recent decades, inclusion policies in Brazilian higher education have sought to ensure access and retention of deaf students by offering specific courses, such as the Bachelor's Degree in Libras. In this context, distance learning courses play an important role, especially in regions far from large urban centers. However, despite the advances, there are still few studies that investigate in depth the challenges and potential of these courses in the bilingual training of deaf and hearing teachers. Based on these initial observations, we developed this research with the purpose of analyzing the Bachelor's Degree in Libras at the Federal University of Grande Dourados (UFGD), with special attention to the teaching-learning processes, teacher training, and the linguistic accessibility conditions offered to students. Our general objective was to analyze the perceptions of teachers, students and graduates of the Libras course at UFGD about the challenges and potential of bilingual education, focusing on issues of bilingualism and inclusion, difficulties in teaching and learning, teaching methodologies and resources, as well as the challenges of Distance Learning (EaD). Based on this objective, the specific objectives were: to identify the pedagogical practices developed in the course, to identify the gaps perceived by the research subjects and to point out strategies that can contribute to a more effective and inclusive education, considering the linguistic and educational specificities of the students. We base this research on the perspective of Applied Linguistics, understood as a transdisciplinary and socially committed field that seeks to reflect and intervene on real problems related to language in diverse contexts, including deaf education and teacher training. Thus, we dialogue with studies on bilingual education for the deaf with a focus on teacher training and the challenges of linguistic accessibility in higher education, also articulating ourselves with discussions on distance education and the use of inclusive technologies. Our theoretical framework includes authors who address the training of deaf and hearing teachers for bilingual education, such as Quadros (2017), Fernandes (2019), Skliar (2006), Stumpf (2013) and Borges (2012), inclusion policies and communication accessibility, and we rely on Content Analysis as a qualitative method for interpreting the data generated. As a result, we highlight that the analyses indicated that teachers, students and graduates perceive significant gaps in the training in Portuguese as L2, especially among deaf students, who enter higher education lacking a linguistic foundation in L2 since basic education. In this sense, difficulties in mastering writing in Portuguese generate feelings of insecurity and dependence, impacting the autonomy of these students. Thus, the curricular restructuring of the course, by reducing the workload of subjects focused on L2, does not contribute to overcoming these challenges. On the other hand, the use of technological resources and visual strategies emerged as an important potential that should be better explored, indicating ways to strengthen the bilingual proposal. We conclude, with this research, that the implementation of a truly inclusive education requires concrete actions of curricular restructuring, investment in the training of teachers and interpreters, in addition to the improvement of teaching materials accessible to different student profiles. Keywords: Libras letters. teacher training. linguistic accessibility. bilingualism.