by Christopher Tester, Debbie Olsen, Rob Hills
Abstract
(View video abstract)
In the United States, interpreter education programs have taken on the responsibility as gatekeepers for the interpreting and deaf community (Cokely, 2005, Hunt & Nicodemus, 2014, Webb, 2017). Further, the educational setting, k-12 and post-secondary education, is one of the most common area of work for Sign Language interpreters (Marschark et al, 2005). Schick et al (1999)’s research shown that more than half of their interpreters in the study did not perform at the minimum expected in educational setting (cited in Marschark et al, 2005). Part of our responsibility as educator is to ensure that our interpreting students are prepared to work after they graduate and actually represent a cross section of deaf individuals. One part of a possible solution is by having Deaf interpreters teach interpreting process courses.
We will explore the impact of having a Deaf interpreter as instructor for interpreting process courses within an Interpreter Education Program. This seminar will present a small case study based on LaGuardia Community College’s ASL-English Interpreter education program, where there’s 1 Deaf interpreter teaching process course along with 3 other adjunct faculty members who can hear. This case study will include current students and recent graduates who had a Deaf interpreter as one of their instructors. The case study will show that the students had a positive experience and benefited from specific teaching strategies.
Download PDF
Proceedings of the 2018 Biennial Conference
Reaching New Heights in Interpreter Education: Mentoring, Teaching & Leadership