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Storied Classrooms: Narrative Pedagogy In American Sign Language–English Interpreter Education, Brenda S. Nicodemus, Janis Cole, Laurie Swabey

International Journal of Interpreter Education

Narrative pedagogy is an educational method that draws on the power of stories to cultivate learning. Narrative has been described as the fundamental way that individuals “make sense” of events by connecting new information to their own lived experiences. In this article, we argue that narratives are underutilized in American Sign Language–English interpreter education, perhaps due to concerns about confidentiality. This article describes an educational project that incorporated narratives from experienced medical interpreters into an interpreting course. The primary learning objective for students was to become familiar with specific competencies necessary for successful practice in medical settings. Drawing on the …

Dissertation Abstracts, Leah Subak, Danielle Hunt, Daniel Roush, Mark A. Halley

International Journal of Interpreter Education

No abstract provided.

Computer-Assisted Vocabulary Learning For Deaf Learners Of Foreign Sign Languages, Benjamin J. Cavaletto

Theses and Dissertations

Deaf people have as great or greater need and desire to learn foreign languages as their hearing peers. Currently it is difficult for these learners to find courses and materials that are appropriate for their learning needs. Especially difficult is finding courses or learning materials for learning sign languages, which are more motivating and more accessible for Deaf learners than spoken languages. Additionally, evidence is presented that learning a foreign sign language can act as a bridge to learning a spoken language from the same region. The study presented in this thesis tested the efficacy of a computer-assisted vocabulary learning …

Challenges Of Court Interpreting: Implications For Interpreter Education, Danny Wang, Lynn E. Grant

International Journal of Interpreter Education

This article aims to examine the findings of a research study into challenges faced by court interpreters in New Zealand. Despite the research being conducted on court interpreters who were based in New Zealand, implications of this article may also be applicable to overseas court interpreter educators and practitioners. The research included an online survey followed by interviews with practicing court interpreters. A total of 30 court interpreters throughout the country participated in the survey, and 11 volunteered to be interviewed. Survey respondents were asked about challenges encountered at work, including legal terminology, terminology in other domains, tag questions, and …

Editorial From Classroom To Professional Practice: The Challenging Nature Of Our Work, Ineke Crezee, George Major

International Journal of Interpreter Education

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

International Journal of Interpreter Education

No abstract provided.

Vicarious Trauma Among Interpreters, Miranda Lai, Georgina Heydon

International Journal of Interpreter Education

Public service interpreters in Australia work in a range of areas including welfare, health, education and criminal justice. Some of their assignments contain traumatic client material, which may be confrontational, upsetting or off-putting for an interpreter, potentially impacting on their perceived cognitive processes and emotions during and after the interpreting assignment. Through a large-scale online survey of 271 practicing interpreters in Victoria, Australia, the authors explore the extent of exposure to traumatic client material, interpreters’ ways of coping with such material, and how institutional care and self-care are administered, if they are at all. The findings of the survey are …

Job Demands And Resources: An Exploration Of Sign Language Interpreter Educators’Experiences, Stacey Webb, Jemina M. Napier

International Journal of Interpreter Education

This article presents preliminary research regarding sign language interpreter educators’ experiences of job demands and job resources. The study draws on job demand–resources theory (Bakker et al, 2014), where job demands have been identified as leading causes of burnout leading to poor health and negative organizational outcomes, and job resources are the main drivers of work engagement leading to increased well-being and positive organizational outcomes. In considering the ‘readiness to work’ gap evident in graduating sign language interpreting students (Anderson & Stauffer, 1990), not enough attention has been paid to interpreter educators’ ability to deliver what is needed. …

Bridging The Gap Between Interpreting Classrooms And Real-World Interpreting:, Binhua Wang

International Journal of Interpreter Education

Developing students’ interpreting competence requires not only systematic training of interpreting skills but also sufficient authentic and deliberate practice, as well as acquisition of professional interpreting strategies and norms. To this end, students need to be encouraged to do more autonomous, situated, and self-reflective learning in addition to classroom learning. This article reports on an interpreting-corpus-based blended-learning project of interpreter training, which, by complementing in-class instruction with out-of-class online practice, was designed to enhance students’ awareness of interpreting strategies and to develop their professional competence. The design, implementation and effectiveness of the project are described and an experiential learning model …

Teaching Interpreters About Self-Care, Ineke Crezee

International Journal of Interpreter Education

Personal factors as well as the nature of certain assignments may negatively impact interpreters and cause stress. The authors sought to examine the various stressors that affect interpreters. They argue that if interpreters are able to identify a potential stressor early on, they may be able to address it through self-care. In the worst-case scenario, ongoing and unaddressed negative impact may result in burnout, at which stage professional assistance will be required and there may be long-term consequences. The authors propose an approach aimed at helping interpreters recognize signs of being negatively impacted, as well as teaching them self-care techniques, …

Interview With A Trailblazer: Jessica Dunkley, Md, Debra Russell, Jessica Dunkley

International Journal of Interpreter Education

No abstract provided.

From The Classroom To The Community: Supported Fieldwork For Asl-English Interpreters, Janice H. Humphrey

International Journal of Interpreter Education

This article aims to describe an approach to supervised mentorship that can help close the current readiness-to-work gap among graduates of both 2 and 4-year interpreter education programs, expand student confidence, prepare students for transition to work or additional education and partially restore the role of Deaf community members as cultural guides and gatekeepers. This sequence of mentorship settings can also be used to guide instructors in determining a student’s readiness for practicum or internship placement, identifying the most appropriate fieldwork setting for each student, and alerting students and potential employers of their readiness to work.

Interpreter Output In Talking Therapysummary Of Thesis, Jan Cambridge

International Journal of Interpreter Education

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Research Methods In Interpretting, Jo Anna Burn

International Journal of Interpreter Education

No abstract provided.

Implementing Findings From Interpreter Education Research: The Asylum Crisis In Europe And The Case Of Belgium, Heidi Salaets, Katalin Balogh

International Journal of Interpreter Education

No abstract provided.

Disfluent Pausing Effects On Listener Judgments Of An Asl-English Interpretation, Stephen Fitzmaurice, Kim A. Purdy

Publications

Although not all spoken language pauses are purposeful or functional, there is general agreement on the function and appropriate length and placement of pauses in English. Failing to conform to this agreement constitutes a pausing disfluency. In an interpreted environment, pauses do not generally detract from the discourse event, nor do they negatively impact the participants’ perception of one another, as long as the interpreter maintains generally acceptable pausing parameters (Fors, 2011; Heldner & Edlund, 2010; Krivokapi, 2007). Listeners of any communication event invariably form opinions about the speaker’s personality and make judgments about their character and background, forming a …

Literacy Narratives Of African-American Community College Students: Implications For Curriculum Alignment, Instructional Design, And Entry-Level Assessment, Roderick S. Brown

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated potential causes of developmental English placement among recent African-American high school graduates enrolled at a community college. Participants were four men and five women from lower- and lower-middle economic backgrounds who had completed an entry-level writing assessment prior to enrollment. An electronic survey was administered to all participants and included questions about literacy experiences in elementary, middle, and high school. Using an ethnographic approach to thematic narrative analysis, the author compared the literacy narratives of students who had tested into college-level composition with those who had tested into developmental English. Results indicated that participants who had tested …

Handshapes In Afghan Sign Language, Justin Power

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents aspects of handshapes in Afghan Sign Language [afg]. Afghan Sign Language is a Deaf sign language found in Afghanistan (Lewis, Simons, and Fennig 2014).

Signs in Afghan Sign Language contrast based on the handshape parameter. Furthermore, handshapes contrast based on selected fingers, thumb configuration, arrangement, and aperture. The thesis gives evidence for the selected fingers features [one], [two], [three], and [four]; for the thumb configuration features [opposed], [radial], and [contacting]; for the arrangement features [spread], [joined], and [crossed]; and for the aperture features [open] and [closed].

Of the 22 expected feature combinations, 18 are found in the …

Interpreter Boot Camp: Working Toward Achieving Interpreter Standards, Jessica Bentley Sassaman

International Journal of Interpreter Education

A project was established in the state of Pennsylvania to mentor interpreters who scored between 3.0 and3.4 on the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment(EIPA), missing the state minimum standard score of 3.5 or higher. This article serves as a template for interpreter trainers interested in setting up an interpreter “boot camp” to assist graduates in bridging the gap from an interpreter training program to work in an educational setting. Four mentees and four mentors, two instructors from interpreting programs, and one educational consultant participated in the Pennsylvania Interpreter Boot Camp. Although not all mentees achieved the targeted 3.5 scores when they …

Professional Interpreter Trainingin Mainland China: Evolution And Current Trends, Cheng Zhan

International Journal of Interpreter Education

Professional interpreter training in Mainland China has developed tremendously since it was first included in higher education programs. China’sunprecedented economic development, coupled with its rising strength in international affairs, have increasingly helped professional interpreter training obtain its academic status. Such a process has not only been rapid, but it has also shown characteristics typical of the higher education context in China. In this article, the author reviews the history and evolution of professional interpreter training in China and analyzes current trends. The author also points out some challenges and problems facing the training of interpreters in academic programs.