A atuação dos tradutores e intérpretes de libras/língua portuguesa na UFRN: a sala de aula em foco

The implementation of educational public policies for the inclusion of people with disabilities in education provided the inclusion of deaf subjects in higher education institutions in the country. The growing number of deaf students entering higher education led to a movement to seek and promote the accessibility and appreciation of the Brazilian Sign Language at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN). One of the important actions in the access of deaf people to education is the work of Libras/Portuguese Interpreter Translators (TILSP) in these spaces, more specifically in the context of the classroom. This work aims to investigate the factors that influence the performance of TILSP in a higher education classroom and its role in this context, having as the locus of the research a discipline of the undergraduate course LetrasLibras/Língua Portuguesa at UFRN. This exploratory qualitative research uses instruments such as non-participant classroom observation and semi-structured interviews with three deaf students, two Libras interpreters and the teacher, all participants in the class that characterizes the research field of this study. Data analyzes were discussed based on the theoretical foundations of Vygotsky (1993) and Prestes (2012), Lacerda and Santos (2013), Quadros (2008), Rodrigues (2011), Albres and Lacerda (2013), Rosa (2005) , Nogueira (2016), Gile (1995; 2014) Hoza (2010), Magalhães Junior (2007), among others, based on the axes: 1) the role of TILSP in the classroom; 2) translation and interpretation strategies and techniques; 3) the role of the institution in the organization of TILS work in higher education. The results indicate that Libras/Portuguese translators and interpreters working in the classroom assume the role of linguistic mediators as pedagogical agents, as they are participants in the teaching-learning process of the deaf student and that many factors permeate this role, which can be external to the classroom, such as tea...