Research and outreach
I research translation and interpreting policy, linguistic rights and, more recently, machine translation between Portuguese and Libras.
Postdoctoral research
In my postdoctoral research I evaluate Portuguese-to-Libras machine translation technologies, with a focus on signing avatars. The study investigates what Deaf people understand of these translations, using eye tracking and comprehension tests in Libras.
Supervisor: Felipe Venâncio Barbosa, Sign Language and Cognition Study Group (LiSCo). The research is affiliated with CCD-TAAL.
TILSJUR and the DicasJur series
From 2017 to 2025 I was a member of TILSJUR, an outreach programme at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) on sign language translation and interpreting in legal settings. There I coordinated DicasJur, a series of 21 short videos in Libras, with subtitles and voice-over, explaining legal concepts such as child maintenance, protective orders and trial by jury, and recorded most of the videos myself.
Watch the DicasJur series
Watch the talk about the series (in Portuguese)
Publications
References in APA style (7th edition).
- 2026
Beer, H., & Vasconcelos, S. (2026). A atuação de intérpretes de Libras-português no setor de tecnologia e soluções digitais: Um estudo exploratório [Libras–Portuguese interpreters in the technology and digital solutions sector: An exploratory study]. Translatio, (31). https://seer.ufrgs.br/index.php/translatio/article/view/154464
Article
- 2026
Beer, H. (2026). Direito Linguístico (Linguistic Law) and the regulation of Libras: Linguistic rights and duties in federal legislation. Amicus Curiae, 7(2), 777–806. https://doi.org/10.14296/ac.v7i2.5894
Article
Earlier publications (7)
- 2022
Furtado, H. B. (2022). Direito(s) linguístico(s) e a Língua Brasileira de Sinais: Um olhar sobre as pesquisas no âmbito da pós-graduação brasileira [Linguistic law, linguistic rights and Brazilian Sign Language: A survey of research in Brazilian postgraduate programmes]. Revista Leitura, 1(73), 123–139. https://doi.org/10.28998/2317-9945.202273.123-139
Article
- 2021
Beer, H., & Santos, S. A. dos. (2021). [Review of the book Interpreting in legal settings, edited by D. Russell & S. Hale]. Cadernos de Tradução, 41(esp. 2), 334–353. https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7968.2021.e84408
Book review
- 2021
Santos, S. A. dos, & Beer, H. (2021). [Review of the book Sign language interpreters in court: Understanding best practices, by C. M. Mathers]. Translatio, (22), 102–110. https://seer.ufrgs.br/index.php/translatio/article/view/118277
Book review
- 2020
Beer, H. (2020). Expressões referenciais em línguas de sinais: Investigando narrativas em Libras como segunda língua [Referring expressions in sign languages: Investigating narratives in Libras as a second language]. In C. H. Rodrigues & R. M. de Quadros (Eds.), Estudos da língua brasileira de sinais [Brazilian Sign Language studies] (Vol. 5, pp. 137–158). Insular.
Book chapter
- 2017
Santos, S. A. dos, & Beer, H. (2017). [Review of the book Interpreting in legal contexts: Consecutive and simultaneous interpretation, by D. Russell]. Cadernos de Tradução, 37(2), 288–294. https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7968.2017v37n2p288
Book review
- 2016
Rodrigues, C. H., & Beer, H. (2016). Direitos, políticas e línguas: Divergências e convergências na/da/para educação de surdos [Rights, policies and languages: Divergences and convergences in/from/for deaf education]. Educação & Realidade, 41(3), 661–680. https://seer.ufrgs.br/index.php/educacaoerealidade/article/view/61114
Article
- 2015
Rodrigues, C. H., & Beer, H. (2015). Os estudos da tradução e da interpretação de línguas de sinais: Novo campo disciplinar emergente? [Sign language translation and interpreting studies: A new emerging discipline?]. Cadernos de Tradução, 35(esp. 2), 17–45. https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7968.2015v35nesp2p17
Article
Recent conference presentations
- Sept 2026Del reconocimiento jurídico a los deberes lingüísticos: ¿qué dice la legislación brasileña sobre la lengua de signos brasileña (Libras)?
- Sept 2026
Education
2019–2024PhD in LinguisticsFederal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC)
Políticas de tradução e comunidades surdas: deveres linguísticos para a garantia de direitos fundamentais
In my thesis I examine how Brazilian federal legislation regulated translation and interpreting from and into Libras between 2002 and 2023, and show that it places duties on public and private bodies.
I argue that treating these services merely as a tool for inclusion is not enough: realising Deaf people’s rights requires recognising the political dimension of translation, and policies built from the bottom up.
Postgraduate Programme in Linguistics, Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), 2024. 230 pp. Written in Portuguese. Supervisor: Ronice Müller de Quadros. Co-supervisor: Ricardo Nascimento Abreu.
2017–2018MA in Applied LinguisticsUniversity of Barcelona
Reference Control in the Narratives of Adult Second Language Learners of Brazilian Sign Language (Libras)
In my MA dissertation I investigated how adult second-language learners of Libras use referring expressions in narratives. Across discourse functions they followed patterns similar to those of first-language signers, but were more explicit in their use of nominal expressions.
MA dissertation. MA in Applied Linguistics and Language Acquisition in Multilingual Contexts, University of Barcelona, 2018. Supervisors: María Luz Celaya Villanueva and Josep Quer Villanueva. Written in English; not available in any repository.
2012–2016Law degreeFederal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF)
Direitos linguísticos como direitos fundamentais: as políticas linguísticas para as comunidades surdas no ordenamento jurídico brasileiro
In my final-year dissertation I discussed the linguistic rights of Deaf people in the light of fundamental rights theory. I concluded that the Brazilian Constitution and legislation provide a basis for policies that can guarantee the use of sign language.
Undergraduate dissertation. Faculty of Law, Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF), 2016. Supervisor: Luciana Gaspar Melquíades Duarte. Written in Portuguese.
Academic associations
- 2024Member of ABRAPT
- 2018Member of ABRALIN