Brazilian sign language and teacher training: an analysis of contents and methodological strategies in Libras (L1) teaching

With the officialization of Brazilian Sign Language - Libras - by Law 10.436/02 and Decree 5626/05, the need for training for teachers of that language at undergraduation level arises. From this requirement on, the Federal University of Santa Catarina created the partial distance course Letras Libras. The present work aims to reflect on Libras teaching as L1, focusing on teaching strategies and the contents proposed by student-trainees of this course at the Federal University of Ceará pole. We analyzed the work projects, internship reports, in addition to the Libras classes that were taught. The reflections built into this work dialogue with authors such as Antunes (2003; 2007) and Possenti (1996) and show us some results, such as: a) the trainees selected grammatical contents with a descriptive focus rather than a reflexive focus on grammar and situations of sign language textual genres comprehension and production, b) teacher performance reveals certain inflexibility concerning the domain and appliance of the content, and c) significant interference of the Portuguese (L2) in teaching situations. These results suggest that the Libras teaching recency can lead student-trainees to seek a basis for organizing their teaching activities.