O ensino da libras para ouvintes na escola comum

Abstract

The research topic of this article is the use and the promotion of the Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS) by typically-hearing students that have access to this language during the schooling process, with the aim of identifying whether, in the school routine, students promote and use this language as a means of communication with the deaf. It is a qualitative field research, with ethnographic characteristics, observing the behavior of a specific group of people in school routine. The research shows that typically-hearing students made use of the Brazilian Sign Language inside school, but there is a difference of use by female and male genders. Students from the first years of Elementary School have a bigger approach to the sign language, differing from those students in the final years and High School students, who have made little use of it. Other highlight is the value of the bilingual teacher inside school and his/her way of interacting with all the students, using the sign language and verbalizing. In face of the exposed data, it is possible to conclude that sign language is important to both typically-hearing students and deaf students inside the standard/regular school, allowing the deaf student inclusion in a effective way.