Testes de proficiência lingüística em lingua de sinais: as possibilidades para os intérpretes de libras

Abstract

This is a dissertation on language proficiency testing as applied to hearing people, sign language interpreters, in the beginning of their professional lives. Due to the diversity of instruments, proceedings and conceptions of what has to be assessed in sign language interpreters SLI, an investigation on language proficiency testing and the distinction between translation proficiency and professional certification is needed, as well as when is the most adequate moment to apply different kind of testing in different phases of interpreters´ training and professional practice. The theoretical basis of this work includes the distinction between language proficiency and fluency, the evolution of the proficiency concept, language testing, and a general view about sign language translation and interpreting. The sign language testing that is approached in this study comprises those explicitly named as ´proficiency tests´ and professional or selection tests that comprise sign language proficiency features, even if the