Thesis (doctoral)--Uppsala universitet, 1995. / Errata slip inserted. Includes bibliographical references (p. [215]-233) and indexes.

Thesis (M.S.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 2006. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 83-89).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Illinois State University, 2004. / Title from title page screen, viewed May 23, 2006. Dissertation Committee: Maureen E. Angell (chair), Barbara M. Fulk, Maribeth N. Lartz, Emily H. Watts. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-95) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Reading skills of Deaf schoolchildren in the United States of America are reported to be significantly below those of their hearing peers. In South Africa, Deaf learners’ prospects of attaining high levels of literacy are even bleaker. This fact gave rise to the current study, which examines the impact of a newly introduced Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) curriculum with South African Sign Language (SASL) both as a school subject and as language of learning and teaching on (i) the course of language development in SASL and (ii) early reading development in second language (L2) Afrikaans amongst young Deaf learners. The expressive language (SASL) of four participants with various home language backgrounds (some with signing, Deaf parents; others with hearing, non-signing Afrikaans- or English-speaking parents) was regularly video-recorded over a period of three years, from the beginning of their pre-Grade R (i.e., Grade 0) year until the end of their Grade 1 year. These learners all started reading at the beginning of Grade 1, but were exposed to SASL for varying periods prior to that. The language development (in terms of handshape and discourse skills) and literacy development (reading comprehension) of the participants were qualitatively analysed based on the recordings. Despite the diverse circumstances of the four participants in terms of date of diagnosis, length of exposure to SASL and age of first exposure, parental mastery of SASL, and length of attendance of the school in which the SASL curriculum was piloted, they all showed notable progress in terms of SASL acquisition over the course of the study period, and they all managed to acquire reading skills up to the level expected of a Grade 1 learner. As was found for hearing users of a spoken language, language competence appears to be a prerequisite for the development of literacy skills in Deaf children (see Adams 1990; Gathercole and Baddeley 1993). The assumption is that the four children studied here were successful readers in their L2 (despite Deaf children usually finding the acquisition of reading skills very challenging) because they had sufficiently developed first language (SASL) skills as a foundation for literacy acquisition. The participants’ phonological, morphological, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic knowledge of SASL appeared to have “come together” by the time they reached Grade 1, although these were not necessarily taught explicitly. This, again, enabled the acquisition of grade-appropriate reading skills in the L2. The findings of this study indicate the potential benefit of early intervention for Deaf children and that the SASL CAPS curriculum ought to be introduced at the time of enrolment in a school for the Deaf (i.e. from age three years onwards), and not only in Grade R. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Leesvaardighede van dowe skoolkinders in die Verenigde State van Amerika is na berigte beduidend laer as dié van hul horende eweknieë. In Suid-Afrika is dowe leerders se kanse om hoë geletterdheidsvlakke te bereik selfs skraler. Hierdie feit het aanleiding gegee tot die huidige studie, wat die impak ondersoek van ‘n nuut-bekendgestelde Kurrikulum-assesseringsbeleidstellings- (KABS) kurrikulum met Suid-Afrikaanse Gebaretaal (SAGT) as beide skoolvak en taal van leer en onderrig op (i) die verloop van taalontwikkeling in SAGT en (ii) vroeë leesontwikkeling in tweedetaal- (T2) Afrikaans onder jong Dowe leerders. Daar is gereeld oor die verloop van drie jaar video-opnames gemaak van die ekspressiewe taal (SAGT) van vier deelnemers met diverse huistaalagtergronde (sommige met Dowe gebaretaalgebruikers as ouers; andere met horende Afrikaans- of Engelssprekende ouers wat geen gebaretaal ken nie), van die begin van hul pre-Graad R- (i.e., Graad 0-) jaar tot die einde van hul Graad 1-jaar. Hierdie leerders het almal begin lees aan die begin van Graad 1, maar is voor dit vir verskillende periodes aan SAGT blootgestel. Hul taalontwikkeling (in terme van handvorm en diskoersvaardighede) en geletterdheidsontwikkeling (leesbegrip) is aan die hand van die opnames kwalitatief geanaliseer. Ondanks die diverse omstandighede van die vier deelnemers in terme van diagnosedatum, lengte van blootstelling aan SAGT en ouderdom van eerste blootstelling, ouers se bemeestering van SAGT, en lengte van bywoning van die skool waarin die SAGT-kurrikulum geloods is, het hulle almal noemenswaardige vordering getoon in terme van SAGT-verwerwing oor die verloop van die studietydperk, en het hulle almal daarin geslaag om leesvaardighede te verwerf tot op die vlak wat van ‘n Graad 1-leerder verwag word. Soos gevind is in die geval van horende gebruikers van ‘n gesproke taal, blyk taalkompetensie ‘n voorvereiste te wees vir die ontwikkeling van geletterdheidsvaardighede in dowe kinders (kyk Adams 1990; Gathercole en Baddeley 1993). Die aanname is dat die vier bestudeerde kinders suksesvolle leerders in hul T2 was (ondanks die feit dat die verwerwing van leesvaardighede gewoonlik vir dowe kinders ‘n groot uitdaging is) omdat hulle eerstetaalvaardighede (in SAGT) voldoende ontwikkel was om as fondament vir geletterdheidsverwerwing te dien. Die deelnemers se fonologiese, morfologiese, sintaktiese, semantiese en pragmatiese kennis van SAGT blyk “byeen te gekom het” teen die tyd wat hulle Graad 1 bereik het, alhoewel daar nie noodwendig eksplisiete onderrig hieroor gegee is nie. en dit het die verwerwing van graadtoepaslike leesvaardighede moontlik gemaak. Die bevindinge dui die belang van vroeë intervensie vir die Dowe kind aan. Die bevindinge ondersteun ook die seining dat die SAGT KABS-kurrikulum vanaf toetrede tot ‘n skool vir Dowes gevolg behoort te word (d.i. vanaf ouderdom drie jaar), en nie eers vanaf Graad R nie.

Orientador: Vânia Nieto Brito de Souza / Resumo: A hanseníase, causada pelo Mycobacterium leprae, ainda é considerada um relevante problema de saúde pública no Brasil, afetando o sistema nervoso periférico o que pode resultar em incapacidades físicas. É considerada uma doença complexa e durante a interação patógeno-hospedeiro o background genético do hospedeiro pode determinar o curso da doença que se apresenta de modo espectral abrangendo desde lesões localizadas até a doença disseminada com elevado índice bacilar. Neste estudo, avaliamos na população brasileira a associação com hanseníase do SNP -336A/G (rs4804803) no gene CD209, responsável por codificar o receptor DC-SIGN que está presente na superfície das células dendríticas e que participa do reconhecimento do M. leprae. A população de estudo incluiu 835 indivíduos do município de Rondonópolis-MT (424 controles e 411 casos). O genótipo GG deste SNP foi associado com a forma multibacilar da hanseníase (OR 4.52; IC 1.01-20.09; p=0.0472) e o alelo A foi associado com a proteção contra a forma multibacilar (OR 0.22; IC 0.05-0.98; p=0.0478). Realizamos estudos funcionais empregando células dendríticas estimuladas com antígenos do bacilo e verificamos que os carreadores do alelo G expressaram níveis menores dos receptores DC-SIGN e CD80 e secretaram menos TNF e mais TGF-β1 frente a antígenos do bacilo. Em conjunto, esses dados sugerem menor eficiência dos portadores do alelo G em ativar a resposta imune eficaz contra o M. leprae. / Mestre

abstract: A researcher reflects using a close reading of interview transcripts and description to share what happened while participating in multiple roles in a larger ethnographic study of the acculturation process of deaf students in kindergarten classrooms in three countries. The course of this paper will focus on three instances that took place in Japan and America. The analysis of these examples will bring to light the concept of taking on multiple roles, including graduate research assistant, interpreter, cultural mediator, and sociolinguistic consultant within a research project serving to uncover challenging personal and professional dilemmas and crossing boundaries; the dual roles, interpreter and researcher being the primary focus. This analysis results in a brief look at a thought provoking, yet evolving task of the researcher/interpreter. Maintaining multiple roles in the study the researcher is able to potentially identify and contribute "hidden" knowledge that may have been overlooked by other members of the research team. Balancing these different roles become key implications when interpreting practice, ethical boundaries, and participant research at times the lines of separation are blurred. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2011

A presente dissertação consiste numa pesquisa de caráter teórico linguístico. O objetivo é o de oferecer uma rediscussão do estatuto linguístico das línguas de sinais com base na Linguística tributária a Ferdinand de Saussure. Interessa aqui a teoria linguística e suas implicações sobre o objeto língua. Revisar o estatuto linguístico de uma modalidade de língua que desafia muitos dos parâmetros de teorias já consolidadas no campo dos estudos da linguagem acarreta um novo olhar sobre o objeto. Assim, na primeira parte desta dissertação é apresentada uma retrospectiva sobre a consideração das línguas de sinais como instrumento de ensino, como objeto de pesquisa linguística e como tal, enquanto passível de análises essencialmente linguísticas. Para isso retoma-se a vida e a obra dos seguintes pesquisadores, precursores no estudo das línguas de sinais: o francês Charles Michel l’Épée e o norte-americano William C. Stokoe. Além deles, considera-se a contribuição de alguns estudos específicos sobre a linguística da língua de sinais brasileira (Libras). Na segunda e terceira partes, revisa-se a teoria linguística saussuriana, seus princípios e elementos constitutivos, aproximando-a das línguas de sinais. Com esse movimento de aproximação, ambos os campos sofrem efeitos: as línguas de sinais passam a ser consideradas com o estatuto linguístico conforme outras línguas, e a Linguística saussuriana passa a ser deslocada para contemplar teoricamente as especificidades das línguas de sinais. Este trabalho justifica-se por mobilizar áreas distintas do conhecimento – a epistemologia linguística saussuriana e seus desdobramentos teóricos, e os estudos linguísticos das línguas de sinais – na busca por esboçar novos rumos para a reflexão linguística, em si mesma, e no tocante às línguas de sinais. / This dissertation consists of a theoretical linguistic research. The aim is to offer a renewed discussion on the linguistic status of sign languages based on Ferdinand de Saussure’s Linguistics. Interest here the linguistic theory and its implications on language. To review the status of a linguistic mode of language that challenges many of the already established theories parameters in the field of language studies brings a fresh look at the subject. Thus, the first part of this study presents a retrospective review on the consideration of sign languages as a teaching tool, as an object of linguistic research and as such, as liable to essentially linguistic analyzes. In this way, it is taken into account the life and work of the following researchers, precursors in the study of sign languages: the French Charles Michel l'Épée and the American William C. Stokoe. Besides them, we consider the contribution of some specific linguistics studies of Brazilian sign language (Libras). In the second and third parts, the Saussurean Linguistic theory is revised, and its principles and components are brought closer to the sign languages. With this approach movement, both camps suffer effects: sign languages are being considered with the linguistic status as other languages, and Saussurean Linguistics becomes theoretically shifted to contemplate the specificities of sign languages. This work is justified by mobilizing different areas of knowledge – Saussurean epistemology and its theoretical developments, and linguistic studies of sign languages – in the search for new paths to sketch linguistic reflection in itself, and as regards sign languages.

O aprendizado profundo tem inúmeras aplicações na visão computacional, reconhecimento de fala, processamento de linguagem natural e outras aplicações de interesse comercial. A visão computacional, por sua vez, possui muitas aplicações em áreas distintas, indo desde o entretenimento à aplicações relevantes e críticas. O reconhecimento e manipulação de faces (Snapchat), e a descrição de objetos em fotos (OneDrive) são exemplos de aplicações no entretenimento. Ao passo que, a inspeção industrial, o diagnóstico médico, o reconhecimento de objetos em imagens capturadas por satélites (usadas em missões de resgate e defesa), os carros autônomos e o Sistema Avançado de Auxílio ao Motorista (SAAM) são exemplos de aplicações relevantes e críticas. Algumas das empresas de circuitos integrados mais importantes do mundo, como Xilinx, Intel e Nvidia estão apostando em plataformas dedicadas para acelerar o treinamento e a implementação de algoritmos de aprendizado profundo e outras alternativas de visão computacional para carros autônomos e SAAM devido às suas altas necessidades computacionais. Assim, implementar sistemas de aprendizado profundo que alcançam alto desempenho com o custo de baixa utilização de área e dissipação de potência é um grande desafio. Além do mais, os circuitos eletrônicos para a indústria automotiva devem ser confiáveis mesmo sob efeitos da radiação, defeitos de fabricação e efeitos do envelhecimento. Assim, um gerador automático de VHSIC (Very High Speed Integrated Circuit) Hardware Description Language (VHDL) para Redes Neurais Convolucionais (RNC) foi desenvolvido para reduzir o tempo associado a implementação de algoritmos de aprendizado profundo em hardware. Como estudo de caso, uma RNC foi treinada pela ferramenta Convolutional Architecture for Fast Feature Embedding (Caffe), de modo a classificar 6 classes de placas de trânsito, alcançando uma precisão de cerca de 89,8% no conjunto de dados German Traffic-Sign Recognition Benchmark (GTSRB), que contém imagens de placas de trânsito em cenários complexos. Essa RNC foi implementada num All-Programmable System-on- Chip (APSoC) Zynq-7000, resultando em 313 Frames Por Segundo (FPS) em imagens normalizadas para 32x32, com o APSoC dissipando uma potência de somente 2.057 W, enquanto uma Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) embarcada, em seu modo de operação mínimo, dissipa 10 W. A confiabilidade da RNC proposta foi investigada por injeções de falhas acumuladas e aleatórias por emulação nos bits de configuração da Lógica Programável (LP) do APSoC, alcançando uma confiabilidade de 80,5% sob Single-Bit-Upset (SBU) onde foram considerados ambos os Dados Corrompidos Silenciosos (DCSs) críticos e os casos em que o sistema não respondeu no tempo esperado (time-outs). Em relação às falhas múltiplas, a confiabilidade da RNC decresce exponencialmente com o número de falhas acumuladas. Em vista disso, a confiabilidade da RNC proposta deve ser aumentada através do uso de técnicas de proteção durante o fluxo de projeto. / Deep learning has a plethora of applications in computer vision, speech recognition, natural language processing and other applications of commercial interest. Computer vision, in turn, has many applications in distinct areas, ranging from entertainment applications to relevant and critical applications. Face recognition and manipulation (Snapchat), and object description in pictures (OneDrive) are examples of entertainment applications. Industrial inspection, medical diagnostics, object recognition in images captured by satellites (used in rescue and defense missions), autonomous cars and Advanced Driver-Assistance System (ADAS) are examples of relevant and critical applications. Some of the most important integrated circuit companies around the world, such as Xilinx, Intel and Nvidia are waging in dedicated platforms for accelerating the training and deployment of deep learning and other computer vision algorithms for autonomous cars and ADAS due to their high computational requirement. Thus, implementing a deep learning system that achieves high performance with low area utilization and power consumption costs is a big challenge. Besides, electronic equipment for automotive industry must be reliable even under radiation effects, manufacturing defects and aging effects, inasmuch as if a system failure occurs, a car accident can happen. Thus, a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) VHSIC (Very High Speed Integrated Circuit) Hardware Description Language (VHDL) automatic generator was developed to reduce the design time associated to the implementation of deep learning algorithms in hardware. As a case study, a CNN was trained by the Convolutional Architecture for Fast Feature Embedding (Caffe) framework, in order to classify 6 traffic-sign classes, achieving an average accuracy of about 89.8% on the German Traffic-Sign Recognition Benchmark (GTSRB) dataset, which contains trafficsigns images in complex scenarios. This CNN was implemented on a Zynq-7000 All- Programmable System-on-Chip (APSoC), achieving about 313 Frames Per Second (FPS) on 32x32-normalized images, with the APSoC consuming only 2.057W, while an embedded Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), in its minimum operation mode, consumes 10W. The proposed CNN reliability was investigated by random piled-up fault injection by emulation in the Programming Logic (PL) configuration bits of the APSoC, achieving 80.5% of reliability under Single-Bit-Upset (SBU) where both critical Silent Data Corruptions (SDCs) and time-outs were considered. Regarding the multiple faults, the proposed CNN reliability exponentially decreases with the number of piled-up faults. Hence, the proposed CNN reliability must be increased by using hardening techniques during the design flow.

L'enseignement de notions nouvelles appelle l'usage de signes nouveaux pour les élèves, de signes dont l'enseignant sait la signification inconnue des élèves. Parce que le signe "ne peut ni faire connaître ni reconnaître [son] objet" (Peirce, 2.231), l'enseignant doit, pour instruire les enfants, "leur parler de ce qu'ils ne connaissent pas encore mais avec des mots qu'ils connaissent et comprennent" (Condorcet, 1791-1792/1989, p.278). Cohabitent alors, dans le discours de l'enseignant, des signes aux significations inconnues, et d'autres aux significations connues. Ces derniers doivent permettre la compréhension des premiers. Nous faisons comme première hypothèse que, en tant que signe, un terme (nom, groupe nominal ou verbe) dont l'enseignant présuppose la signification non-connue des élèves est utilisé en association avec d'autres termes dont la signification est présupposée connue. D'une part, la production d'un signe est un processus – une sémiose (Peirce, 1978 ; Morris, 1938). D'autre part, l'enseignant, relativement au terme inconnu, attend de l'élève la construction d'un concept – des connaissances agies (Piaget 1970 ; Vergnaud, 1990) – qui est un signifié nécessairement implicite au discours. Alors, nous parlons du processus d'implicitation. A l'inverse, nous posons comme seconde hypothèse que, pour l'efficacité de la communication, un terme dont l'enseignant présuppose la signification connue des élèves est produit sans autres termes pour aider à sa compréhension. Dans ce cas, toute part du signifié est tue ; nous parlons du processus de tacitation. Défendre ces deux hypothèses, c'est défendre que l'étude du discours de l'enseignant, restreinte à une étude de la mise en coprésence (ou non) de termes entre eux, permet la saisie d'une part des présuppositions de l'enseignant quant aux connaissances des élèves. C'est la thèse que nous soutenons. La réduction alors opérée des phénomènes langagiers est franche, notamment sur leurs aspects syntaxiques et pragmatiques. Il ne s'agit pas de négliger l'existence de ces aspects, mais de tester l'heuristique, pour l'enseignement, d'un principe fondamental associationiste du langage. A l'aide d'apports philosophiques (quand il s'agit de l'étude du signe et de la sémiose), épistémologiques et didactiques (quand il s'agit d'ancrer notre réflexion dans une théorie de la connaissance et des apprentissages) et linguistiques (quand il s'agit de justifier l'appel aux termes implicite et tacite), nous défendons d'abord théoriquement cette réduction (partie I, chap. I et II). A partir d'études de cas issues d'enseignements de mathématiques, nous construisons ensuite une méthodologie couplant l'observation d'enseignants – pour l'accès aux termes qu'ils utilisent – et des entretiens d'auto-confrontation – pour l'accès (indirect) à leurs présuppositions. Dans notre groupe de sujets (composés d'enseignants de mathématiques, sciences physiques et biotechnologies), lors de l'étude de 259 occurrences de termes, nous parvenons à prédire 80% des présuppositions des enseignants (partie I, chap. III). Forts de ce résultat donnant à l'implicitation et la tacitation un crédit empirique, nous proposons alors d'en repérer les instances dans l'intégralité de 10 séances d'enseignement de sciences physiques sur la quantité de matière. Nous montrons que l'étude de la répartition dans le temps des deux types de processus permet le repérage de moments d'enseignement distincts quant à 1. la gestion de l'hétérogénéité de la classe par l'enseignant et 2. la dépendance de la compréhension du discours par les élèves à leurs connaissances préalables (partie II, chap. IV et V). Les processus d'implicitation et de tacitation, par les éclairages nouveaux qu'ils apportent, peuvent participer aux débats qui portent sur les interactions verbales de la salle de classe. / Teaching of a new lesson calls the use of signs that are new to the students: they do not know their meaning and the teacher knows they do not know them. Since a sign “cannot furnish acquaintance with or recognition of [its] object” (Peirce, 2.231), the teacher has to speak of what the students do not know with words they know and understand (Condorcet, 1791-1792/1989). Consequently, signs with known meaning and signs with unknown meaning coexist in teachers' speech, and the firsts should allow the latter to be understood. Our first hypothesis is: when the teacher presupposes that the meaning of a term (a noun, a noun phrase or a verb) is unknown for the students, he uses it in association with other terms that are presupposed to be known for the students. The production of a sign is a process; a semiosis (Peirce, 1978; Morris, 1938). Regarding the unknown term, the teacher expects from the students the construction of a concept – acted knowledge (Piaget 1970; Vergnaud, 1990) – which is necessarily implicitly signified by the term. Therefore, we speak of the process of implicitation. We draw up a second hypothesis. For an effective communication, the teacher does not use a term in association with other terms when he presupposes that its meaning is known for the students. In this case, all part of the meaning of the term is kept silent; so we speak of the process of tacitation. Defending both these hypothesis means assuming that we can identify teachers' presuppositions about students' knowledge from the study of mere association of terms in teachers' speech. The part of linguistic phenomena on which we focus is therefore limited. We leave aside the syntactic and the pragmatic dimensions of language. We suggest that such an approach may be heuristic for understanding the production of teachers' speech. With contributions from philosophy (when we study signs and semiosis), epistemology and didactics (when we root our work in a theory of knowledge and learning) and linguistic (when we justify our use of the words implicit and tacit), we start our dissertation by theoretically defending our approach (part I, chap. I & II). From case studies of mathematics lessons, we build a methodology based on both teachers' observation – to access the terms they use – and interviews – to access (indirectly) their presuppositions. In our group of subjects (mathematics, chemistry and biology teachers), we succeed in predicting 80% of teachers' presuppositions related to 259 occurrences of terms (part I, chap. III). This result strongly supports the existence of implicitation and tacitation. Therefore, we pursue our work by locating their instances in 10 whole lessons of chemistry. We show that the study of their distribution in time allows detecting teaching phases that are different by 1. the way the teacher deals with the heterogeneity of the class and 2. the way students' comprehension of teachers' speech is dependent on their preexisting knowledge (part II, chap. IV & V). Thus, implicitation and tacitation processes bring new light to discussions about verbal interactions in class.

Submitted by Socorro Pontes (socorrop@ufersa.edu.br) on 2017-02-15T13:05:06Z No. of bitstreams: 1 NiáscaraVNS_DISSERT.pdf: 2668900 bytes, checksum: c72f5640d1734f2066b03a481de31279 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-15T13:05:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 NiáscaraVNS_DISSERT.pdf: 2668900 bytes, checksum: c72f5640d1734f2066b03a481de31279 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-25 / This research comes to stimulate pro-environmental behaviour in a given group of deaf people. To achieve this goal, it is very important getting to know their imaginary with respect to environmental issues which take part of their everyday living. On being so, this thesis aims at verifying social representation of deaf students enrolled in the Elementary School, in the High School, and in the College, concerning to the Public Education in the town of Mossoró, in the State of Rio Grande do Norte about the Mossoró River pollution and its implication in relation to the environment. This research will be based on qualitative, descriptive, and explanatory method types over the environmental issue concerned to the Mossoró River. As research techniques, this study will rely on questionnaires with deaf students enrolled in the Teaching Institutions before mentioned. Afterwards, sign will be made in the LIBRAS (Brazilian Sign Language), in order to write up a glossary pertaining to the Environmental Sciences area. Data analysis will proceed, as it follows: data decoding, open comparative analysis, and grouping analysis. One can find so far: need of sign making in the LIBRAS, in relation to environmental area, as well as come up with a diagnosis over the deaf student knowledge about the Mossoró River pollution. At the end of the data collection the information was analysed and it was perceived that the majority of the deaf students had little knowledge of the issues related to the environmental area and one of the reasons for that was the lack of specif lexicon in LIBRAS and that is the reason why it was started a process of creation and validation of 20 signs respecting the linguistic aspects of the LIBRAS and the needs of the local deaf community. The understanding of new signs made it possible for deaf students to have access to up-to-date discussions in the environmental area and thus, it has positive implications in education (Elementary and Undergraduate) both in the Inclusive Education model and in the Bilingual Education model / Esta pesquisa visa estimular comportamentos pró-ambientais em determinados grupos de pessoas surdas. Para a realização deste intento, é imprescindível conhecer o imaginário delas em relação às questões ambientais que fazem parte do seu cotidiano. Neste sentido, nosso trabalho teve o objetivo de verificar a representação social de alunos surdos regularmente matriculados nos Ensinos Fundamental, Médio e Superior da Rede Pública do Município de Mossoró, do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte sobre a poluição do Rio Mossoró e suas implicações na sua relação com o meio ambiente. Utilizamos como metodologia a pesquisa qualitativa, descritiva e exploratória sobre a questão ambiental do Rio Mossoró, por meio de aplicação de questionários junto aos estudantes surdos das instituições de ensino em questão. Após isso, foram criados sinais na Língua Brasileira de Sinais (LIBRAS) para a construção de um glossário pertinente à área de Ciências Ambientais. As análises dos dados foram tabuladas em planilha. Posteriormente, foi realizada estatística descritiva. A pesquisa apresentou resultados valiosos para educação de surdos no âmbito da Educação Ambiental ao criar e propor um léxico em LIBRAS, o que se mostrou imprescindível para que os surdos tivessem acesso em língua materna a conteúdos vitais para o desenvolvimento de comportamentos pró-ambientais no público pesquisado. No final da coleta de dados, analisamos as informações coletadas e percebemos que a maioria dos alunos surdos não tinha conhecimento das questões relativas ao meio ambiente e um dos motivos estava relacionado com a falta de um léxico especializado na LIBRAS. Por isso iniciamos o processo de criação e validação de 20 sinais os quais foram criados respeitando os aspectos linguísticos da LIBRAS e a demanda da Comunidade Surda local. Por fim, a compreensão de novos sinais permitiu possibilidades para que os discentes surdos tenham acesso às discussões atuais relacionadas ao meio ambiente, consequentemente tendo implicações positivas no âmbito escolar (ensino básico e superior) tanto na Educação Inclusiva, que facilita a comunicação entre professor-ouvinte-aluno surdo-interprete, quanto na Educação Bilíngue / 2017-02-15