O ensino de química para alunos surdos: desafios e práticas dos professores e interpretes no processo de ensino e aprendizagem de conceitos químicos traduzidos para libras.

Abstract

Since the enactment of the laws that ensure the processes of inclusion, the education of deaf students, especially in regular classes, has been gaining ground in academic research. To ensure the education of deaf students, a support network is needed, in which the figure of the interpreter is highlighted due to the activeness in translation and interpretation of curriculum content, as most high school teachers are not fluent in Brazilian Sign Language – LIBRAS. Given this reality, the present study sought to investigate the actions of the Chemistry teachers and interpreters in the teaching-learning process of deaf students who attend high school, highlighting the difficulties in teaching Chemistry and the methodologies that have been used to ease the understanding of scientific concepts and terms that are not in Libras dictionaries. The type of research is characterized as a case study, which was carried out in two public schools in the state of Ceará (one of them is a bilingual school). The technique used to obtain data was based on questionnaires with semi-structured questions. The survey results were organized by categories, considering the data analysis; the reports of the interviewees were then analyzed based on the theoretical framework that conducted the discussion on the researched subject. The result of the research showed that the main obstacle to inclusion of deaf students in regular education occurs due to the communication, hampered by the lack of signs in Libras for scientific concepts in Chemistry. This situation motivates interpreters and teachers to seek ways to minimize this gap, leading them to create their own signs in Libras to represent chemical concepts. With regard to the educational resources that favor Chemistry learning, it was found that the use of media resources, particularly those that stimulate vision, are essential and greatly increase the chances of the students to learn what is taught. At the end of the survey, it was concluded that for there to be improvements in chemistry teaching for deaf students are required the preparation and disclosure of chemical terminology in Brazilian sign language, since the absence of appropriate signals can interfere with the learning of concepts that discipline.