In Brazil, work with Brazilian sign language (Libras) interpreters began in the eighties, so this can be said to be a recent proposal, as is recent the consideration of sign language as a legitimate and important language, which is an ongoing process. The main objective of this study is to discuss some issues concerning the context of sign language interpreters within one private university and two community college centers in the city of Curitiba. Two questionnaires were applied with two distinct groups: one with the interpreters that work in university and colleges in Curitiba, and another with the deaf university students who have interpreters in their classes. Both questionnaires had open and closed questions. The data analyses showed that the interpreters were important to the deaf students' learning processes. Nevertheless, the results also highlighted a number of issues underlying the discussion about effectiveness of interpretation in the university context i.e.: the quality of the interpreter preparedness, previous understanding or preparation of the subject matter content, difficulties in the relation to Portuguese/Libras, difficulties in the relationships between interpreter and teacher, among others. From these considerations, it is clear that the Brazilian scene for education of deaf people reflects the lack of involvement of public authorities as to deaf education. There are still a great many linguistic and social challenges related to deaf education at the university level. This study intends to present an initial discussion about interpreters at the university level, nevertheless, much still has to be understood in order for effective changes to occur.
sign language interpreter; deafness; Brazilian sign language; special education
