Abstract:

This article discusses the teaching and learning of the Brazilian Sign Language - LIBRAS - under the understanding of university students of the Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná, Medianeira campus. The discussion is based on the assumption that LIBRAS is a natural visuospatial language, which, like any other, has its peculiar linguistic structure and can easily be taught-learned by listeners and/or non-listeners. Having the LIBRAS knowledge would be one of the first steps for the listener to enter the communicational world of deaf users of Sign Language. For the research, authors such as Mantoan (2008), Perlin (2011), Skliar (2011), Fernandes (2014) and Lopes (2016) were searched. Those authors present discussions that give a theoretical basis for the reflections approached in this study. Thereby, this article aimed to verify the conceptions of university students about learning LIBRAS as an optional curricular subject in the university. The methodology used was guided by field research technique and questionnaire application, which analysis of the collected data follows principles of the qualitative approach. The results show that LIBRAS becomes an important option as a second language in the university curriculum, due to its recognition as a language instrument for social and professional use.

Keywords:

LIBRAS, Deafness, Second Language Teaching.