A STUDY ON THE TRAINING OF SIGN LANGUAGE TRANSLATORS AND INTERPRETERS

ABSTRACT According to the Brazilian census in 2010, 5.1% of the population has some kind of hearing impairment. However, only 0.08% of the students enrolled in 2016 in higher education are deaf, deaf-blind or hearing impaired. Brazilian Law 13409/2016 is an affirmative measure that aims to socially include the deaf population, especially in higher education reserving student positions for people with disabilities across public institutions of higher education. As a consequence, there is a growing demand for translators and sign language interpreters. Given the complexity of the functions established in the above-mentioned statute and the requirement of qualified professionals, studies on sign language translator and interpreter training in Brazil are justified. The purpose of this article is to present an exploratory study that aims to draw a comparison between translator and interpreter training in sign and oral languages. The study has a qualitative approach. Two courses are analyzed: one that provides training for oral language translators and interpreters at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in Spain, and another that trains sign language translators and interpreters at the Federal University of Goiás in Brazil (UFG). The course components investigated are: training objectives, graduate profile, and the courses of the curricula on interpreter training and kind of training (focus on linguistic, operational, or theoretical competence). The results show that the course offered at the UFG has a more theoretical and conceptual focus compared to the course offered at the UAB, which, in turn, is much more hands-on and competence based.

摘要 根据巴西2010年人口普查结果，该国5.1%的人口存在不同程度的听力障碍。然而2016年全国高等教育在校生中，聋人、聋盲人群或听力障碍者占比仅为0.08%。巴西第13409/2016号法律是一项平权举措，旨在推动聋人群体的社会融入，尤其在高等教育领域，要求公立高等院校为残疾人预留招生名额。此举使得手语笔译与口译员的需求持续攀升。鉴于上述法规所规定的职能复杂性，以及对专业合格人才的迫切需求，巴西国内针对手语译员培训的相关研究具备充分学术合理性。本文旨在呈现一项探索性研究，对比手语与口头语言的笔译及口译培训体系。本研究采用质性研究范式，对两个培训课程展开分析：一是西班牙巴塞罗那自治大学（Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, UAB）开设的口头语言笔译与口译培训课程，二是巴西戈亚斯联邦大学（Universidade Federal de Goiás, UFG）的手语笔译与口译培训课程。本次调研聚焦的课程要素包括：培训目标、毕业生能力画像、口译培训课程设置以及培训侧重点（聚焦语言能力、实操能力还是理论素养）。研究结果表明，相较于巴塞罗那自治大学的课程，戈亚斯联邦大学开设的培训课程更侧重理论与概念层面，而巴塞罗那自治大学的课程则更注重实操训练与能力培养。