Integrated and Open Interpreter Education

The Open Educational Resource Reader and Workbook for Interpreters

Elisa Maroney, Amanda Smith, Sarah Hewlett, Erin Trine, and Vicki Darden

Alissa McAlpine, Amelia Bowdell, Chevon Nicole Ramey, Colleen Jones, Halle Hamilton, Kiarah Moore, and Krystle Chambers

Open Oregon Educational Resources

Integrated and Open Interpreter Education by Elisa Maroney, Amanda Smith, Sarah Hewlett, Erin Trine, and Vicki Darden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Contents

- Introduction

- Part I. Section 1

- Engage: Interpreters in the Community - Service Learning, Citizenship, and Civic Engagement

- Part II. Section 2

- Linguistic & Cultural Aspects of Interpreting

- Orientation to the Interpreted Interaction

- Interpreting English Grammar Classes: Theories, Tips, & Tools

- Developing Confident and Competent DeafBlind Interpreters

- Part III. Section 3

- Reflective Practice: Interpreter Mindset, Pre-Interpreting, Technical Skills, Adaptive Skills, and Supervision

- Part IV. Section 4

- Historical, Collective, & Individual Professional Identity Narratives

- Internal Cartography: Our Professional Identity Journeys

- Part V. Section 5

- Practice: The Necessary Preparation for working with People

1

Elisa Maroney and Amanda Smith

The field of signed language interpreting in the U.S.A is relatively young, having first professionalized in the 1960s (Ball, 2013). The field of teaching signed language interpreters is even younger. In the early 1970s, the demand for signed language interpreters in public, mainstreamed schools grew exponentially overnight. This was the result of IDEA passing through legislature ensuring that every child be able to be schooled in their local school and/or the least restrictive environment (About IDEA, n.d.). There were not enough interpreters to meet this demand, so the federal government established rehabilitation training grants to get interpreters trained, and in a hurry (About NCIEC, n.d.). The teachers for these training programs were largely pulled from the existing pool of working interpreters who had not had any formal training, but rather had learned how to interpret alongside colleagues and Deaf consumers.

Throughout the years, rehabilitation training grants have been offered, funded, and designed in various ways to achieve the desired number of interpreters. Eventually, these programs migrated more and more to academic institutions and programs and became degree-granting pathways for interpreters. This not only increased the quality of interpreters (from one standpoint) but it also changed who could provide the training. Now trainers had to meet academic institution requirements of degrees and other credentials to be hired.

These programs were responding to an immediate need that seemed impossible to meet, and with little to no resources to figure out how to do it. So, each interpreting teacher was left to their own devices and those of their local community. Over the years, these pioneers have embarked on research to the point that we can now have evidence-based curriculum and yet there is still not enough shared resources available. Many of the resources we rely upon to teach and/or prepare for national exams are outdated (see, for example, Stewart, Schein, & Cartwright 1998; Frishberg, 1990; Solow, 2000) and/or difficult to access due to broken links (NMIP, 2000; NCRTM, 2019).

When the opportunity for developing an open education resource (OER) came about, we are thrilled to invite current and emerging scholars to speak into the development of new signed language interpreters. Not at the exclusion of long-established scholars, but rather in conjunction with them. We are excited to offer this resource and to see it grow and evolve in real time with the profession.

Need for this resource

Though there are resources available, there are no textbooks available for signed language interpreter education that would provide high-impact, culturally relevant and inclusive, collaborative projects in support of open education for students in interpreter education courses and programs.

Textbooks for signed language interpreting are not available as open educational resources. A search of CORE, Open Textbook Library, BCcampus OpenEd, OpenOregon Educational Resources, OER Commons, Open Suny Textbooks, MERLOT, Open Course Library, and Open Michigan yield no textbooks on interpreting. There are four traditionally published introductory textbooks about signed language interpreting. They were published and reprinted (not significantly revised) between 1981 and 2007 (Frishberg, 1990; Humphrey & Alcorn, 2007; Neumann Solow, 2000; and Stewart, Schein, & Cartwright, 2004). These textbooks are dated, out of print, expensive, and/or difficult to obtain.

Goals for this resource

Interpreting Studies faculty at Western Oregon University conducted a longitudinal research project from 2009 to 2016, evaluating the perceived gap between graduation from an interpreter education program and readiness-to-work/certification. In response to the findings, the BA in Interpreting Studies: Theory has been redesigned. As a result of the redesign, we are developing free or low-cost educational resources to WOU students, as well as to students and faculty in other interpreter education programs worldwide. We already provide current research via the Western Oregon University Digital Commons, where action research, thesis, and professional projects are published.

Open Educational Resources (OER) provide authors and readers with open access to current, relevant, easy-to-access, free or low-cost materials. Our intent for this project is to create a space where emerging scholars in the field of signed language interpreting will make contributions and be able to retain, reuse, remix, revise, and redistribute (see http://opencontent.org/definition/ created by David Wiley, n.d.) as the interpreting studies discipline and the scholars develop and change.

The purpose of this OER project is to develop current materials targeting newer scholars as authors who have conducted current research, but have not had an opportunity to publish. In this project, each of the five editors will develop and/or compile a collection of reading and ancillary materials on a specific content area. Contributions will be made in written English or digitally recorded American Sign Language (ASL). All contributors retain rights to their own work and may reuse in traditional and transformative ways as OER approaches continue to advance. As authors continue to grow, they are encouraged to remix (create new content over time) and redistribute  materials they have developed.

The goal of this OER is to offer faculty and students readings and practical application experiences that connect program specific coursework and concepts across the interpreter education curriculum emphasizing the holistic nature of the field of interpreting.

Additionally, there are different needs for those students who are native English speakers and those who are native/primary users of ASL. We also envision other interpreter educators using the materials. Thus, we expect that the readings and activities will be revised (adapted) as needed.

Courses and topics for this project include interpreter mindset, pre-interpreting skills and knowledge, technical skills, reflective practice, linguistics, cultural intelligence, multicultural competencies, meaning transfer, and coaching.

Inviting Conversation

Our goal is to open conversation and dialogue around important issues and ways of knowing. We are interested in engaging around these topics, not merely providing input and information, but really sparking deep dialogue and reflection in the work we do as interpreters, interpreter educators, and scholars.

We invite you to reach out to us and to one another in continuing to explore, expand, and enrich this text. Please let us know what is needed, what you would like to contribute, where you are stuck and what you want to know!

Navigating the text

Each section has an introduction from the editor casting the vision for that section. Pointing out the potential for future contributions and showing the connections among current contributions to their sections.  Within each section may be readings or resources that could include:

1.               Content

2.               Practical Application

3.               Check-ins

4.               Connections to the Whole

At the end of the text is a glossary of terms used throughout. There may also be particular definition of terms within sections or contributions but our intent is to have a comprehensive glossary at the end. This glossary will also be a living element of the text; we need to know what words need definitions and what definitions need clarification.

In future iterations of this text, we will unpack our vision for interpreter education and how we think about our growth as interpreters throughout the life-long, fun, and hard journey.

References

About IDEA. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://sites.ed.gov/idea/about-idea/#IDEA-History

About NCIEC. (n.d.). History. Retrieved from http://www.interpretereducation.org/about/

Alcorn, B. J., & Humphrey, J. H. (2007). So you want to be an interpreter. An Introduction to Sign Language Interpreting, 4.

Ball, C. (2013). Legacies and legends: History of interpreter education from 1800 to the 21st century. Interpreting Consolidated.

Frishberg, N. (1990). Interpreting: an introduction. Silver Spring, MD: Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.

National Clearinghouse of Training Materials. (2019). Gateway to RSA technical assistance (TA) and training. Retrieved from https://ncrtm.ed.gov/

National Multicultural Interpreter Project. (2000). Multicultural curriculum overview for instructors: A curriculum for enhancing interpreter competencies for working with culturally and linguistically diverse communities. El Paso, TX: National Multicultural Interpreter Project. Retrieved from https://pdf4pro.com/view/training-of-interpreters-for-individuals-who-are-270eb.html

Solow, S. N. (2000). Sign language interpreting: A basic resource book. Linstok Press.

Stewart, D. A., Schein, J. D., & Cartwright, B. E. (1998). Sign language interpreting: Exploring its art and science. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Wiley, D. (2015). Defining the “open” in open content. Retrieved from http://opencontent.org/definition/

I

Section 1

Vicki Darden

The topic of community or civic engagement between interpreters and the Deaf community permeates interpreting studies from its very beginnings in the heart of the Deaf community through its emergence as a profession and up to the present moment’s intense conversations around social justice and cultural appropriation. The relationship between the Deaf and interpreting communities is complex and interdependent (Napier, 2011; Young, Oram, & Napier, 2019). It is noted that definitions and descriptors for people who experience the condition of deafness are fluid and evolving. For clarity in this introduction, the use of the word Deaf, with a capital D, indicates a person who identifies as a member of Deaf culture, as compared to the word deaf with a lower case d, which refers to the clinical condition of deafness.  The use of the term DeafBlind refers to people with some degree of both hearing and vision loss and who identify as DeafBlind.  The term Deaf* refers to individuals who are D/deaf and who experience an additional co-occurring disability or condition, also sometimes referred to as Deaf-plus.

The first interpreters were the family and friends of the Deaf community (Ball, 2013; Williamson, 2015). As the field moved toward formal education and strove to professionalize, a majority of people entering the field had no relationship to the Deaf community prior to entering an ASL or interpreting studies program. Conversations regarding interpreters’ legitimacy and of interpreters being for the community or of the community persist (Friedner, 2018). Because interpreters should work equally between two languages and cultures and are rarely true bilingual-biculturals, they are most always simultaneously of and for the communities present in the discourse event. Often overlooked in the literature and professional discourse on signed language interpreting is the reality that interpreters are of/for the hearing community as much as of/for the Deaf, inclusive of DeafBlind, Deaf Plus, and hard of hearing communities, and that this relationship also has a profound effect on the Deaf community and how it is perceived (Young et al., 2019).

Signed language interpreters work between a frequently-marginalized cultural and linguistic community and the majority culture. Navigating the relationships, roles, and responsibilities inherent in those situations is challenging (Llewellyn-Jones & Lee, 2014). Interpreting requires not only linguistic competence, but also knowledge of the cultures of the interlocutors (Witter-Merithew & Johnson, 2005). Such linguistic and cultural competence is acquired through frequent and significant interaction. Interpreting and sign language students are encouraged to seek out the Deaf community for interaction and acculturation. Scholars have examined the Deaf community’s norms for associating with each other in person. Scholars have examined how Deaf people assemble for the purposes of enacting signed language discourse and culture-appropriate behavior in a Deaf-normed environment, labeling this Deaf space (Valentine & Skelton, 2008). Exposure to, and immersion in, Deaf space provides an opportunity for students to acquire language, cultural norms, and etiquette specific to a visual/gestural language and culture. The noted decline in Deaf space (Johnston, 2004; Padden, 2008) makes it challenging for students who are working to acquire the level of fluency and familiarity necessary to successfully work between two languages and cultures. There is evidence in interpreter education of a decline in the number of in-person contact hours between interpreting students and the Deaf community, and an increase in the use of vlogs and other types of virtual exposure to Deaf persons, American Sign Language, and Deaf culture (Darden, 2013).

Digital Citizenship

Over the past several decades, the Deaf community has experienced a revolution in how members engage and communicate. This is true for communication and engagement within the Deaf community, as well as for inter-community engagement and communication. Advances in technology have made it possible for the Deaf community to engage more deeply and more independently with the hearing community and society in general (Valentine & Skelton, 2008, 2009; Turner, Napier, Skinner, & Wheatley, 2017). However, this also appears to have had the effect of altering patterns of association and congregation for the Deaf community. Deaf clubs and schools for the Deaf, once offering havens of unconstrained communication for people navigating a hearing-dominated world with limited opportunities to engage, to participate, to have their thoughts and opinions recognized, have declined in recent years (Johnston, 2004; Padden, 2008). Streaming video provides a means for Deaf people to communicate with each other across distances, in real time, using signed language. Deaf people no longer need to congregate in a physical space to associate or communicate, and it appears that Deaf space (Valentine & Skelton, 2008) is enacted in virtual environments more and more frequently (Darden, 2013).

Virtual or technology-mediated forms of interaction have become common between Deaf people, between Deaf and hearing people, and between Deaf people and interpreters. Norms that have developed based on in-person interactions may not be effective in virtual settings (Keating, 2005; Keating, Edwards, & Mirus, 2008; Keating & Mirus, 2003; Napier, Skinner, & Turner, 2017; Mellenger & Hanson, 2018; Warnicke & Plejart, 2016). Technology now intersects with nearly every aspect of signed language interpreting in developed countries, from how interpreters are contacted and contracted for work, to the settings in which they perform the work in person and especially virtually, to how interpreters organize their schedules, conduct their business, and request remuneration. A recent volume on technology in interpreter education notes, “Our day-to-day interactions will no longer be separate from our digital lives; instead, we are witnessing the collision of two worlds from which we can gain great insight into how both influence our work” (Ehrlich & Napier, 2015, p. xx). Though the use of technology in interpreting and computer-mediated forms of interpreting are under-researched topics, they are being increasingly recognized in the literature (see for example, Fantinuoli, 2017; Mellenger & Hanson, 2018).

Despite the growing encroachment of technology on the profession of interpreting, there is a limited amount of research on the intersections of these topics (Yan, Wang, & Pan, 2015). The field of interpreting has been said to be slower to adopt technological affordances than its parent field of translation (Mellenger & Hanson, 2018). Much of the literature related to technology in interpreting is limited in scope and focuses on a narrow range of elements. In literature from the field of education that focuses on digital literacy or digital citizenship, most models include a number of factors deemed important for digital citizens and their success. One of the best known and most-used models provides a definition for digital citizenship and identifies nine elements that should be addressed for full participation in society, as follows:

Digital Citizenship: “the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use” (Ribble, 2015, p. 15). The construct developed by Ribble (2015) comprises nine elements:

- digital access, which allows users to access and participate in the digital components of society;

- digital commerce, related to the secure buying and selling of goods and services online;

- digital communication, knowledge of the forms of exchanging communication or information digitally, and knowledge of the appropriate use of each form in specific situations;

- digital literacy, or knowledge and understanding of the technologies that one uses;

- digital etiquette, being considerate of others and following appropriate standards of conduct for virtual environments;

- digital law, knowledge of laws that govern digital behaviors and user liability;

- digital rights and responsibilities, user legal rights and responsibilities in the digital environment;

- digital health and wellness, awareness of the physical and psychological risks of digital environments and activities;

- digital security, or the precautions users should take to guarantee their safety and the safety of those they interact with in the digital environment.

Most of the research on technology focuses on just one or two elements. For example, reviews of specific hardware or software products abound, as do descriptions of techniques for using technology as a teaching tool or medium. Although a popular topic in workshops and professional discussions, there is a limited amount of research that considers the intersection of technology and behavior or ethics. Best (2017) explored digital etiquette in an international study that elicited the views of signed language interpreters on the use of social media by interpreters. Technology use and acceptance by interpreters was surveyed in one study (Mellenger & Hanson, 2018). These touch on the elements of digital access and digital literacy. There is need for comprehensive research on the breadth of digital citizenship in interpreting to build an understanding of the relationship between these topics.

There is still much that is unknown. Big and important questions remain unasked and unanswered. The use of remote video interpreting is increasing in developed countries (Napier, Skinner, & Braun, 2018). What are the appropriate confidentiality and digital security concerns for interpreters working remotely via streaming video? Who retains the rights to a digitized interpretation such as one live-streamed on social media? What laws or regulations may govern its use? What are the potential ethical ramifications of security breaches of online accounts? Considering that interpreter education appears to be moving toward virtual, hybrid, and online methods (Darden 2013; Darden, Ott, Trine, & Hewlett, 2015; Darden & Maroney, 2018; Fantinuoli, 2017; Leeson et al., 2015; Smith, 2015), many questions arise; for example, how can dispositional elements of interpreter education be monitored online or remotely? How might interpreters and interpreter educators address their own digital citizenship in all its facets? Does digital access automatically equate to functional equivalence or true access for hearing and Deaf consumers, or for pre-service interpreting students?

Engagement Among Communities

Professional interpreters are expected to give back to the Deaf community. The topic of requiring a number of pro bono service hours to maintain certification is being actively discussed at the national level. Pre-service interpreters are expected to develop relationships with a Deaf community that is increasingly hard to locate, perhaps in part due to the diffusion of Deaf space (Darden, 2013; Johnston, 2004; Padden, 2008). Deaf interpreters are realizing and claiming their place in the interpreting process and community, yet opportunities for training for pre-service Deaf interpreters and for pre-service hearing interpreters who will work with them are rare (Green, 2017; Rogers, 2016; Shenneman, 2016). All of these factors complicate civic engagement by pre-service, new, and experienced interpreters. Such complications can lead to less effective interpreters, under-served consumers, and reduced trust between stakeholder communities.

Incorporating service learning is one recommended approach for helping pre-service interpreters integrate into the Deaf/signing community, to learn norms and standards, and to allow for situated learning and reflective practice (Shaw, 2013). These types of activities help practitioners explore their own identities and their role(s) in the community, while developing their citizenship skills collaboratively with members of the community. Service learning is also a form of situated, experiential, authentic learning which has proven successful in interpreter education (Kiraly, 2016; Hughes, Bown, & Green, 2019). The benefits of service learning are not limited to students. Service learning can incorporate members from all stakeholder groups and take many forms. It has the potential to build and transform communities and partnerships. Technology allows for the possibility of innovative approaches to service learning, which in turn affords opportunities for digital citizenship skill building.

Summary

The Deaf and interpreting communities’ paths are interwoven. The work of interpreting is complex and requires a high level of linguistic and cultural competence in each working language. Interpersonal and intercultural work is supported when trust has been established. One way to gain competence, confidence, and trust is through community engagement. Pre-service interpreters who acquired ASL as a second language are encouraged to associate with the Deaf community to enhance their abilities. This is a challenge, with the decline of Deaf space and large Deaf events. Service learning as a form of authentic experiential learning can be one approach to enhanced engagement.

Technology has affected the Deaf and interpreting communities in many different ways, including what some describe as the diffusion of the Deaf community into a more virtual space. Technology presents a challenge, but it also presents opportunities for innovative forms of engagement by which digital citizenship can also be acquired.

These new media and means of connecting are likewise catalysts for new approaches to civic engagement, citizenship, and opportunities for service learning.

References

Ball, C. (2013). Legacies and legends: History of interpreter education from 1800 to the 21st century. Interpreting Consolidated.

Best, B. (2017). ‘Look-at-me’ versus ‘Look-at-this’: Signed language interpreters’ perceptions of promotion on Facebook. International Journal of Interpreter Education, 9(1).

Darden, V. (2013). Changes in community contact characteristics in interpreter education [Master’s thesis]. Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Oregon. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/theses/4

Darden, V., & Maroney, E. M. (2018). “Craving to hear from you…”. An exploration of m-learning in global interpreter education. Translation and Interpreting Studies. The Journal of the American Translation and Interpreting Studies Association, 13(3), 442-464.

Darden, V., Ott, E. K., Trine, E. & Hewlett, S. (2015).  Fostering participation and collaboration in online education: A self-study of two cohorts. In Ehrlich, S. & Napier, J. (eds). Interpreter education in the digital age: Innovation, access, and change. Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press.

Ehrlich, S. & Napier, J., 2015. Interpreter education in the digital age: Innovation, access, and change. Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press.

Fantinuoli, C. (2017). Computer-assisted interpreting: challenges and future perspectives. In Trends in E-tools and resources for translators and interpreters (pp. 153-174). Brill Rodopi.

Friedner, M. (2018). Negotiating legitimacy in American Sign Language interpreting education: Uneasy belonging in a community of practice. Disability Studies Quarterly, 38(1).

Glenn-Smith, S. (2017). The Use of social media as a conduit to promote social justice in the Deaf community, as a cultural and linguistic minority, through the visual language of American Sign Language: A movement against audism [Doctoral dissertation, Nova Southeastern University].

Green, T. (2017). What is available for potential deaf interpreting students? Obtaining a snapshot of colleges that offer a B.A. or B.S. in Interpreting Studies [Master’s thesis]. Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Oregon. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/theses/36

Hughes, T., Bown, S., & Green, K. (2019). Engaging British Sign Language/English interpreting students through the use of situated learning. Student Engagement in Higher Education Journal, 2(2), 149-160.

Johnston, T. (2004). W(h)ither the Deaf community? Population, genetics, and the future of Australian Sign Language. American annals of the deaf, 148(5), 358-375.

Keating, E., & Mirus, G. (2003). American Sign Language in virtual space: Interactions between deaf users of computer-mediated video communication and the impact of technology on language practices. Language in Society, 32(5), 693-714.

Keating, E., Edwards, T., & Mirus, G. (2008). Cybersign and new proximities: Impacts of new communication technologies on space and language. Journal of Pragmatics, 40(6), 1067-1081.

Keating, E. (2005). Homo prostheticus: Problematizing the notions of activity and computer mediated interaction. Discourse Studies, 7(4-5), 527-545.

Keating, E. (2018). Technologically mediated sociality: Negotiating culture, communication, and access. In Linguistic and Material Intimacies of Cell Phones (pp. 148-166). Routledge.

Leeson, L., Sheikh, H., & Vermeerbergen, M.  (2015).  The superhighway or the slow lane? Evaluating challenges in creating new learning spaces for interpreters.  In Ehrlich, S. & Napier, J. (eds.).  Interpreter education in the digital age: Innovation, access, and change. Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press.

Llewellyn-Jones, P., & Lee, R. G. (2014). Redefining the role of the community interpreter: The concept of role-space. SLI Press.

Mellinger, C. D., & Hanson, T. A. (2018). Interpreter traits and the relationship with technology and visibility. Translation and Interpreting Studies. The Journal of the American Translation and Interpreting Studies Association, 13(3), 366-392.

Napier, J. (2011). “It’s not what they say but the way they say it.” A content analysis of interpreter and consumer perceptions of signed language interpreting in Australia. International journal of the sociology of language, (207), 59-87.

Napier, J., Skinner, R., & Braun, S. (2018). Here or there: Research on interpreting via video link. Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press.

Napier, J., Skinner, R., & Turner, G. H. (2017). “It’s good for them but not so for me”: Inside the sign language interpreting call centre. Translation & Interpreting, 9(2), 1-23.

Padden, C. (2008). The decline of Deaf clubs. In H.-D. L. Bauman (Ed.), Open your eyes: Deaf studies talking (pp. 169–176). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools: Nine elements all students should know. International Society for Technology in Education.

Rogers, J. (2016). Deaf interpreter education: Stories and insights shared by working deaf interpreters and deaf interpreting students [Master’s thesis]. Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Oregon. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/theses/31

Shaw, S. (2013). Service learning in interpreter education: Strategies for extending student involvement in the Deaf community. Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press.

Sheneman, N. (2016). Deaf interpreters’ ethics: Reflections on Training and Decision-Making. Journal of Interpretation, 25(1), 8.

Smith, A. R. (2015).  Co-construction of learning and community building in digital education.  In Ehrlich, S. & Napier, J. (eds). Interpreter education in the digital age: Innovation, access, and change. Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press.

Turner, G. H., Napier, J., Skinner, R., & Wheatley, M. (2017). Telecommunication relay services as a tool for deaf political participation and citizenship. Information, Communication & Society, 20(10), 1521-1538.

Valentine, G., & Skelton, T. (2008). Changing spaces: the role of the internet in shaping Deaf geographies. Social & Cultural Geography, 9(5), 469-485.

Valentine, G., & Skelton, T. (2009). ‘AN UMBILICAL CORD TO THE WORLD’ The role of the Internet in D/deaf people’s information and communication practices. Information, Communication & Society, 12(1), 44-65.

Warnicke, C., & Plejert, C. (2016). The positioning and bimodal mediation of the interpreter in a Video Relay Interpreting (VRI) service setting. Interpreting, 18(2), 198-230.

Williamson, A. (2015). Heritage learner to professional interpreter: Who are deaf-parented interpreters and how do they achieve professional status? [Master’s Thesis]. Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Oregon. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/theses/22

Witter-Merithew, A., & Johnson, L. J. (2005). Toward competent practice: Conversations with stakeholders. Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Incorporated.

Yan, J. X., Pan, J., & Wang, H. (2015). Studies on translator and interpreter training: A data-driven review of journal articles 2000–12. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer, 9(3), 263-286.

Young, A., Oram, R., & Napier, J. (2019). Hearing people perceiving deaf people through sign language interpreters at work: On the loss of self through interpreted communication. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 1-21.

II

Section 2

Linguistic & Cultural Aspects of Interpreting

Elisa Maroney

Interpreting is fundamentally linguistic and cultural analysis. Linguistic and cultural knowledge are fundamental to the work of the interpreter. Ideally, interpreters are balanced bilinguals, who are capable of transferring meaning between language and culture. Interpreting students should demonstrate bilingual competence in both Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Competency (CALP) (Cummins, 1979). The linguistic competency of interpreting students is expected to develop over the course of their education. In this section, the linguistic concepts needed to function as an interpreter will be addressed. Proficiency in BICS and CALP are requisite to working as an interpreter. Students tend to learn BICS in their ASL classes and among their Deaf community contacts. BICS may be mastered/acquired in 3-5 years, while CALP tends to be learned in 5-7 years. Most interpreter education programs are only 2 or 4 years. Few, if any, require complete bilingualism before entering the interpreting program; thus, interpreting students are learning how to interpret while they are still learning their second language (Mayer, 2015). CALP is more academic language that tends to be more specialized and be learned later.

Most students in interpreter education programs are learning ASL as a second language and are native users of English. However, there is a growing number of interpreting students who are heritage users of ASL, or they have a Deaf parent or parents and grew up using ASL. There are also a growing number of Deaf interpreters who consider ASL their dominant language. In order to effectively include these students in interpreter education programs, bilingualism upon entry into the interpreting classes should be required. In this way, all students and their instructors could be using the shared languages (i.e., ASL and/or written English) as the language for teaching and learning.

For this section of the OER textbook, linguistic and cultural aspects of interpreting will be explored. As this section develops, contributions will include the following topics:

- Interpreting and its application to general linguistics, including phonology, morphology, discourse analysis, first and second language acquisition, sociolinguistics, comparative linguistics, sign systems, modality, and transcription; and

- Culture, such as cross-cultural and interpersonal communication, multicultural competencies, languages and cultures in contact, and cultural and linguistic brokering.

Definition of terms

When the terms “linguistic,” “bilingualism,” are used, they are used generally and encompass both ASL and English, as well as other signed and spoken languages. When we are referring to one language, the language will be specified.

Section overview

In this section, three contributions have been made. They include Orientation to the interpreted interaction by Jones, The triple T’s for interpreting English grammar classes: Theories, Tips, and Tools by Bowdell, and Developing curriculum for competent and confident DeafBlind interpreters by Chambers, Moore, and Ramey.

In Orientation to the interpreted interaction, Jones (2019) discusses the importance of orienting the consumers to the work of the interpreter. She addresses what happens when consumers are not oriented to the interpreters, why consumers need orientation, and who should conduct the orientation. She also explores the reasons why best practices have not been developed for orienting the consumer to the work of the interpreter. She offers the FEI model of orientation, the Function of the interpreter, Expectations for what the interaction will be like, and Inclusion for all parties. She offers sample statements that may be used when orienting the consumer to the interpreted event. Finally, she provides several activities to practice orientation.

In The triple T’s for interpreting English grammar classes: Theories, Tips, and Tools, Bowdell (2019) provides the landscape for English Language Learners (ELL) in the U.S. and addresses the issues that arise when a Deaf student is placed in a classroom with other ELL students. She provides an overview of theories and methods in regard to Second Language Acquisition. She offers practical suggestions for preparing for interpreting in the ELL classroom, as well as an explanation of basic grammatical concepts of English. She provides appendices with worksheets to record and reflect upon observations and grammatical features.

In Developing curriculum for competent and confident DeafBlind interpreters, Chambers et al. (2019) provide an introduction to conditions that result in becoming deaf and blind, to communication and linguistic systems used with DeafBlind individuals, a comparison of what it is like to work with sighted Deaf consumers and working with DeafBlind consumers, the connection between confidence and competence, strategies for self-care when addressing the demands of working with DeafBlind consumers, and resources and training opportunities available for those interested in developing their own knowledge and skills in working with members of the DeafBlind community.

This section will provide the reader with materials, activities, and worksheets on topics relevant to language and culture in the interpreting context.

References

Bowdell, A. (2019). The Triple T’s for Interpreting English Grammar Classes: Theories, Tips, & Tools. In E. Maroney, A. R. Smith, S. Hewlett, E. Trine, and V. Darden (eds.), Integrated and open interpreter education: The open educational resource reader and workbook for interpreters. Monmouth, OR: Western Oregon University.

Chambers, K. A., Moore, K. E., Ramey, C. N. (2019). Developing confident and competent DeafBlind interpreters. In E. Maroney, A. R. Smith, S. Hewlett, E. Trine, and V. Darden (eds.), Integrated and open interpreter education: The open educational resource reader and workbook for interpreters. Monmouth, OR: Western Oregon University.

Cummins, J. (1979). Cognitive/Academic Language Proficiency, Linguistic Interdependence, the Optimum Age Question and Some Other Matters. Working Papers on Bilingualism, No. 19.

Jones, C. (2019). Orientation to the interpreted interaction. In E. Maroney, A. R. Smith, S. Hewlett, E. Trine, and V. Darden (eds.), Integrated and open interpreter education: The open educational resource reader and workbook for interpreters. Monmouth, OR: Western Oregon University.

Mayor, M. J. B. (2015). L2 proficiency as predictor of aptitude for interpreting: An empirical study. Translation and Interpreting Studies. The Journal of the American Translation and Interpreting Studies Association, 10(1), 108-132.

Orientation to the Interpreted Interaction

Colleen Jones

Abstract

Data has shown that a lack of information for hearing consumers can result in confusion, distraction, and a negative impression of the Deaf consumer (Jones, 2017). This chapter explains the importance of education for consumers that supports their understanding of working with interpreters, which is called orientation to the interpreted interaction or consumer orientation. Readers are encouraged to consider how various approaches to consumer orientation can incorporate elements of the Function, Expectations, and Inclusion (FEI) model, who might be responsible for conducting orientation, when it could take place, and how different options fall on a decision-making spectrum. Activities for students developing their understanding of orientation to the interpreted interaction are included.

Introduction

Interpreters work in a variety of spaces with consumers from all walks of life. In just one week an interpreter might encounter dozens of consumers. Some will have familiarity with working with interpreters, and some will be novices. Regardless of their experience, some consumers will quickly pick up on how to effectively and respectfully communicate with people who use a different language, while others will struggle.

People are not born understanding the function of the interpreter, how to work with interpreters, or how to be inclusive of everyone in the interpreted interaction. Misunderstandings can have negative impacts on consumers, the message, and the interpreter. As will be explained in this chapter, education for consumers—also known as orientation to the interpreted interaction or consumer orientation—is critically important.

What Happens When Orientation is Omitted?

Recent studies have demonstrated the importance of consumer orientation by examining the impact on consumers when orientation is omitted. Jones (2017) conducted a study of 357 hearing North Americans who are not fluent in American Sign Language (ASL). As part of the survey, participants were asked to watch a video of a presentation in ASL while listening to an interpretation of the message in spoken English, and then provide both qualitative and quantitative responses to questions that were intended to gauge their impression of the presenter. The survey did not introduce the presenter or the interpreter and did not include an orientation that would tell participants what to expect. Almost half (44%) of participants’ open-ended responses indicated feelings of confusion or distraction while watching the video (p. 58). Furthermore, those who indicated feelings of confusion or distraction gave the presenter lower-than-average scores in all ten soft skill categories- professionalism, friendliness, knowledgeability, confidence, intelligence, communication skills, trustworthiness, competency, authoritative, and likability (p. 59). Figure 1 shows the average rating in each soft skill category as well as ratings from participants who were confused and/or distracted and ratings from participants who were not confused and/or distracted.

Figure 1: Ratings in each soft skill category

Part of the demographic information collected for this survey included whether participants were familiar with interpreters—participants could indicate that they were very familiar, somewhat familiar, or not at all familiar. Interestingly, responses to this question had little bearing on whether participants indicated confusion or distraction while watching the video—47% of those who were not familiar with interpreters indicated confusion or distraction versus 44% of those who were very familiar with interpreters (Jones, 2017, p. 64). It seems intuitive that consumers who have previous experience working with interpreters would not need consumer orientation, but these results indicate that might not be the case.

These findings are important because they suggest that a lack of orientation can set the interpreter and the consumers up for failure. The data indicate that regardless of how engaging the people are, how insightful the content of the message, or how accurate the interpretation, when consumers are busy trying to figure out what the heck is going on they are less able to engage and attend to the message. In this scenario, everyone involved in the interaction has the potential to be impacted. The hearing consumer may feel confused about the process and has missed out on the content of the message. The Deaf consumer may have picked up on cues that they were not heard and wonder why. The interpreter may feel unsatisfied with their work because they could feel that something was missing but they are not sure what it is.

The hearing consumer’s impression of the Deaf consumer is equally important. The soft skills measured in this study have a direct impact on career success and can make or break whether someone gets a job offer, has access to upward mobility, and experiences success in their workplace. The data suggests that regardless of the Deaf person’s expertise and the interpreter’s skill, a lack of consumer orientation may have a negative impact in all of these areas.

Why do Consumers Need Orientation?

While many aspects of interacting with another person are unchanged by the presence of an interpreter, the experience can still throw consumers for a loop. Consumer orientation is an important topic to consider because research has shown that hearing consumers often misunderstand the interpreter’s job, their relationship with the Deaf person, and how to work with interpreters effectively (Hsieh, 2010; Kredens, 2017; Metzger, 1999).

In one example of this, Leeds (2009, as cited in Llewellyn-Jones & Lee, 2014) surveyed doctors’ clinics in the United Kingdom. In spite of the fact that the clinics who participated in the study all held contracts with an agency that was providing fully qualified interpreters, when asked who was interpreting for their Deaf patients, 54% “thought the person accompanying the patient was a ‘friend’, 15% a ‘carer’, and 8% a ‘social worker’” (p. 43).

While it is often true that the Deaf consumer has more experience working with interpreters than the hearing consumer does, interpreters should keep in mind that there may be gaps in the Deaf consumer’s understanding of how the interpreter will function in any given scenario and how all parties can best work together. Although this chapter is geared toward education for the hearing consumer, many of the principles outlined here could apply to orientation for the Deaf consumer as well.

Why Have Best Practices Not Been Developed?

In spite of the fact that interacting with consumers is an integral part of what interpreters do, very little has been written about this interaction outside of the process of interpreting the message. No standards or best practices have been established for the education of consumers or the interpreter’s part in this. One likely reason for this is that interpreters feel constrained by their ethical codes and the myth of invisibility.

It is commonly understood that when the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) was established in 1964, many interpreters had been approaching the work from a paternalistic ‘helper’ or caretaking approach. In response to this, a Code of Ethics was developed, and the inevitable pendulum swing led to interpreters being characterized as “conduits” or “machines” in an attempt to respect the autonomy of Deaf consumers (Witter-Merithew, 1999, p. 2). Even though subsequent models of interpreting have moved away from this impersonal approach to the work, research has shown that interpreters still employ specific techniques in an attempt to appear invisible (Witter-Merithew, Swabey, & Nicodemus, 2011; Hsieh, 2010).

Interpreters’ attempts to remain invisible can be further supported by a conservative interpretation of the current Code of Professional Conduct (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, 2005). Tenet 2.5, for example, advises that interpreters “refrain from providing counsel, advice, or personal opinions” (p. 3) and tenet 3.5 says that interpreters should “conduct and present themselves in an unobtrusive manner” (p. 3). Several influential researchers have agreed that a literal reading of these tenets discourages interpreters from interacting with consumers (Dean & Pollard, 2005; Llewellyn-Jones & Lee, 2014; Witter-Merithew et al., 2011).

All of this is not to say that interpreters do not have the best of intentions. There is a fine line between interacting appropriately in order to improve communication access and inserting one’s self to the point of impeding consumers from participating in the interaction themselves. To further complicate things, this line moves dramatically from one scenario to the next and depends upon who the consumers are. For this reason, the models and discussions of consumer orientation in this chapter are meant to allow maximum flexibility. Application will depend on the interpreter’s judgment, the needs and preferences of consumers and other stakeholders, and a myriad of other factors that vary from one assignment to the next.

FEI Model for Consumer Orientation

Effective consumer orientation includes three elements: Function of the interpreter, Expectations for what the interaction will be like, and Inclusion for all parties (FEI). Depending on the setting and the consumer, each element may be touched on briefly or may be expanded upon in more depth. Regardless of whether the orientation to the interpreted interaction takes ten seconds or ten minutes, these three elements can be included.

Function: How will the interpreter function in the context of this interaction?

Examples:

- I am the interpreter for your meeting with John today.

- I will be standing to the side of the stage interpreting your presentation into American Sign Language.

- When you speak, I will listen to what you are saying then interpret it into American Sign Language. When the Deaf person makes a comment, they will sign it in ASL and I will watch what they are saying and then interpret it into English so you can understand them.

- Feel free to speak as you naturally would. If any clarification is needed for the interpreting process or if we need to make adjustments to better facilitate communication I will let you know.

- There are two interpreters today and we will be working as a team. One of us will be interpreting the message and the other will be monitoring for accuracy and ready to support when needed.

Expectations: What can the consumer expect when working with an interpreter? How might this experience differ from a typical monolingual interaction?

Examples:

- You might notice a bit of a pause while I am processing the message and then interpreting it.

- I will be standing a bit behind you so the Deaf person can make eye contact with you and see me at the same time. My voice will be behind you, but the person interacting with you is in front of you.

- The two interpreters will be switching every fifteen to twenty minutes.

Inclusion: What can be done to ensure the interaction is inclusive and satisfactory for everyone?

Examples:

- I can only interpret for one person at a time, so if there is cross-talk or a side conversation, some people will miss out on it because it has not been interpreted. As the chairperson, can you pay attention to turn-taking and make sure people aren’t talking on top of each other?

- Even though my voice will be coming from behind you, go ahead and look at the Deaf person when they are signing to you. It is respectful and you will be able to pick up on their facial expressions and body language.

- Instead of talking to me, go ahead and speak directly to the Deaf person and use first person language. You don’t have to say, “Ask her if she’s going to the meeting,” you can just say, “Are you going to the meeting?”

Who Should Conduct Consumer Orientation?

It is important to recognize that the interpreter is not always the appropriate person to conduct the orientation to the interpreted interaction. Consumer orientation could be conducted by the Deaf consumer, a hearing consumer, a coordinator or agency, an advocate, or a facilitator. The choice of who should conduct the orientation depends on the individuals involved, their relationships with each other, the power dynamics in that particular situation, timing and availability, as well as other factors. This decision requires communication between the interpreter and the stakeholders, and is best supported by a mutual understanding of the importance of consumer orientation.

Consumer Orientation as a Spectrum

When considering how to conduct consumer orientation, it can be helpful to think of how various options fall on a spectrum. This approach to the work is helpful because there are no right or wrong decisions—any part of the spectrum may be appropriate for different situations.

The first spectrum to consider is a level of formality spectrum (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Level of formality spectrum

Informal consumer orientation may be appropriate when the setting is casual, the consumers know each other well, or when a slip-up or misunderstanding will have minimal impact. An example of informal consumer orientation would be a low-key reminder of one or more elements from the FEI model. Formal consumer orientation may be appropriate when the setting is more formal, it is vitally important that everyone is on the same page, or when misunderstandings would have a significant impact on individuals or on the interpreted message. An example of formal consumer orientation would be a written document describing how interpreters will function during a legal trial and that becomes part of the official court record.

The second spectrum is Dean and Pollard’s (2004) liberal-conservative spectrum (see Figure 3).

Figure 3: Liberal-conservative spectrum

Dean and Pollard’s demand-control schema explains that control options, which are potential responses to job challenges, can range from liberal (described as “active, creative, or assertive”) to conservative (described as “reserved or cautious”; 2004, p. 3). An example of a liberal approach to consumer orientation would be arriving at a job early and seeking out the hearing consumer in order to conduct a preliminary orientation. An example of a conservative approach would be omitting the pre-assignment orientation and allowing the Deaf consumer to decide whether to address misunderstandings such as the use of third person language.

The third spectrum is Llewellyn-Jones and Lee’s (2013) presentation of self spectrum (see Figure 4).

Figure 4: Presentation of self spectrum

Low presentation of self is defined as “behaviors associated with the machine model or ‘invisible’ interpreter, e.g., not interacting with the participants,” while high presentation of self is defined as “presentation of self in ways that are consistent with the situation, e.g., introducing one’s self” (Llewellyn-Jones & Lee, 2013, p. 59). An example of a decision about consumer orientation that aligns with low presentation of self would be waiting to interact with any of the hearing consumers until the Deaf consumer arrives. An example of high presentation of self would be introducing one’s self and having a conversation that includes elements from the FEI model without the Deaf consumer present.

Again, it is important to note that none of these approaches are automatically right or wrong. Use of these various spectrums can help interpreters analyze their decisions and identify opportunities to expand their options.

When Should Consumer Orientation be Conducted?

For many people, it is easy to assume that consumer orientation should take place just before an assignment begins at the time that the interpreter introduces himself or herself. It is worthwhile, however, to consider other options for when effective orientation might occur. Jones (2018) wrote:

Orientation could take place before the interpreter arrives for a face-to-face interaction—perhaps as part of the assignment booking process or as part of an orientation for newly hired employees at a company where interpreters are frequently used. Likewise, interpreters may finish an assignment and decide that the parties could benefit from further explanation before they meet again. There may be times when an interaction needs to be interrupted briefly to make adjustments that will facilitate communication and make the interaction more accessible to one or more participants.

It is also possible that as awareness of the need for consumer orientation grows, individuals or organizations may develop resources that include pertinent information from the FEI model. Interpreters and other stakeholders (i.e., coordinators, consumers, and agencies) may have the option of referring consumers to these resources before and after assignments.

Conclusion

Misunderstandings during interpreted interactions can have a negative impact on consumers, the interpreted message, and interpreters. Education for consumers—also known as orientation to the interpreted interaction or consumer orientation—can support their understanding of what it means to work with an interpreter and how to do so effectively. The FEI (Function, Expectations, Inclusion) model for consumer orientation provides a framework for orientation in any format. In addition to elements from the FEI model, interpreters can consider who might be best suited to conduct orientation in a given setting, when orientation should take place, and where potential options fall on various spectrums. Activities for students considering and practicing consumer orientation can be found in the next section.

Activities

Brainstorm: What are some key phrases that explain the function of the interpreter? What information can be shared with consumers that helps them understand why the interpreter is here and what the interpreter will be doing?

Observe: Observe a working interpreter. Take notes on all of the ways you notice that the interpreted interaction is different from a monolingual interaction. What do you notice that might cause confusion for someone who is not familiar with interpreters and their process?

Consider: Working alone or in a group, choose several potential control options for consumer orientation. List the consequences and resulting demands for each option, then discuss what you notice.

Inquire: Interview one or more working interpreters. Ask what Deaf and hearing consumers can do to make the interpreter’s job easier and to ensure that the interaction is inclusive of all participants. Ask what consumers could do that would make the interpreter’s job more challenging or the interaction less inclusive. Ask what the interpreter does to ensure consumers know what to expect during the interpreting process.

Practice: Using the FEI model and information from the above activities, write out a script for orienting a consumer, then practice introducing yourself and providing this consumer orientation. What information will you share if you have only ten seconds? Thirty seconds? Five minutes?

Come up with a specific scenario where you, as an interpreter, might encounter a consumer who has never worked with interpreters before, then a scenario where the consumer is experienced in working with interpreters. Write a script and practice orienting each of these consumers. Practice orienting a Deaf consumer using ASL. Practice orienting a hearing consumer using spoken English.

About the Author

Colleen Jones is a nationally certified interpreter and presenter from Seattle, Washington. She holds undergraduate degrees from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, and Seattle Central Community College, and a master’s degree from Western Oregon University. Colleen’s interpreting work is focused on medical, business, and DeafBlind settings, and she has published research on the topics of gender bias and consumer orientation.

Acknowledgements

This study was originally published as my Master’s thesis at Western Oregon University. I am forever grateful for the support and guidance of my thesis committee members, Ellie Savidge, Amanda Smith, and Dr. Elisa Maroney.

References

Dean, R. K., & Pollard, R. Q. (2005). Consumers and service effectiveness in interpreting work: A practice profession perspective. In M. Marschark, R. Peterson, & E. A. Winston (Eds.), Sign language interpreting and interpreter education (pp. 259– 282). Retrieved from https://intrpr.github.io/library/dean-pollard-practiceprofessions.pdf

Dean, R. K., Pollard, R. Q., & English, M. A. (2004). Observation-supervision in mental health interpreter training. CIT: Still shining after, 25, 55-75.

Hsieh, E. (2010). Provider–interpreter collaboration in bilingual health care: Competitions of control over interpreter-mediated interactions. Patient Education and Counseling, 78(2), 154-159.

Jones, C. (2017). Perception in American Sign Language interpreted interactions: Gender bias and consumer orientation (Master’s Thesis). Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Oregon. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/theses/41/

Jones, C. (2018, November). Perception in ASL Interpreted Interactions: Consumer Orientation. Paper presented at the Conference of Interpreter Trainers, Salt Lake City, UT. Retrieved from https://www.cit-asl.org/new/perception-in-asl-interpreted-interactions-consumer-orientation/

Kredens, K. (2017). Conflict or convergence? Interpreters’ and police officers’ perceptions of the role of the public service interpreter. Language and Law, 3(2), 65-77.

Llewellyn-Jones, P., & Lee, R. G. (2014). Redefining the role of the community interpreter: The concept of role-space. United Kingdom: SLI Press.

Metzger, M. (1999). Sign language interpreting: Deconstructing the myth of neutrality. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.

Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. (2005). NAD-RID code of professional conduct. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-_HBAap35D1R1MwYk9hTUpuc3M/view

Witter-Merithew, A. (1999). From benevolent care-taker to ally: The evolving role of sign language interpreters in the United States of America. Gebärdensprachdolmetschen: Dokumentation der Magdeburger Fachtagung (Theorie und Praxis 4), Hamburg: Verl hörgeschädigte kinder, 55-64.

Witter-Merithew, A., Swabey, L., & Nicodemus, B. (2011). Establishing presence and role transparency in healthcare interpreting: a pedagogical approach for developing effective practice. Rivista di Psicolinguistica Applicata, 11(3), 79-94.

Interpreting English Grammar Classes: Theories, Tips, & Tools

Theories, Tips, & Tools

Amelia Bowdell

Could placing Deaf students in English Language Learner (ELL) grammar classes with interpreters increase their success at obtaining bilingualism? These classes are also referred to as English as a Second Language (ESL), English for Academic Purposes (EAP), or English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes. In this chapter, strategies will be explored that will look at common linguistic vocabulary and concepts when discussing English grammar. Participants will engage in activities that explore and brainstorm interpretations of grammar concepts. This resource is designed to give interpreters and interpreting students an introduction to relevant theories, tools, and tips to be more effective when interpreting in a grammar class.

Keywords: Interpreting, English Grammar, English Language Learner, Second Language Acquisition, Verb Tense

Background

Grammar provides the path by which language walks and with which we engage with one another. Grammar is part of English instruction at many points in a person’s educational journey. Most notably, grammar is discussed in English and English Language Learner (ELL) classrooms. Being that most people have experienced being in an English classroom, this chapter will focus on the latter common setting for grammar discussion. English grammar topics are often discussed in the context of formal instruction, such as K-12 or higher education. The purpose of this chapter is to provide relevant theories, examples of context when English grammar topics would arise, tools for preparation, and tips for interpreting jargon-heavy grammar concepts.

There are multiple definitions for the English Language Learner (ELL). According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (n.d.), an ELL is defined as an individual whose first language is a language other than English, was not born in the United States, grew up in an area where English is not the main language used or exposed to, and/or is an American Indian or Alaska Native where another language had a significant impact on the individual’s level of English language proficiency. Deaf and hard of hearing international students or those who have immigrated to the United States could qualify under this definition of ELL. According to the Gallaudet Research Institute, under No Child Left Behind Act, 23% of Deaf and hard of hearing K-12 students in the United States are categorized as ELLs because they have a first language that is neither English nor American Sign Language (ASL). According to an article written in the peer-reviewed journal known as “Council for Exceptional Children,” English Language Learner (ELL) is more broadly defined as a diverse group with a variety of first languages, cultures, ethnicities, countries of origin, language proficiencies, socioeconomic status, educational experiences, and time in the United States; it is important to note that this can include people who are born in [or outside] the United States (Sullivan, 2011). This second definition could potentially include all Deaf and hard of hearing students whose first language is not English and who are not currently fluent in English.

According to the fall 2015 data from the National Center for Educational Statistics that was published in 2018, the percentage of public K-12 United States students who were identified as ELL in the study was 9.5% of 4.8 million students. In the same study, approximately 14.7% of the total ELL population in the United States or 713,000 ELL students were receiving services through the Americans with Disabilities Act; this can include deaf/Deaf students who receive services and/or have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2018). According to Magrath (2016), many Deaf people face similar difficulties to other ELL students in becoming fluent in English. For example, for some Deaf students, their first language is American Sign Language, which is unique and separate from English and has its own syntax and grammar (Magrath, 2016; National Association of the Deaf, 2019). Learning a new language can be difficult for any student. Knowing that Deaf students can be placed in ELL classrooms is important for interpreters who are or plan to work with Deaf and hard of hearing students because students are in ELL programs to help improve their English proficiency with regard to reading, writing, and grammar. Refer to Figure 1 to see the total percentage of students, including Deaf students, that are identified as ELL’s within each state.

Figure 1. English Language Learners in Public Schools, by state Fall: 2015.

Note: Figure 1. English Language Learners in Public Schools, by state Fall: 2015. Reprinted from “English language learners in public schools,” Retrieved December 2018 from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgf.asp) Copyright 2018 by National Center for Educational Statistics. Reprinted with permission.

ELL programs in the K-12 or college/university settings can be referred to in the literature by a number of other terms such as English as a Second Language (ESL), English Learner (EL), or English for Academic Purposes (EAP). At the community college, college, and university setting, how one is tested for ELL placement varies from one institution to another, such as if a student is an international student or self-identifies that English is not their first language on the college application, the student is then directed to take the ELL Placement Test or Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOFL) instead of the traditional English Placement Test (Arizona Western College, 2019). If the student takes the ELL placement test and the results show they are fluent in English and do not need ELL coursework, then they are encouraged to take the traditional English Placement Test (Arizona Western College, 2019).

Being in an ELL program is not a negative proposition; actually, it presents several opportunities to its participants (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2018). “Participation in these types of programs can improve students’ English language proficiency, which in turn has been associated with improved educational outcomes” (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2018, para. 1). Many ELL programs focus on various skills including but not limited to English reading, writing, and grammar skills (National Council of Teachers of English, 2008).

The goal of an ELL program is for the students to become bilingual (National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum, 2011). In order for a person to be considered bilingual, the individual must have both Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) in two languages (National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum, 2011). Cummins labeled the terms BICS and CALP in 1979 (National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum, 2011).

Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) “describes the development of conversational fluency” (National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum, 2011, para. 17). BICS includes informal and conversational registers of social and conversational language (Bilash, 2011). While a student is learning BICS, they can gradually begin to learn Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP); however, a majority of CALP is learned predominantly after the student learns BICS. The concept of CALP is the development of “language in decontextualized academic situations” (National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum, 2011, para. 17). Usage of CALP requires understanding and applying nuances within the language (Bilash, 2011). Examples of CALP include scholarly sources and textbooks.

Trained ELL instructors use Second Language Acquisition (SLA) methodologies, pedagogies, and techniques to empower students to utilize the knowledge in and of their first language and any other previous language to learn a new language, in this case, English. According to the National Council of Teachers of English (2008), instructors should “position native languages and home environments as resources” or positive and respected tools that can help students learn English (pp.5).

“The way you learned your first language is fundamentally different from the way you learn any additional language” after the age of three (Baker, 2006 & Morehouse, 2017, para. 54). Second Language Acquisition (SLA) is the process of learning one’s second language, third, fourth, or any subsequent language after the age of three (Baker, 2006; Bowdell, 2018). Second Language Acquisition theory supports a variety of philosophies including but not limited to an educational philosophy known as Bilingual-Bicultural education as a way to achieve bilingualism (Baker, 2006). Second Language Acquisition and in turn Bilingual-Bicultural education supports the concept of using one’s knowledge in their first language(s) to learn any subsequent language(s) (Baker, 2006; Bowdell, 2018; Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, 2019). Bilingual-Bicultural education applies to Deaf and hard-of-hearing students as they are being taught language skills in ASL, which can provide the vehicle to learn or improve English skills (Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, 2019).

Extensive research has been done in the field of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) (National Association for Language Development, 2011). The Center for Applied Linguistics (n.d.) defines Second language acquisition (SLA) research as “the study of how people learn to communicate in a language other than their native language” (para. 2). The landmark research within the field of SLA includes: Behaviorist Learning Theory by Skinner in 1950s versus Mentalist Language Acquisition Theory by Chomsky in the 1960s, Significance of Learners’ Errors by Corder in 1967, ‘Interlanguage’ by Selinker in 1972, Acculturation Model by Schumann in 1978, Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) and Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) by Cummins 1979, The Five Second Language Theories (also known as Input Hypothesis) by Krashen in the 1970s and 1980s, Learner Competence by White in 1980s, ‘Interlanguage’ as a Stylist Continuum by Tarone in 1983, Accommodation Theory by Giles in 1984, Universal Grammar by Chomsky in 1985, Social Identity and Investment in Second Language Learning by Peirce in 1995, Universal Grammar and Multi-Competence by Chomsky in 2007, and Error Analysis by Richards in 2015 (Bowdell, 2018; Ellis, 2008).

The English Language Learner (ELL) classroom setting

English Language Learner classrooms exist in continuing education, K-12, and higher education (such as community college, college, and university) settings (National Council of Teachers of English, 2008). Regardless of the setting, ELL instructors use various techniques in the classroom to support their students learning (Colorín Colorado, 2019). For example, an ELL instructor will avoid using idioms, slang, and contractions (for lower level ELL classes), and the instructor will use lots of visuals in order to explain new concepts (Colorín Colorado, 2019).

Students in ELL classrooms do not only learn English vocabulary (National Council of Teachers of English, 2008). According to the National Council of Teachers of English (2008, p. 4) Students need to learn forms and structures of academic language. They need to understand the relationship between forms and meaning in written language, and they need opportunities to express complex meanings, even when their English language proficiency is limited.

In addition, the instructor can use a lot of highly contextualized grammar and jargon in order to teach grammar rules that are applicable to what the students are learning (National Council of Teachers of English, 2008).

Godfrey (2010) suggested that most students in Interpreter Education Programs’ (IEP) first language is English and they are learning ASL as their second or subsequent language. These IEP students then become the next generation of ASL/English interpreters (Godfrey, 2110). A study done in 2005 by Da ̨browska and Street found that some elements of English grammar including comprehension of passive sentence structure had not been mastered by some native speakers. Upon further examination the data of those who have not attended graduate school or higher, overall the non-native English user group performed better than the native English user group on the same grammar related tasks (Da ̨browska & Street, 2005). Anecdotally, for those people whose first language is English, many of them can read most sentences in English and recognize if it is grammatically correct or not; however, at times if an ELL student asks them why the original sentence was not correct and why the now edited sentence is correct they are unable to explain in detail why this is the case (see Table 1).

Table 1

Incorrect vs. Correct Sentence Example

Original Passive Sentence: The child was having fright from the bug.

Incorrect

Edited Passive Sentence: The child was frightened by the bug.

Correct

Da ̨browska and Street suggested that the difference in passive sentence comprehension success rate “depends to some extent on metalinguistic skills, which may be enhanced by explicit L2 [ELL] instruction” (2005, p. 605). In an ELL classroom, many instructors spend additional time discussing grammar concepts, compared to a traditional American English classroom (National Council of Teachers of English, 2008). Therefore, that interpreters and/or interpreting students need to learn explicit jargon and techniques for how to interpret English grammar classes is reasonable.

Preparing for the assignment

In preparing for the assignment, the more information interpreters and interpreting students know the better (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, 1997 & 2005). According to Dean and Pollard (2013), “all the preparations one does for an assignment… constitute as pre-assignment controls,” which includes the effort to build upon one’s knowledge of the topic in advance (p.19). Controls are how the interpreters and/or interpreting students decide to interact and respond to the particular demands of an interpreting assignment (Dean & Pollard, 2013). Examples that relate to preparing for an ELL interpreting assessment would include knowing the:

- Date, time, and location of assignment

- ELL course level and grade level (if applicable)

- Applicable demographics of the students

- Languages that the various students know

- Language of instruction

- Textbook and other resources used

- The course and unit learning objectives

- Grammar sections the instructor plans to cover (if applicable)

- Grammar related vocabulary that will be discussed and its respective definitions

- Grammar related formulas

- Grammar related rules and exceptions

- What information students are already expected to know by this point

- Review the ASL signs for the various ‘word classes.’

The term ‘word classes’ refers to the seven to eight major parts that are in all signed and spoken languages; these parts are adjective, adverb, conjunction, interjection, noun, pronoun, and verb (Word classes, 2019). Refer to Figure 1 for definitions and examples of each of the ‘word classes.’ The interpreters and/or interpreting students should understand each of these ‘word classes’ jargon, be able to give examples, and know the signs for each because these terms will be used in this setting quite often (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, 2010).

Figure. 2

Word Classes

Figure 2. From “Learning English: Grammar” by Richard, M. (n.d.). (http://misterrichard.weebly.com/grammar.html). Reprinted with permission.

There is a lot of grammar-related jargon that is used readily in the classroom (National Council of Teachers of English, 2008). The interpreters and interpreting students should get a copy of the class textbook and review the grammar concepts that the instructor plans on teaching. If getting a copy of the textbook is not possible, the interpreter should get a copy of an ELL grammar textbook that has the twelve tenses, or they could search for the specific grammar topic online.

When reviewing grammar concepts, chapters are usually grouped by English tense (Lester, 2008). Tense is indicated in ASL and English differently (Jacobs, 1996). In English, the verb tense indicates when the action is occurring, occurred, started, and ended; therefore in English one modifies the verb to indicate tense (Lester, 2008). There are twelve verb tenses in English (See Table 2 and 3) (Azar & Hagen, 2009). Most verbs in English can take six different basic forms which include: base, infinitive, present, past, present participle, and past participle (Lester, 2008). Refer to Appendix A for a fillable form for pre-assignment controls.

Table 2

Pictorial representation of verb tenses

Note. Adapted from Understanding and using English grammar 4th ed with answer key (p.100) by B. Azar & S. Hagen, 2009, New York, NY: Pearson. Copyright 2009.

Table 3

12 English Verb Tenses

Verb Tense

Example

Form (Grammar formula)

Simple Present

I bake cake everyday.

Robin bakes cake everyday.

Subject + verb to be + base verb 3rd person singular subject + verb-s

Simple Past

Robin baked a cake.

Subject + base verb-ed

Simple Future

Robin will bake a cake tomorrow.

Robin is going to bake a cake tomorrow.

Subject + “will” + base verb

Subject + verb to be + “going to” + base verb

Present Progressive/Continuous

Robin is baking right now.

Subject + present form of verb to be + verb+-ing

Past Progressive/Continuous

Robin was baking when we arrived.

Subject + past form of verb to be + verb+-ing

Future Progressive/Continuous

Robin will be baking when we arrive.

Robin is going to be baking when we arrive.

Subject + “will” + verb to be + verb+- ing

Subject + “is going to” + verb to be + verb+-ing

Present Perfect

I have already baked. Robin has already baked.

Subject + “have” + past participle

3rd person singular subject + “has” + past participle

Past Perfect

Robin had already baked when her friend arrived.

Subject + “had” + past participle

Future Perfect

Robin will already have baked when her friend arrives.

Subject + “will” + past participle

Present Perfect Progressive/Continuous

I have been baking for three hours.

Robin has been baking for three hours.

Subject + “have been” + verb+-ing

3rd person singular subject + “has been” + verb+-ing

Past Perfect Progressive/Continuous

Robin had been baking for three hours before her friend arrived.

Subject + “had been” + verb+-ing

Future Perfect Progressive/Continuous

Robin will have been baking for three hours by the time her friend arrives.

Subject + “will have been” + verb+- ing

Within the specific verb tense, interpreters and/or interpreting students should focus their preparation on knowing the following about the verb tense:Note. Adapted from Understanding and using English grammar 4th ed with answer key (p.101) by B. Azar & S. Hagen, 2009, New York, NY: Pearson. Copyright 2009.

- Name of verb tense

- When is this verb tense used

- Verb tense grammatical formula

- Rules for applying the verb tense correctly

- Exceptions of the rules.

This is also known as name, form, and meaning of the verb tense (Azar & Hagen, 2009). ELL students will learn a given verb tense by first learning when to use it, next they will memorize the various grammar formulas for the new verb tense, and they will simultaneously learn the grammar rules and exceptions that apply to the verb tense (National Council of Teachers of English, 2008). An example of what to study in preparation for a Simple Present tense grammar lesson can be seen in Table 4. A blank fillable version of Table 4 is available in Appendix A. To practice the grammar concepts, the interpreters and interpreting students can refer to Appendix C and D.

Table 4

Simple Present Tense

Name

Form (Grammar Formula)

Meaning

Example

Verb Tense Name

Simple Present Tense

Affirmative Statement

Subject + verb to be + base verb

Used to show habitual actions or states, general facts, or conditions that are now true

I bake cake every day.

Negative Statement

Subject + verb to be + negative + base verb

Used to show habitual actions or states, general facts, or conditions that are not true

I am not a bear.

Affirmative Statement with 3rd person singular subjects

3rd person singular subject + verb+s

*3rd person singular subjects: He, she, it, and name

Used to show habitual actions or states, general facts, or conditions that are now true

Robin bakes cake every day.

Yes/No Questions

Verb to be + subject

Used to ask yes/no questions about habitual actions or states, general facts, or conditions that are now true.

Are you a baker?

Wh-Questions

Wh-word + subject
+ base verb

Used to ask wh-questions about habitual actions or states, general facts, or conditions that are now true.

Will you bake a cake?

Note. Adapted from Understanding and using English grammar 4th ed with answer key (p.102) by B. Azar & S. Hagen, 2009, New York, NY: Pearson. Copyright 2009.

Tips and tools for interpreting grammar classes

As an interpreter or interpreting student, it is important to match the language of the Deaf or hard-of-hearing consumer(s) (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, 2005, 2010). For example, if the Deaf or hard-of-hearing consumer uses ASL, then the interpreter should follow suit (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, 2005, 2010). On the other hand, if the Deaf or hard-of-hearing consumer uses Pidgin Signed English /contact sign, Signing Exact English, Cued-Speech, or another sign system, then the interpreter should do their best to match the consumer. This includes when the instructor is explaining a specific word order for a given tense (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, 2005, 2010). Some interpreters and/or interpreting students may be tempted to interpret into a form of Manually Coded English for jargon-heavy grammar concepts courses. If the consumer uses a form of contact sign or Manually Coded English such as Signing Exact English, than this technique may be effective. However, if the Deaf consumer utilizes mostly ASL, it is necessary to make the English verb tense concept in ASL and as visual as possible (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, 2005, 2010). This requires that interpreters and/or interpreting students have a firm grasp of ASL grammar rules and word order. The interpreters or interpreting students could then physically move the parts of the sentence around visually using classifiers to clearly demonstrate the new English verb tense word order and how it differs from ASL word order. If the consumer’s language preference is known in advance, the interpreters and/or interpreting students could anticipate this and could prepare by practicing with sentences that have a similar form to the grammar structure that will be taught. They could begin by explaining the concept of the English sentence in ASL. Next, the interpreter could visually and physically move the parts of the sentence from ASL into English word order, using classifiers. Example sentences of Simple Present tense form can be found in Table 4.

In looking at Table 2, one can see how each verb tense can be represented in a pictorial manner (Azar & Hagen, 2009). Since ASL lends itself to easily expressing visual concepts, one could use classifiers to create and explain the verb tense timeline visually (Jacobs, 1996). Interpreters and/or interpreting students could practice interpreting each of the tense timelines outlined in Table 2 (Azar & Hagen, 2009). As the course continues, the interpreter could refer back and add to the original verb tense timeline that was established as new verb tenses are introduced by the instructor. In this way, students could see how the various English verb tense timelines overlap one another, which provides context for learning and building upon what the student knows (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, 2010)

In looking at Table 3 and Table 4, one can see that each English tense can be represented in a grammar formula (Azar & Hagen, 2009). Interpreters and/or interpreting students could practice interpreting each of the grammar formulas outlined in Table 3 and Table 4 (Azar & Hagen, 2009). In math and chemistry courses, interpreters and/or interpreting students interpret formulas; the same technique can be used to represent grammar formulas. In a classroom setting, the teacher often writes the grammar formula from left to right on the board behind the interpreter. If the interpreter and/or interpreting student is sitting in the front of the room with the board at their back, they could sign the grammar formula so it aligns with what the student is seeing on the board (behind the interpreter). This could provide continuity for the student learning the new English grammar formula. This is another reason why preparation including learning the grammar formulas and rules prior to the assignment is so important for the interpreter (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, 2005, 2010).

Practicing specific interpreting skills prior to an assignment should be part of an interpreter’s preparation (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, 2005, 2010). Interpreters and/or interpreting students could ask if they could observe an ELL classroom prior to their assignment. This would allow them to see how Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theories are applied in an ELL classroom. If this is not possible, an interpreter could watch ELL instructional videos online. One current YouTube channel that is similar to how an in-person ELL instructor teaches using SLA is known as JenniferESL (Lebedev, n.d.). JenniferESL’s YouTube channel is published and aligned with the popular ELL grammar textbook series titled Focus on Grammar (Lebedev, n.d.;   Schoenberg, Maurer, Fuchs, Bonner, Westheimer, 2016). The interpreter could practice putting all of the skills to active use by playing a video and mock interpreting it to a Deaf consumer, mentor, fellow student, or recording it to view later for reflection.

Use Appendix A and B to write out pre-assignment controls. Utilize Appendix C and D to practice the various grammar tenses and rules the interpreters and/or interpreting students are learning. Interpreting ELL classes in the K-12 and college/university settings can be difficult; however, building knowledge, preparation, and practice can have a positive impact on the interpreting assignment.

Further Research

This chapter begins to scratch the surface of the complex task of interpreting jargon-heavy English grammar coursework. This chapter could be used as a discussion jumping off point for collaboration between interpreters and interpreting students and all consumers about how to best approach this unique and complex interpreting setting. It is the opinion of this author that a standardized ELL definition be thoroughly researched by all parties to increase success rates for Deaf students in obtaining bilingualism. Further research needs to be done on the success rate of evidenced-based collaboration techniques between all consumers for Deaf ELL students in grammar courses

About the Author

Amelia Bowdell currently works full-time as a Professor and ASL interpreter. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Signed Language Studies: ASL Interpreting, and her first master’s degree related to ESL teaching Second Language Acquisition, pedagogy, and methodology known as Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from Madonna University. Amelia completed a second master’s degree in Interpreting Studies: Teaching Interpreting from Western Oregon University. She successfully defended and published her master’s thesis related to developing bilingualism in ASL and English using BICS, CALP, and Second Language Acquisition. Amelia has been interpreting since 2005 and has a National Interpreter Certificate (NIC). She has a vast array of interpreting experiences as a staff, agency, and freelance interpreter in a variety of settings including: higher education, K-12, medical, mental health, theatre, business, dance, and various other settings. Amelia has been teaching at the college level for more than ten years. She has presented at multiple state and national conferences on various topics. Her research interests include but are not limited to bilingualism, Second Language Acquisition, ASL linguistics, assessment, and meaning transfer for interpreters. On a personal note, she enjoys spending time with her wonderfully supportive husband Jeffrey and their two loving dogs.

Acknowledgments:

I would like to express my appreciation to Elisa Maroney, Amanda Smith, Sarah Hewlett, Erin Trine, and Vicki Darden for their valuable time and editing suggestions during this publication process. I would also especially like to thank my family for their continued support of my passion for research and knowledge. They are always willing to explore and discuss various research topics together. I am forever grateful to my husband and best friend, Jeffrey Bowdell, for his unwavering love, support, and patience as I venture on this journey.

References

Arizona Western College (2019). Placement Testing. Retrieved from https://www.azwestern.edu/enrollment/testing-services/accuplacer-testing

Azar, B. & Hagen, S. (2009). Understanding and using English grammar 4th ed with answer key. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.

Baker, C. (2006). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (4th ed.). Tonawanda, NY: Multilingual Matters

Bilash, O. (2011). BICS/CALP: Basic interpersonal communicative skills vs. cognitive academic language proficiency. Retrieved from https://sites.educ.ualberta.ca/staff/olenka.bilash/Best%20of%20Bilash/bics%20calp.html

Bowdell, A. (2018). Developing bilingualism in interpreting students (Masters thesis). Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/theses/44/

Center for Applied Linguistics. (n.d.). Second Language Acquisition. Retrieved on March 1, 2019 from http://www.cal.org/caela/esl_resources/collections/SLA.html

Colorín Colorado. (2019). Classroom strategies and tools. Retrieved from http://www.colorincolorado.org/teaching-ells/ell-strategies-best-practices/classroom- strategies-and-tools

Da ̨browska, E. & Street, J. (2005). Individual differences in language attainment: Comprehension of passive sentences by native and non-native English speakers. Language Sciences, 28(2006), 604-615.

Dean, R. & Pollard, R. (2013). The Demand Control Schema: Interpreting as a practice profession. North Charleston, SC: Create Space Independent Publishing Platform

Ellis, R. (2008). The study of second language acquisition (2nd ed.). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Gallaudet Research Institute. (2011, April). Regional and national summary report of data from the 2009-10 Annual Survey of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children and Youth. Washington, DC: Gallaudet Research Institute, Gallaudet University.

Godfrey, L. (2010). Characteristics of effective interpreter education programs in the United States (Doctoral dissertation). University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Tennessee. Retrieved from http://cit-asl.org/IJIE/2011_Vol3/PDF/8-Godfrey.pdf

Jacobs, R. (1996). Just how hard is it to learn ASL: The case for ASL as a truly foreign language. In C. Lucas (Ed.), Multicultural aspects of sociolinguistics in Deaf communities (pp. 183- 216). Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press

Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center. (2019). American Sign Language/English bilingual and early education. Retrieved from http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/american-sign-languageenglish-bilingual-and- early-childhood-education

Lebedev, J. (n.d.). Home. [JenniferESL]. Retrieved on March 1, 2019 from https://www.youtube.com/user/JenniferESL/featured

Lester, M. (2008). McGraw-Hill’s essential ESL grammar: A handbook for intermediate and advanced ESL students. New York, NY: McGraw Hill

Magrath, D. (2016). The need for ESL instruction for Deaf students. Retrieved from http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/the-need-for-esl-instruction-for-deaf- students/education

Morehouse, K. (2017). Lingua Core UG: What are L1 and L2 in Language Learning. Retrieved from     https://www.linguacore.com/blog/l1-l2-language-learning/

National Association for Language Development in the Curriculum. (2011). Bilingualism and second language acquisition. Retrieved from https://www.naldic.org.uk/eal-initial- teacher-education/resources/ite-archive-bilingualism/

National Association of the Deaf. (2019). What is American Sign Language? Retrieved from https://www.nad.org/resources/american-sign-language/what-is-american-sign-language/

National Center for Educational Statistics. (April, 2018). English Language Learners in public schools. Retrieved from: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgf.asp

National Center for Educational Statistics. (April, 2018). English Language Learners in Public Schools: Figure 1 Percentage of public school students who were English language learners, by state: Fall 2015. Retrieved from: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgf.asp

National Center for Educational Statistics. (n.d.). Glossary. Retrieved on December 20, 2018 from    https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/glossary.asp#ell

National Council of Teachers of English (2008). English language learners: A policy research brief. Retrieved from http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/PolicyResearch/ELLResearchBrief.pd f

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (April, 2017). American Sign Language. Retrieved from https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/american-sign- language

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (December, 2016). Quick statistics about hearing. Retrieved from https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/statistics/quick-statistics-hearing

Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (1997). Professional Sign Language Interpreter. In Standard practice papers. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3DKvZMflFLdeHZsdXZiN3EyS0U/view

Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (2005). Code of professional conduct. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-_HBAap35D1R1MwYk9hTUpuc3M/view

Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (2010). An Overview of K-12 Educational Interpreting. In Standard practice papers. Retrieved from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3DKvZMflFLdcFE2N25NM1NkaGs/view

Richard, M. (n.d). Learning English: Grammar. Retrieved on March 1, 2019 from http://misterrichard.weebly.com/grammar.html

Schoenberg, I., Maurer, J., Fuchs, M., Bonner, M., & Westheimer, M. (2016). Textbook Series: Focus on Grammar. New York, NY: Pearson Education.

Sullivan, A. (2011). Disproportionality in Special Education Identification and Placement of English Language Learners. Council for Exceptional Children, 77(3), 317-334.

Verb tenses (2019). Oxford Living Dictionaries. Retrieved from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/grammar/verb-tenses

Word classes (2019). Oxford Living Dictionaries. Retrieved from https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/grammar/word-classes-or-parts-of-speech

Appendix A

Pre-Assignment Control: Verb tense: Fillable form

Name

Form
(Grammar Formula)

Meaning

Example

Verb Tense Name

Affirmative Statement

Negative Statement

Affirmative Statement with 3rd person singular subjects

Yes/No Questions

Wh-Questions

(Azar & Hagen, 2009).

Appendix B

Pre-Assignment Control: Collection of Relevant Assignment Information

1. ELL Level:

2. Applicable demographics: (grade level, approximate age, languages known by the students, and other relevant information)

3. Language of instruction:

4. Name of the textbook(s):

1. Do you have access to it? Yes      or         No

2. If not, think of other online resources you can access to gather information:

5. Any other handouts or online resources for the course:

6. Course & unit learning objectives:

7. Grammar sections to be covered in this lesson:

8. Grammar vocab and definitions:

Grammar related rules & exceptions:

10. Other Non-grammar related vocab:

0. If one or more of the non-grammar vocabulary words are verbs, fill in the table below.

Base

Infinitive

Present

Past

Present Participle

Past Participle

Be

To be

Am, Is, Are

Was, Were

Being

Been

See

To see

See, Sees

Saw

Seeing

Seen

11. Deaf consumer’s language preference (if known):

12. Look at Table 2. Practice how to visually represent the applicable verb tense in the consumer’s language preference. Use classifiers if appropriate. Use the space below to write down any notes you would like.

13. Looking at Appendix B, practice how to visually represent the applicable grammar formulas in the Deaf consumer’s language preference. Practice signing the grammar formula start on the right and moving toward the left and vice versa.

14. Contact the point-of-contact for the interpreting assignment, and ask if an observation can be done in advance.

1. Are you able to observe the classroom in advance? Yes      or No

2. Date, time and location of observation:

15. Use online videos to simulate an ELL classroom lecture.

1. Record yourself interpreting the mock assignment.

2. Watch the video and record your initial reaction to it.

3. Take a break.

4. Rewatch your video.

5. Post-Reaction: What were you proud of? What pre-assignment controls do you feel helped you? What other pre-assignment controls would you employ for similar future assignments?

Appendix C

Note. Appendix C & D has been adapted from Pre-Test by S. Lund, 2019, (Unpublished Handout). Arizona Western College, Yuma, AZ. Adapted with permission.

Instructions

Read sentences 1-16. Determine if each of the sentences is correct or incorrect. If the sentence is correct, circle correct. If the sentence is incorrect, fix it. For a challenge, explain the rationale for the correction. Explaining why the specific correction was needed is good practice because these are the types of questions a student will ask in a grammar class. An answer key for this activity can be found in Appendix D.

1. Let’s keep this a secret between you and I.

1. Circle:              Correct             or         Incorrect

2. Rewrite the sentence without errors:

3. Explain the rationale for the correction:

2. Her and Mike eat out often.

1. Circle:              Correct             or         Incorrect

2. Rewrite the sentence without errors:

3. Explain the rationale for the correction:

3. By the time I had arrived, the teacher had already left.

1. Circle:              Correct             or         Incorrect

2. Rewrite the sentence without errors:

3. Explain the rationale for the correction:

4. I could of had a Pepsi.

1. Circle:              Correct             or         Incorrect

2. Rewrite the sentence without errors:

3. Explain the rationale for the correction:

5. I wish I had went with you.

1. Circle:              Correct             or         Incorrect

2. Rewrite the sentence without errors:

3. Explain the rationale for the correction:

6. Me and you need to talk.

1. Circle:              Correct             or         Incorrect

2. Rewrite the sentence without errors:

3. Explain the rationale for the correction:

7. She don’t need nobody to tell her what to do.

1. Circle:              Correct             or         Incorrect

2. Rewrite the sentence without errors:

3. Explain the rationale for the correction:

8. We have less students this year than we did last year.

1. Circle:              Correct             or         Incorrect

2. Rewrite the sentence without errors:

3. Explain the rationale for the correction:

9. Spanish is more easy than French.

1. Circle:              Correct             or         Incorrect

2. Rewrite the sentence without errors:

3. Explain the rationale for the correction:

10. I don’t like them cookies.

1. Circle:              Correct             or         Incorrect

2. Rewrite the sentence without errors:

3. Explain the rationale for the correction:

11. Pizza Hut is better then Domino’s.

1. Circle:              Correct             or         Incorrect

2. Rewrite the sentence without errors:

3. Explain the rationale for the correction:

12. John needs a ride because his car is broke.

1. Circle:              Correct             or         Incorrect

2. Rewrite the sentence without errors:

3. Explain the rationale for the correction:

13. This is the best movie I ever saw.

1. Circle:              Correct             or         Incorrect

2. Rewrite the sentence without errors:

3. Explain the rationale for the correction:

14. The teacher gives us alot of homework everyday.

1. Circle:              Correct             or         Incorrect

2. Rewrite the sentence without errors:

3. Explain the rationale for the correction:

15. If I was you, I wouldn’t repeat that.

1. Circle:              Correct             or         Incorrect

2. Rewrite the sentence without errors:

3. Explain the rationale for the correction:

16. My new car is red, and its interior is leather.

1. Circle:              Correct             or         Incorrect

2. Rewrite the sentence without errors:

3. Explain the rationale for the correction:

Appendix D.

Verb tense: Checking for comprehension: Answer Key

Note. Appendix C & D has been adapted from Pre-Test by S. Lund, 2019, (Unpublished Handout). Arizona Western College, Yuma, AZ. Adapted with permission.

The brief rationales for the corrections are in reference to Standard American English. The rationales provided below all use the same reference of Azar & Hagan, 2009.

1. Let’s keep this a secret between you and meI.

1. The rationale for correction:

1. Use “I” as the subject of a sentence, and “me” as the object.

2. HerShe and Mike eat out often.

1. The rationale for correction:

2. “She” is a subject pronoun and is used before the verb. “Her” is an object pronoun, which means it is used after the verb.

3. By the time I had arrived, the teacher had already left. [delete “had”]

1. The rationale for correction:

2. The portion of the sentence before the comma is a dependent phrase or dependant clause in Simple Past tense. The grammar formula for Simple Past tense is “Subject + base verb-ed.” For more information, refer to Table 2 and 3.

4. I could ofhave had a Pepsi.

1. The rationale for correction:

1. This sentence needs to be in Present Perfect tense. Present Perfect tense is used when talking about a past action that is continuing into the present. The grammar formula for Present Perfect is “Subject + “have” + past participle.” For more information, refer to Table 2 and 3.

5. I wish I had wentgone with you.

1. The rationale for correction:

1. Incorrect verb form. This is what someone wishes they had done in the past. The hypothetical situation is written in the past and then it is followed up by the Past Perfect tense. The grammar formula for Past Perfect tense is “Subject + “had” + past participle.” For more information, refer to Table 2 and 3.

6. Me and youYou and I need to talk.

1. The rationale for correction:

1. Use “I” as the subject of a sentence, and “me” as the object. You always write yourself last.

7. She don’tdoesn’t need nobodyanybody to tell her what to do.

1. The rationale for correction:

1. In English, double negatives are not grammatically correct; however, they are permissible in some other languages.

8. We have lessfewer students this year than we did last year.

1. The rationale for correction:

1. “Students” is a plural count noun, so we need to use the word “fewer.” The word “less” is used with plural noncount nouns.

9. Spanish is more easyeasier than French.

1. The rationale for correction:

1. For comparative adjectives like in the sentence above, you need to add the suffix “-er” to the and of the adjective. In this situation “easy” ends in a “y,” so you drop the “y” and add “ier.”

10. I don’t like themthose cookies.

1. The rationale for correction:

1. “Them” is an object pronoun and “those” is a demonstrative adjective to describe which ones.

11. Pizza Hut is better thenthan Domino’s.

1. The rationale for correction:

1. “Then” is commonly used to express a sense of time, what comes next, or what used to be the case. “Than” is used to compare two things or concepts.

12. John needs a ride because his car is brokebroken.

1. The rationale for correction:

1. “Broke” is the Simple Past tense of the base verb “break.” The car broke in the past and it continues to be “broken.”

13. This is the best movie I have ever sawseen.

1. The rationale for correction:

1. This sentence is in Present Perfect tense. The grammar formula in “Present Perfect” is “Subject + “have” + past participle form of the verb. “Have” needed to be inserted after the subject. “Saw” is Simple Past form of the verb, so it needed to be changed into the past participle form of the verb. For more information, refer to Table 2 and 3.

14. The teacher gives us alota lot of homework everydayevery day.

1. The rationale for correction:

1. The word “alot” is not a correct English word in Standard American English. The word “everyday” is an adjective that describes the noun in the sentence. “Every day” is synonymous with the phrase each day.

15. If I waswere you, I wouldn’t repeat that.

1. The rationale for correction:

1. In Simple Past tense the phrase “I was…” would be correct. However, this specific sentence is a hypothetical situation sentence with the purpose to give advice to another person. For hypothetical sentences about giving advice the phrase “If I were you…” is used.

16. My new car is red, and its’its interior is leather.

1. The rationale for correction:

1. “It’s” is a contraction for “it is” or “it has.” “Its” is the possessive form of “it,” for example if the object owned or belonged to something.

References

Azar, B. & Hagen, S. (2009). Understanding and using English grammar 4th ed with answer key. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.

Lund, S. (2019). Pre-Test (Unpublished Handout). Retitled as “Verb tense: Checking for comprehension.” Arizona Western College, Yuma, AZ.

Developing Confident and Competent DeafBlind Interpreters

Krystle Chambers, Kiarah Moore, and Chevon Nicole Ramey

Abstract

DeafBlind interpreting is a sub-field in the signed language interpreting profession which has yet to be fully developed and therefore requires further research, data collection, and exploration. The lack of available qualified interpreters is a common plight within the DeafBlind community. The authors of this chapter will address the major reasons for this disparity: the insufficiency of education specific to DeafBlind interpreting and the lack of confidence of interpreters in their ability to accurately interpret for DeafBlind consumers. The authors will focus on equipping interpreters with the knowledge of various modes of communication, cultural attributes, and interpreting strategies specific to DeafBlind settings. A comparison of DeafBlind interpreting and visual signed language interpreting is given in order to depict the key differences. Furthermore, the authors will supply interpreters with tips, tools, and coping strategies to enhance self and perceived confidence, aiding in the quality of the interpreter’s performance and longevity.

Key words: DeafBlind interpreter, DeafBlind, Confidence, Competence

When one thinks about signed language interpreting a picture comes to mind of an individual who is Deaf, an individual who is hearing and speaking, and an interpreter who provides equal access to the communication occurring between the Deaf and hearing individuals. A picture that may not come to mind is a DeafBlind individual communicating to a hearing person through an interpreter. This article looks at that picture of interpreting between a DeafBlind individual and a hearing person. DeafBlind interpreting is a field of signed language interpreting that is currently being researched and developed. The information in this chapter was compiled for use in curriculum that interpreter education and training programs, interpreting workshop presenters, and individual interpreters and interpreting students can draw upon to prepare professional development in regard to DeafBlind interpreting.

The information presented here includes various modes of communication used within the DeafBlind community, how DeafBlind interpreting differs from visual signed language interpreting, how confidence and competence may influence each other in DeafBlind interpreting, and various coping mechanisms one can use when interpreting. Again, this compilation may be implemented in the development of curriculum focusing on DeafBlind interpreting.

It is important to note that the information given is a generalization, to know any specifics about the DeafBlind community in your area it would be of great benefit to reach out to your local community to learn of their nuances. Also, throughout this article the term DeafBlind is the cultural term used to identify an individual with a dual-sensory loss (vision and hearing).

Communication Modes Within the DeafBlind Community

When working with the DeafBlind community it is beneficial to be aware of the various communication modes used within the community. The various communication modes include, but are not limited to, tactile (one or two handed) communication, tracking, Protactile signing, haptics, and low/limited vision signing. One of the reasons for the various modes of communication is in part due to the various ages of onset the DeafBlind individuals experience the dual-sensory loss and to the stage the dual-sensory loss. In this section, there is a brief overview of what these various modes of communication entail.

Tactile

When interacting or interpreting for a DeafBlind individual who does not use sight or sound to receive communication a mode that can be used to communicate is by using tactile signing. Tactile signing can use one or both hands to communicate when the DeafBlind individual places their hands on the back of the signer’s hand(s) to receive and understand the signs being communicated through the movement and touch (Crossroads, 2018). This mode of communication can also be used by an individual that is losing the use of their sight to not miss what is being communicated visually. This can be helpful when the individual knows their sight is diminishing and learning to receive communication through tactile means with visual assistance (Mesch, 2013).

When using tactile signing, it is typical that a DeafBlind individual has a dominant receiving hand and this dominant hand may or may not be the dominant hand used for other various tasks or be the dominant signing hand (Mesch, 2013). In a scenario where the DeafBlind individual receives the signs with the right hand this would mean the signer/interpreter would need to sign left hand dominant. If the DeafBlind individual received in their left hand the signer/interpreter would need to sign right hand dominant. If the DeafBlind individual preferred to use both hands to receive communication then the signer/interpreter would face the DeafBlind individual while signing (Mesch, 2013). Since another individual’s hand are on the backs of the signer’s hands some signs may need to be altered due to the physical limitations, space limitations, and where the signs contact the body (Collins, 2004).

As the signs are produced, it is important to make sure the signs and fingerspelling are clear and using distinct motions so as to avoid the signs “mushing” together (Smith, 2002). When signing try to not move your hand or body to meet the signs, instead bring the signs to the head or body as one normally would to avoid miscommunications with the DeafBlind individual. “The placement and orientation of your hands is important for meaning (e.g., think about the signs meaning “father,” “mother,” “fine,” “Russia,” “taste,” “sick”)” (Smith, 2002, p. 87). Remember to keep the signs open and having a consistent flow to be as clear as possible. If the signer/interpreter notices the hands from the DeafBlind individual are resting heavier on the back of the signer/interpreter’s hands one can mention it to the DeafBlind individual (Smith, 2002). It is better to mention it to avoid excess tiring from the extra weight on the back of one’s hands.

Tracking

Tracking is another way to communicate when a DeafBlind individual uses a signed language to communicate and whose sight is affected by a changing field of vision. The signer/interpreter communicates by signing a speed that is understood by the DeafBlind individual while the DeafBlind individual holds or touches the signer/interpreter’s wrist or forearm to better help visually “track” or follow the signs (Rochester Institute of Technology Libraries, 2018). There are not many modifications needed to use the tracking method, the signer/interpreter just needs to be aware that the sign production might feel different due to the weight or pull from the DeafBlind individual’s hand holding the wrist or forearm.

Protactile

A method of communication that is currently being researched, developed, and used by many DeafBlind individuals is Protactile. According to Granda and Nuccio (2018) Protactile communication has been used by the DeafBlind community for many years but had never been officially recognized and named. Protactile started receiving recognition and research when the DeafBlind community noticed the various ways a DeafBlind individual would communicate without the sole use of American Sign Language (Granda & Nuccio, 2018). Granda and Nuccio (2018) have collaborated and developed research that distinguishes what linguistic markers are used in Protactile communication. The research shows that there are seven principles involved with Protactile communication which are contact space, reciprocity, protactile perspective, SASS (size and shape specifiers), exceptions, information source, and tactile imagery (Granda & Nuccio, 2018).

The seven different principles help bring an understanding on how to communicate using Protactile. The principle of contact space is used when one needs to substitute the “air space” used in American Sign Language to a space with physical contact (Granda & Nuccio, 2018). The “air space” in particular where contact space is beneficial is when using “reference markers,” “role shifting,” and “emphasis and emotions” (Granda & Nuccio, 2018). Instead of pointing for references or using an eye gaze for role shifting one should establish a contact space for these concepts for clearer communication. To communicate emphasis and emotions in a Protactile way one can sign the emotions or show the emotions with their hands and for emphasis one can bring that into the contact space (Granda & Nuccio, 2018). An example of bringing concepts into contact space can be used with the concept of yawning. One could use the sign for yawn, one could show the mouth open and closing by opening and closing one’s hand on the arm or leg of the DeafBlind individual, or one could show it by making one’s hand go limp on the arm or leg of the DeafBlind individual (Granda & Nuccio, 2018).

The next principle used in Protactile is reciprocity. When communicating in a Protactile environment it is reciprocal, meaning everyone should express and receive communication in the same way regardless of the vision levels of the individuals involved (Granda & Nuccio, 2018). In Protactile environments it is the norm to communicate through tactile means. If individuals with sight are only willing to receive communication visually and the DeafBlind individual uses tactile communication to receive information then this would not be a reciprocal environment and can “lead to an environment where vision is privileged” (Granda & Nuccio, 2018, p. 7). Therefore, it is not important how much one can see but to remember to communicate reciprocally (Granda & Nuccio, 2018).

Protactile perspective is the third principle of Protactile communication. Having a Protactile perspective is important when needing to establish classifiers, using demonstrations, or mapping with the DeafBlind individual (Granda & Nuccio, 2018). If time permits, it is best to establish or create the signs with the DeafBlind individual for clear communication. An example of using classifiers that are in contact with the individual is by setting up the classifier on the arm or leg of the individual receiving the communication. Another way to use a classifier could be for the individual receiving the signs to form the classifier and the signer shows the action using that classifier, such as the receiver forms a “5” handshape and the signer shows a small animal “running up the tree” by moving one’s fingers up the arm and to the fingers of the receiver (Granda & Nuccio, 2018). Demonstrating how something is done can also be used in a similar way as the above describes using the individual receiving the signs for classifiers. One can show how to cook pancakes by using the receiver’s upturned hand as “the pan”, then the signer “pours” the batter on to “the pan” and waits until it “bubbles” (drumming the fingertips on the hand representing the pan), when it bubbles flip the pancake (Granda & Nuccio, 2018). With mapping it is important to remember to use that contact space. Instead of pointing or describing where to go provide a tactile map. This can be done by using the hand, arm, or leg of the receiver. If one is showing the layout of a room one can use the palm/hand of the receiver as the floorplan by placing/signing objects on the hand as it lays in the visual space of the room (Granda & Nuccio, 2018). Again, the important thing with having a Protactile perspective is by working together to establish and create signs that can be understood in a tactile way.

The fourth principle in Protactile communication is SASS (size and shape specifiers). This concept is used in signed languages but it uses the “air space” whereas in Protactile one needs to use “contact space” (Granda & Nuccio, 2018). When signing the size or shape of an object where it comes in contact with the receiver will make the communication clearer. One can use the hand, arm, or leg of the receiver or one can even use a table that is nearby or the chair one sits in. If one is talking about a fish that was caught recently then one could use the leg or arm of the receiver to indicate the length of the fish and then indicate where the head/fins are, then one can describe the color of the fish on the arm or leg of the receiver (Granda & Nuccio, 2018).

Exceptions are the fifth principle in Protactile communication. This principle was developed in the event the first principle of contact is not physically safe or is in conflict with cultural norms (Granda & Nuccio, 2018). An example of an exception of when direct contact may not be conducive to the communication is when the signer/interpreter is at a medical appointment for the DeafBlind individual the doctor is describing an upcoming eye surgery. It would not be safe for the signer/interpreter to make contact with the receiver’s eye and describe/show what will happen during the surgery. Instead one would indicate which eye will have the surgery and then use the hand of the receiver as the “eye” and explain the surgery to the eye on that hand.

The sixth principle of Protactile communication, information source, states that “when sharing information, be sure to include the source of the information” (Granda & Nuccio, 2018, p. 12). When communicating in a Protactile environment it is important to include the source of information that is being provided. Granda and Nuccio (2018) provide an example of this by explaining that when you are communicating with a DeafBlind individual and you receive a text stating a friend will be arriving soon inform the individual that a text was received by clearly stating the friend texted saying will be arriving soon. One could also bring the phone to the hand of the receiver to indicate that is where the information came from. It does not matter how the information is communicated, only that the visual information is conveyed tactually.

Tactile imagery is the seventh and final principle of Protactile communication. In American Sign Language storytelling is an important part of the culture and communication but all the signs and facial expressions occur in the “air space” which is not conducive to the DeafBlind community (Granda & Nuccio, 2018). Protactile provides a way to tell a story or describe an experience one had through tactile imagery. For example, if you were describing walking along the beach and a wave came and swept you out to sea one can show this by using the arm of the receiver as “the beach” and the signer shows “the wave” splashing against the arm. Then show a “person” walking on the beach by signing on the receiver’s arm. When the “wave” hits “the beach” and “person” and then sweeps the person out to sea show that by the “wave” grabbing the “person” from the arm and sliding off the arm.

These seven principles described above are what guide Protactile communication. It is important to remember that information is clear when one can provide it through tactile means. Avoiding the “air space” and instead using the “contact space” to communicate will reduce the miscommunications and provide a clearer picture of what is occurring.

Haptics

Haptics, or haptic signals, are a way to provide information about emotions, facial expressions, body language, the layout of a room or the surrounding environment, and any other visual or auditory information to an individual (Senses Australia, 2018). Haptics are communication signals that a signer/interpreter communicates by “drawing on” or touching the receiver’s upper back, arm, or sometimes leg/thigh (Nielsen, 2010). An example of this haptic communication would be if a DeafBlind individual is joking with someone and the interpreter communicates to the DeafBlind individual that the person is laughing by providing a scratching motion (the haptic signal for laughter) on the DeafBlind individuals back (Nielsen, 2010). This is a way to provide the visual information for the DeafBlind individual to know that the person understood and is laughing at the joke.

There are haptic signals developed by the Danish Association of the DeafBlind (Nielsen, 2010) that one can use or it is possible for the haptic signal to be developed between the DeafBlind individual and the interpreter that better matches the situation at hand. A haptic signal that is often used for emergency situations that requires one to leave urgently is to draw a big “X” on the back of the DeafBlind individual (Smith, 2002). This haptic signal informs the DeafBlind individual that one needs to leave now and once safety is reached the interpreter/signer will explain the situation.

Haptics can also be used when the DeafBlind individual and the interpreter are conversing by the interpreter keeping or tapping a hand on the knee, if sitting, or on the upper arm/shoulder, if standing. This haptic signal is a way to inform the individual that the interpreter is “paying attention” or “listening” (Smith, 2002). If one decides to use the tapping method, it is important to remember not to over tap the hand, the tapping should mirror a head nod. If one decides to keep contact by not tapping the hand and instead keeping a constant contact then try to avoid resting the hand on the DeafBlind individual’s knee or arm, this resting/relaxed contact could be misunderstood as being tired or not interested in the conversation (Smith, 2002).

Again, haptics is a means to provide information about the environment that surrounds DeafBlind individuals. Haptics only adds to the communication and the language being used to provide the visual information, it is not a language itself (Nielsen, 2010).

Low/Limited Vision Signing

There are some DeafBlind individuals that have low/limited vision that prefer to receive information and communication visually when possible rather than by a form of tactile signing. Interpreting or signing to an individual with low/limited vision is not to different than signing to an individual who is sighted. With low/limited vision it is important to find out how large or small the signing space one needs to keep the signs in. For individuals with tunnel vision, it is important to remember to keep the signs within that “tunnel” because everything signed outside of that “tunnel” could be missed (Smith, 2002). It helps to remember to sign in the area just below one’s chin so that the DeafBlind individual can see both the signs and the facial expressions within the field of vision (Smith, 2002).

It is also important to remember to be aware of the clothing one wears when signing to an individual with low/limited vision. When deciding on what to wear it is good to keep in mind that the clothing be a solid color that does not reflect light to cause a possible glare, colors such as black, dark/forest green, dark blue, or golden yellow are generally preferred (Smith, 2002). Also, keep in mind that the upper arm may need to be covered if one’s skin tone is lighter in complexion due to light reflecting off the skin. As with other interpreting assignments, remember to choose clothing colors that offer a contrast to one’s skin tone (Smith, 2002).

Lighting, along with clothing, is also something that needs to be considered to provide a signing environment that can be successfully received by the DeafBlind individual. It is beneficial for the DeafBlind individual with low/limited vision for the interpreter to have the light on the hands and face to illuminate the signs and facial expressions. A lighting situation that is important to remember is overhead/ceiling lights. In this lighting environment, it is best that the interpreter and the DeafBlind individual are at the same level rather than the interpreter standing causing the DeafBlind individual to look up at an angle to see the signs, this can result in the individual having to look into the overhead/ceiling light (Smith, 2002). When considering the lighting in the environment it would also be best to take into consideration the background, especially behind the interpreter. It is best for the interpreter to avoid positioning one’s self in front of a window or anything producing a bright light that can cause a glare or being in front of a wall or object with a busy pattern, this can make it difficult to clearly see the signs (Smith, 2002).

With keeping the modes of communication, signing space, clothing, lighting and other considerations in mind when interpreting for a DeafBlind individual, remember that each assignment and each individual may prefer or have unique visual modifications. Mentioned above are suggestions offered to guide what one should consider, but overall it is a case by case situation (Smith, 2002). The more one interprets for the DeafBlind community, the more one will develop a sense of how to make the communication effective.

DeafBlind Interpreting Compared to Visual Signed Language Interpreting

When interpreting for an individual who uses a visual mode of a signed language, one will interpret the auditory information, but when interpreting for a DeafBlind individual one must also include visual information. When at an assignment with a DeafBlind individual, one relays the visual environment that will orient the individual to the place, activity, mood, style, feeling, time, and patterns of the environment (Smith, 2002).

As information is given it is important to remember to stay neutral and provide facts rather than giving in to bias. One can describe a room by giving the size in relation to how many steps it would take to cross the room. One can also describe the room by how many tables are set up, and also describe the table by shape and how many people can sit at it. These types of orientation help set the place, mood, style, and feelings. When one notices trends or why some people go to certain places over others, this type of information needs to be shared with the DeafBlind individual when possible. This information helps orient the DeafBlind to the time and patterns of the environment surrounding them.

One may wonder “how do I know what to describe or not?” A basic rule of thumb is to describe what you see and/or hear. As stated by Stewart et al. (2004) “an effective interpreter for deafblind will inform them about relevant auditory and visual conditions” (p. 83). To describe places, think about what is most striking about the environment and why this place was picked as the venue for the event (Smith, 2002). When describing people that are present, look to see about how many are there, what they are wearing (keeping this fact based, rather than providing opinions), what the people look like, and who is talking with whom (Smith, 2002).

At a DeafBlind interpreting assignment, the roles of the interpreter might be slightly modified than what may occur at an assignment with visual sign language. If there is a document being passed around, the interpreter would need to include what is on that document by either interpreting the document or describing what the document entails. One may also need to arrange the environment to accommodate the unique situation that DeafBlind interpreting evokes (Smith, 2002).

Another possible role that differs from a visual signed language assignment, is guiding the DeafBlind individual from one location to another. This may occur if there was a last-minute change to the agenda and the participants in a meeting need to relocate or at a medical appointment and the medical staff need to change which patient is in the room. The guiding role typically falls to the responsibility of the support service provider, but if some situations where the support service provider is not present it could then fall to the interpreter (Smith, 2002). If the situation were to arise that the interpreter needed to guide the DeafBlind individual, then it would be in the best interest of all involved for the interpreter to have a basic understanding of how to guide. When guiding a DeafBlind individual remember to pay attention to the surroundings and where the DeafBlind individual is stepping, take your time, try to be consistent in how you guide for individuals, and when you are unsure of what to do communicate with the DeafBlind individual (Smith, 2002). Before one begins to guide an individual ask if there is a preferred way to be guided. Some DeafBlind individuals prefer to hold on to the shoulder of the guide, some prefer to hold the arm right above the shoulder of the guide, others with guide dogs sometime prefer to have the dog follow the guide rather than have direct contact between the guide and the DeafBlind individual. While guiding it is helpful to communicate when something in the environment changes such as a curb, stairs, blocked path, or the amount of people in the vicinity. Again, the interpreter is typically not the individual guiding but if the situation occurs then it is helpful for the interpreter to know the basics.

There are several differences between DeafBlind interpreting and visual signed language interpreting but overall the goal is to provide access to the communication occurring. There may be several modifications that need to happen to provide that communication access, but once those modifications have been made then communication can occur.

The Link Between Confidence and Competence

Currently, only a scarce number of interpreter training programs offer courses dedicated to teaching students about DeafBlind Interpreting. Course descriptions from multiple programs that offer a course on DeafBlind interpreting show that the majority of these courses only teach the basic requirements of DeafBlind interpreters. Anecdotal evidence suggests that most interpreter training programs that do not offer a full course dedicated to DeafBlind interpreting only touch on this topic during higher level/special topics interpreting courses.

In order to gain a more sufficient amount of knowledge and skills about the subfield of DeafBlind interpreting, interpreters must seek out trainings and other types of learning opportunities on their own. There are a few organizations that provide resources and trainings for those interested in DeafBlind interpreting (e.g., Deaf Blind Interpreter Institute; DeafBlind Service Center) and can be accessed online. But there is a significant lack of hands-on face-to-face workshop opportunities across the country. Without exposure and more options for learning about DeafBlind interpreting, there will continue to be a scarcity of interpreters qualified and willing to work with DeafBlind consumers.

Interpreters, whether they work in spoken language or signed language, tend to be curious people who are interested in a variety of topics (Obst, 2010). In addition, interpreters interact with a wide variety of people on a daily basis. Therefore, an interpreter must be agreeable, friendly, and adaptable. These traits are even more crucial for DeafBlind interpreters to possess. Due to the unique and varied communication needs of DeafBlind consumers, “interpreters must be versatile and flexible” (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc., 2007). Also, the role of a DeafBlind interpreter can easily switch to that of a Support Service Provider depending on the needs and requests of the consumer.

Confidence has also been found to play an important role in the success of interpreters. Although there has not been research done specifically about DeafBlind interpreters and confidence, Shaw and Hughes (2006) noted that while studying an interpreting program, both students and faculty identified confidence as an important factor in learning to interpret as well as the main personal characteristic that needs to be further developed in students. This revelation begs the question of how to build confidence for DeafBlind interpreters.

There is an inextricable link between confidence and competence (Holland, Middleton, and Uys, 2012) in practice professions and the importance of confidence in interpreting has been noted by Shaw and Hughes (2006). The more knowledgeable a person is about something, the more likely they are to perform the task with a higher level of confidence. The more knowledgeable a person is about something, the more likely they are to perform the task with a higher level of confidence. In a study of occupational therapy students, Holland et al. (2012) found that at times, competence directly influenced confidence, and other times, lack of knowledge resulted in lack of confidence. Focused training and practice is the only way that a person can learn and improve upon a skill. Unfortunately, there currently are not many opportunities for interpreters interested in DeafBlind interpreting to improve upon their skills. Without these practice opportunities in the form of trainings, workshops, internships, etc., it is almost impossible to build the confidence and skills needed to successfully navigate the world of DeafBlind interpreting.

Self-Care Strategies for Interpreters working with DeafBlind Consumers

Interpreting is a taxing task, both mentally and physically. DeafBlind interpreting adds another layer to this already demanding job. It is important for DeafBlind interpreters to engage in self-care that caters to both their mental and physical loads.

One strategy for coping with the stress incurred from DeafBlind interpreting is seeking support from others. This support could come in the form of debriefing with colleagues (Crezee, Atkinson, Pask, Au, & Wong, 2015) or seeking structured supervision (Dean & Pollard, 2001). DeafBlind should be aware of when a team interpreter is necessary in order to give one another relief during longer more demanding assignments (Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc., 2007). Interpreters could also benefit from being prepared prior to an assignment, having faith in some greater power, positive self-talk, trying to see things in perspective, reflecting, and/or journaling (Holland et al., 2012).

Other techniques that may be useful in stress management include becoming knowledgeable about stress, developing a healthy lifestyle, managing time, and creating a friendly social climate (Kushwaha, 2014). It is also important for interpreters to be aware of self-care practices that work best for them. These could include resting, taking breaks as needed, stretching, using good posture, exercising, or going to counseling. (Crezee et al., 2015; Zenizo, 2013).

Furthermore, interpreters should have strategies in place to prepare for difficult assignments. Although this particular method has yet to be studied in relation to interpreters, Carney, Cuddy, and Yap (2010) suggest that engaging in high-power, expansive poses before a stressful task can prepare an individual’s “mental and physiological systems to endure difficult and stressful situations, and perhaps to actually improve confidence and performance in [various] situations” (p. 1367). Crezee et al. (2015) assert the importance for teaching self-care methods in interpreter training programs in order to better prepare novice interpreters for real world assignments.

Current Trainings and Resources

There are few trainings and resources available to those who want to learn about DeafBlind interpreting, but they are the stepping stones to DeafBlind interpreting knowledge and training being implemented into an interpreter education program. An organization that is devoted to providing education, trainings, and resources is the DeafBlind Interpreting National Training and Resource Center (DBI) located at Western Oregon University. DBI is dedicated to celebrating the diversity and culture of DeafBlind individuals and aims to increase the awareness and number of “culturally-competent and qualified interpreters” (DBI, 2018). DBI provides trainings and resources through online workshops and onsite trainings working with DeafBlind trainers and interpreters (DBI, 2018).

Other resources are available from various organizations with special interest groups or task forces researching DeafBlind interpreting. One of these organizations is the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI). WASLI (2019) has a special interest group whose committee is dedicated to developing DeafBlind interpreting through collaborating with DeafBlind communities, providing resources, and increasing trainings worldwide. Another organization is the American Association of the DeafBlind (AADB). This organization provides resources pertaining to various communication modes and is collaborating with the DeafBlind interpreting task force (AADB, 2018). These trainings and resources for DeafBlind interpreting are currently being researched and developed and are a great place to learn and gain the skills to be a competent and confident DeafBlind interpreter.

Conclusion

As the interpreting profession has grown, the depth of interpreting research has increased and interpreter education has improved. However, the subfield of DeafBlind interpreting has been basically neglected. There is a scarcity of qualified DeafBlind interpreters to serve the communication needs of DeafBlind consumers. The lack of qualified DeafBlind interpreters can be attributed to the unavailability of trainings, workshops, and courses for prospective for interpreters working with DeafBlind consumers. It is essential for curriculum to be developed so that those interested can have access to knowledge and skills necessary to become successful DeafBlind interpreters.

When developing a curriculum for DeafBlind interpreters, educators must include information about the various communication methods of the DeafBlind community. A curriculum also needs to incorporate teaching of DeafBlind culture. Furthermore, it is important for new DeafBlind interpreters to be aware of coping and confidence building strategies that will aid them in the real world of DeafBlind interpreting.

This article is only a stepping stone to the research that must be explored concerning DeafBlind interpreting. It is the authors’ hope that as more studies are conducted about DeafBlind interpreting, a more streamlined and cohesive curriculum can be developed and used across the country in workshops, trainings, and interpreter training programs. Our end goal is to develop more competent and confident interpreters for DeafBlind consumers.

About the Authors

Krystle Chambers, Bachelors of Arts degree in Communicative Disorders with an emphasis in interpreting from California State University, Fresno. She has been interpreting since 2012 but has been working with the Deaf and DeafBlind communities both locally and abroad, in Mexico and Peru, since 2001. She currently studies at Western Oregon University pursuing a Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies.

Kiarah Elyse Moore, BEI Basic, B.A. American Sign Language Interpreting and B.A. Liberal Studies with emphasis in Psychology and Health at the University of Houston. She has been working as an interpreter in the state of Texas since 2017 in settings that include community, K-12, post-secondary, and theatrical. She currently studies at Western Oregon University pursuing a Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies.

Chevon Nicole Ramey, BEI Advanced, BEI Medical, B.A.A.S Psychology at Texas A&M University – San Antonio. She has been teaching interpreting at San Antonio College since 2017, and she has been working as an interpreter in Texas since 2011 in the following settings: community, medical, post-secondary, educational, performance, platform, conference. She currently studies at Western Oregon University pursuing a Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies.

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Smith, T. B. (2002). Guidelines: Practical tips for working and socializing with deaf-blind people. Burtonsville, MD: Sign Media, Inc.

Stewart, D. A., Schein, J. D., & Cartwright, B. E. (2004). Sign language interpreting: exploring its art and science (Second ed., pp. 81-86). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI). (2018). In Deafblind interpreting. Retrieved from https://wasli.org/special-interest/deafblind-interpreting

Zenizo, A. L. (2013). Self-care in the field of interpreting. (Masters Thesis). Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/theses/3/

III

Section 3

Reflective Practice: Interpreter Mindset, Pre-Interpreting, Technical Skills, Adaptive Skills, and Supervision

Interpreter Mindset, Pre-Interpreting, Technical Skills, Adaptive Skills, and Supervision

Amanda Smith

Students of interpreting in the university setting are preparing to become competent, professional interpreters able to navigate novel experiences, topics, settings, and clients with grace. If we think of this as growing to become a mighty oak tree, there are a number of foundational ingredients required. There are mini-steps involved in the growth process, and isolated stages that eventually build up and overlap to serve as nourishment for the strong, towering oak. This section is about several of the little pieces that come together to provide the supportive root system for the working interpreter. To continue this analogy, this means talking about what makes up the process, such as the contents of the soil, the amount and type of watering needed, and the sun intensity required. Interpreting is much more than the sum of its parts and yet those parts need to be mastered in isolation before contributing effectively to the whole.

The building blocks in this section could include:

- development and exploration of interpreter mindset – what attitudes and beliefs frame an interpreter’s understanding of the world and his/her place in it?

- pre-interpreting skills including language, communication between parties, and understanding the goals of the settings;

- technical skill development – how is meaning co-constructed between parties, the steps of the interpreting process and how to assess accuracy and make corrections?

- adaptive skills development – what do interpreters need to know how to recognize and respond to in their practice – ethically, linguistically, cognitively and behaviorally?

- supervision – creating the practice of engaging in regular professional supervision to continue honing and aligning one’s skills with the larger community and personal goals.

The objectives of this section are to:

- Develop and utilize an interpreter mindset along with exploring the mindsets of other individuals, professions, and settings/systems;

- Practice pre-interpreting skills at discrete levels – practicing, drilling, and honing individual skills, then building to be able to practice, drill, and hone skills in tandem, and so on;

- Develop the technical skills necessary for competently co-constructing meaning between parties – for example, discourse analysis, working memory, linguistic flexibility, identifying goals, monitoring accuracy, and making corrections as warranted;

- Develop and practice adaptive skills necessary to, for example, competently navigate interpersonal relationships, respond to unique and novel circumstances, recognize what is occurring in a situation, and identify prioritization and forfeiture of values in a setting;

- Engage students in intentional reflective practice via supervision of interpreting work whether through case conferencing, thematic supervision, or other forms as warranted.

Definition of terms

There are terms that are used throughout this section that will need to be defined before moving on. This list will continue to grow as more contributions are made to this section over time.

Reflective practice is the ability to reflect on one’s actions so as to engage in a process of continuous learning (see also Dewey 1933, Schön1983).

Interpreter mindset is used in this section to refer to the established set of attitudes held by interpreters as a collective. The ways in which interpreters take in information, or how they filter stimuli for a purpose, in their surroundings and utilize it in service of their work.

Pre-Interpreting skills – these refer to those skills that are the necessary building blocks for the later development of real-time interpreting work – they may include technical and adaptive skills such as meaning-making, identifying a main point, being able to multi-task.

Technical skills – these are the abilities and knowledge needed to perform specific tasks. (see BEI Handbook)

Adaptive skills require application, utilizing technical skills in a way that is new based on the needs of the current circumstance. This is the ability to respond effectively in a novel environment, despite not having a clear-cut answer or technical response.

Supervision is consultation about the work with professional colleagues.

Demand-control schema Developed by Dean & Pollard (2001), this framework attempts to capture the complexities of the interpreting task by categorizing demands of the job (requirements) and controls that can be employed by the interpreter in response.

DC-S based supervision is professional consultation about the work following a case conferencing structure based on the demand-control schema constructs of demands, controls, consequences, and resulting demands.

Co-construction of meaning is the idea that communication is an active process, not passive, and requires all parties to actively work with the evidence around them to construct meaning. Ideally, that work is done cooperatively, thus co-constructing meaning.

Literature review

Conceptualizing the work of interpreters is an on-going challenge as it primarily happens in the brain of the interpreter and the consumers. Translation and interpreting have been around since the time that cultures and communities started engaging with one another so there is much to read on the subject of human communication and language translation. It is such a complex task that the clarity of it is elusive, but we have many contributions that help us to see it from many angles.

This portion will highlight some of the literature in regard to the technical and adaptive skills as well as the implementation of reflective practice in our professional community.

Over the years of trying to understand the interpreting process, there have been a number of theories and models posited – from cognitive to sociolinguistic and beyond. These get at portions of the process and elements of the process but no one model is sufficient to capture it all (Pochhacker 2016). Wilcox and Shaffer (2005) explore a cognitive model of interpreting that conceptualizes the work in an active versus passive way. This was novel at the time of its publication as interpreting prior to that had been conceptualized as a passive act of transferring words between people who did not share a language. But now there was recognition that meaning was being transmitted – the method may have been words but the words did not house the full meaning in and of itself. The toolmakers paradigm (Reddy as cited outlined in Wilcox and Shaffer (2005) exposes that challenge of communication even within the same language, then adding in a third party and a second language, it is amazing that communication ever happens at all.

In early 2001, Dean and Pollard also shared a framework that revolutionized and captured a larger sense of what interpreting requires, not from a linguistic standpoint but from a holistic standpoint, including the interpersonal, environmental, and intrapersonal aspects of interpreting. This schema also raised the question of how to do this type of work in community and with community support. Palmer (1998) says that a community of practice is an important place for ethical integrity and product improvement and, yet, as interpreters, at that time, we held strongly to the idea of confidentiality as secrecy. Dean and Pollard (2001) challenged us to think of confidentiality as privacy and respect for consumer communication while simultaneously confiding in other professionals about the nature of our work and the choices we, as practitioners, made in order to improve over time.

This led to the development of DC-S based supervision, which was an offshoot of Schön’s (2017) ideas about reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action. Demand-control schema provided the structure by which we could engage in meaningful, professional and constructive dialogue to improve the work by reflecting-on-action, which would eventually inform the ability to reflect-in-action.

Technical skills in interpreting include linguistic competence in at least two languages, cultural familiarity to decipher meaning within both languages, attention splitting abilities, among others. The awareness of the technical skills beyond language competence has expanded over the years. The list of skills required grows with each new research project that is completed and published. There are a number of resources available that attempt to focus on aspects of the process from practice workbooks like Patrie’s Effective interpreting series (2000-2018) to theoretical writings in various conference proceedings and journals (see, for example, Janzen 2005, Conference of Interpreter Trainers Proceedings, 1985-20018)

Why this section

The potential for this section includes the discrete practice of individual skills as well as the practice and knowledge sharing of what happens when those parts come together. The whole is definitely greater than the sum of the parts and requires a bit of magic to all come together. Much in the way that researchers and teachers cannot explain how a child learns to read, just that they are exposed to certain stimuli over a period of time and one day they read, it is nearly impossible to explain how one learns to interpret other than providing them with various stimuli from various perspectives and one day it comes together and they understand how to do it.

Once that hurdle is crossed, there is more hard work ahead. Much like the child learned that words carry meaning but now have to explore figurative and literal meanings, contextual analysis, genre, among others, interpreting students now have to understand how skills are transferable to all the varieties and contexts of human communication. This is no easy task. It is not a linear path with clearly marked checkboxes along the way. It is much more like a spiraling whirlpool where you will continue to see similar markers again and again from a deeper and deeper level, expanding your appreciation for the complexities of the task and needing to practice again and again to provide excellence to consumers.

Conclusion

It is exciting to embark on the process of creating a living textbook that will continue to grow and evolve, much like an oak tree, as our understanding of the work continues to grow and evolve. Our hope would be that in the future iterations of this text we continue to curate resources, activities, and research pertaining to the development of whole, healthy interpreters who can serve a wide variety of needs in the communities in which we work and live.

References

1.3.1 Essential Abilities and Attributes of Nonintermediary or Nondeaf Interpreters. (n.d.). Retrieved April 2, 2019, from Board for Evaluation of Interpreters website: https://hhs.texas.gov/laws-regulations/handbooks/bei/chapter-1-bei-general-interpreter-certification-policies-procedures/1-3-1-essential-abilities-attributes-nonintermediary-or-nondeaf-interpreters

Dean, R. K., & Pollard, R. Q. (2013). The demand control schema: Interpreting as a practice profession. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace.

Dean, R. K., & Pollard Jr, R. Q. (2001). Application of demand-control theory to sign language interpreting: Implications for stress and interpreter training. Journal of deaf studies and deaf education, 6(1), 1-14.

Dewey, J. (1933). How we think: A restatement of the relation of reflective thinking to the educative process. DC Heath.

Janzen, T. (Ed.). (2005). Topics in signed language interpreting: Theory and practice (Vol. 63). John Benjamins Publishing.

Palmer, P. (85). J.(1998). The courage to teach.

Patrie, C. (2000). The Effective Interpreting Series.

Pöchhacker, F. (2016). Introducing interpreting studies. Routledge.

Schön, D. A. (2017). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Routledge.

Wilcox, S., & Shaffer, B. (2005). Towards a cognitive model of interpreting. Benjamins Translation Library, 63, 27.

IV

Section 4

Historical, Collective, & Individual Professional Identity Narratives

Erin Trine

Introduction

This section begins with the premise that “learning to become a professional involves not only what we know and can do, but also who we are (becoming). It involves integration of knowing, acting, and being in the form of professional ways of being that unfold over time” (Dall’Alba, 2009, p. 34). How to best support students in this transformative process so they are ready to contribute to their profession and communities is one of the great questions of education. Interpreter educators aspire to support students in their development into professionals who consumers can trust and rely upon to practice with appropriate ethics, competence, and professionalism. Though, the ways this has been attempted has shifted over the years, historically, interpreter education has focused heavily on what students must do to function as interpreters (Ball, 2007) and less on what students must become as professional interpreters. While understandable from the historical context of our field, and not unique to interpreting (Dall’Alba, 2009), this is a phenomenon worth noting for such a relational profession.

Researchers in the fields of education, counseling, and medicine have explored professional identity in emerging professionals for decades (see Andersen, 1995; Connelly and Clandinin, 1999; Damasio,1999; Van Manen,1990; Winslade, J., Crocket, K., Monk, G. & Drewery, W., 2000 amongst others), but research in this area is just recently emerging in interpreting studies (Harwood, 2017; Hunt, 2015). Additionally, Annarino and Hall (2013) found that interpreters need to feel connected to the larger profession in order to value ethical choices in their practice. Who pre-professionals believe themselves to be and how they see themselves situated within the larger context of the profession will have an impact on them as individuals, the profession as a whole, and especially on the consumers they serve. Recognizing this compels us to explore this topic further. In this section we will endeavor to examine and explore the historical, collective, and individual professional identity narratives of the interpreting field in the hopes of fostering a deeper understanding of the narratives we have created as a profession and their impact, as well as move forward together in creating new narratives as individuals, a field, and a community.

The objectives of this section are to:

- Be reflective of the transformational journey required for students to become professionals and have that guide future approaches to preparing the new generations of interpreters.

- Explicate the historical narratives of what interpreting is, who interpreters are, and how that impacts the field and consumers.

- Examine the current narratives in the interpreting field and how that impacts the field, interpreting students, and consumers.

- Analyze what narratives students hold about their interpreting and ability to do the professional work.

- Discuss how experiences impact the professional identity narratives of interpreting students, interns, and working interpreters.

- Consider how interpreting students can approach their identity narratives analytically and accurately to support them in moving toward professional practice.

- Emphasize the importance of recognizing and addressing these narratives through appropriate practices (may include DC-S Supervision, data comparison, and counseling).

- Offer example activities to support students in examining their professional identity narratives.

Professional Identity

In this section we will use a broad understanding of professional identity, in line with Gibson, Dollarhide, and Moss’ (2010) claim that “contemporary definitions of professional identity seem to revolve around three themes: self-labeling as a professional, integration of skills and attitudes as a professional, and a perception of context in a professional community” (p. 21) Contributing authors may offer additional framing for their chapters. This understanding of the term is not about self-confidence, per se, but accurate self-awareness. For example, a healthy professional identity would not result in a student or interpreter being overly confident, but realistically aware of their abilities and limitations professionally. To put it another way: a healthy professional identity in a capable interpreter would produce the opposite of imposter syndrome; a healthy emerging professional identity in an interpreting student would produce accurate recognition of what has been mastered, what has not, and the work needed to move them deeper into the practice of a professional, the process of which allows them to become one. Due to the ontological nature of professional identity, it is not something that an individual could simply claim without doing the work of genuinely becoming a professional.

We also consider professional identity development to be a perpetual ontological exploration that requires vulnerable reflection, intentional work, and integrity. This includes alignment in what the individual recognizes about their professional abilities, the actual skills, mindsets, and attitudes they embody as a professional, and what their colleagues and consumers recognize. Rather than have students that adhere to a static deontological framework of how interpreters should behave, we desire students to truly become professionals and out of their professionalism express values, attitudes, and expectations that align with those of the professional community—esse quam videri. In interpreter education, this undertaking is a co-constructed process that requires students and educators to partner in the process of students becoming professionals:

When we take seriously the ontological dimension of professional education and the ambiguities of learning to become professionals, professional education can no longer stop short after developing knowledge and skills. Acquisition of knowledge and skills is insufficient for embodying and enacting skilful [sic] professional practice, including for the process of becoming that learning such practice entails. Instead, when we take account of ontology, professional education is reconfigured as a process of becoming; an unfolding and transformation of the self over time (Dall’Alba, 2009, p. 42).

This is not only true of the students’ professional identities, but of the interpreter educators’ as well. This perpetual “unfolding and transformation” (Dall’Alba, 2009, p. 42) process is integral to the practice and professional identity of interpreter educators as well as the ability to invite students to join them in this practice. Doing so supports student becoming and also creates space for a collective unfolding toward professional identity as a community and, hopefully, eventually as a field. One of the ways we employ in this practice is through engagement with narratives.

Narrative Inquiry

Narrative inquiry may be incorporated into a variety of qualitative research methods (e.g., phenomenological, case studies, ethnographical and autoethnographical) and may be considered as a methodology itself (Clandinin, 2016). This approach includes a focus on examining lived experiences through narrative form, or storying. For example, in their chapter Hamilton and McAlpine (2019) employ a narrative inquiry approach in which the authors recount personal experiences in narrative form and then analyze their stories for a deeper understanding of the impact and meaning that they internalized from those experiences and how each one contributed to their professional identities.

Readers may also be familiar with the work of Dr. Brené Brown (2010), whose popular work with narrative inquiry includes the power of deeply engaging with our own narratives to move to a place of health and whole-hearted living. Brown is not alone in lauding the powerful effect of examining our lived stories. From the field of counseling, Balatti, Haase, Henderson and Knight (n.d.) state that storying is vital to the development of identity based on neurological research examining how people continually reconstruct their self-image from lived and anticipated experiences. Also from the counseling field, Winslade (2002) explains that storying enables students to connect and integrate aspects of their professional identity through articulating who they are as a professional. He believes such articulation involving “fostering self-descriptions consistent with the performance of the values and skills of…practice” (Dulwich Centre, n.d., para. 15 ) is required for the process of developing professional identity. From this perspective, not only is storying useful for professional identity development, but professional identity development cannot occur without a form of storying aligning one’s self-concept with professional expectations.

Balatti, Haase, Henderson and Knight (n.d.), from the field of Education, describe the learning identity framework (Falk and Balatti, 2003) to explain how storying impacts identity formation. The framework includes three elements: The first is “identity sources,” which includes any aspects of the intersectional identity of the individual as well as context and place of the individual (Balatti, Haase, Henderson & Knight, n.d., p. 2 ). The second is “identity resources” which includes “behaviours, knowledges, beliefs and feelings,” but also a sense of self-confidence and belonging (Balatti, Haase, Henderson & Knight, n.d., p.3). The third is “storying and interaction,” through which identity is formed, re-formed, and co-constructed (Balatti, Haase, Henderson & Knight, n.d., p.3). Balatti, Haase, Henderson and Knight (n.d.) explain that through interaction within the framework these elements constantly inform each other to shape an ever-evolving identity.

See Figure 4.1 below for a reimagined version of this framework as it relates to an Interpreting context.

Figure 4.1: Learning Identity Framework Adapted from Falk and Balatti, 2003

In Figure 4.1 the identity sources would be the intersectional identity of the individual interpreting student/interpreter, the place she is located, and the profession of interpreting. The identity resources would include the degree to which the interpreting student/interpreter sees herself as an interpreter and as belonging to the professional community; controls she brings to the work; educational standards such as that of an interpreting program; professional standards such as the Entry-to-Practice Competencies (Witter-Merithew & Johnson, 2005), national certification requirements, local credentialing/licensing requirements; consumer expectations; etc. Storying and interaction occurs in community and individually, and the elements inform one another in a continual loop. This becomes a virtuous cycle of perpetual reformulation of the individual’s professional identity as it is strengthened through reflection, storying, and interaction.

The impact of storying and interaction in this framework emphasizes the importance of interpreter educators engaging in co-constructive, or co-authoring, storying practices with students to support their professional identity development. As members of the identity resources community, interpreter educators have the ability to validate a students’ belonging to the community (when appropriate) and to process their narratives with them through storying and interaction such as classroom discussions and assignment feedback. Narrative inquiry approaches to exploring professional identity within our field offer exciting opportunities to support students and colleagues in becoming the healthy professionals consumers need and expect.

It is important to note that although this framework describes a generalized process, not every individual may have the same experience. Emerging professionals with cultural identities that have been historically stigmatized may also need to go through a process of “redefinition” in their professional identity development as Slay and Smith (2011) found in a narrative study of African American journalists. As we continue to explore narrative inquiry as a field it is imperative to recognize what narratives are not present or represented. Rather than wait to release this section until we have the entirety of studies we wish to include here, we have chosen to share this living document as it develops from its inception and provide a continual invitation to you to contribute to it. We hope this resource can serve as a form of storying and interacting for all contributors and readers. We offer this beginning as an example of a possible collective unfolding of our becoming together.

References

Andersen, T. (1995). Reflecting processes: Acts of informing and forming. In S. Friedman (ed), The Reflecting Team in Action: Collaborative practice in family therapy (pp.11-37). New York: Guilford.

Annarino, P., & Hall, C. M. (2013). It takes professional community: A Case Study of Interpreter Professional Development in the Pac Rim. RID VIEWS. Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. Alexandria: Virginia.

Balatti, J., Haase, M., Henderson, L., & Knight, C. (n.d.). Developing teacher professional identity through online learning: A social capital perspective. James Cook University. Retrieved from: https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/16476/1/Professional_identity_Balatti_1-4-11.pdf

Ball, C. (2007). The history of American Sign Language interpreting education. (Doctoral dissertation), Available from ProQuest Information and Learning Company. (3258295).

Brown, B. (2010). The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are. Hazelden Publishing. ISBN-10: 9781592858491

Clandinin, J. (2016). Engaging in Narrative Inquiry. eBook Published 16 June 2016. Imprint Routledge: New York. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315429618. ISBN: 9781315429601

Connelly, F.D and Clandinin, D.J. (eds). (1999). Shaping a Professional Identity. Stories of Educational Practice. New York: Teachers College Press.

Dall’Alba, G. (2009). Learning professional ways of being: Ambiguities of becoming. Educational Philosophy and Theory, Vol. 41, No. 1. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-5812.2008.00475.x

Damasio, A. R. (1999). The feeling of what happens: Body and emotion in the making of consciousness. New York: Harcourt Brace & Company.

Dulwich Centre. (n.d.), ‘Storying professional identity’ Retrieved from: https://dulwichcentre.com.au/articles-about-narrative-therapy/storying-professional-identity/

Falk, I., & Balatti, J. (2003). Role of identity in VET learning. In J. Searle, I. Yashin-Shaw & D. Roebuck (Eds.), Enriching learning cultures: Proceedings of the 11th Annual International Conference on Post-compulsory Education and Training: Vol. 1 (pp. 179-186). Brisbane: Australian Academic Press.

Gibson, D. M., Dollarhide, C. T., & Moss, J. M. (2010). Professional identity development: A grounded theory of transformational tasks of new counselors. Counselor Education & Supervision, 50, 21-38.

Hamilton, H., & McAlpine, A. (2019). Internal Cartography: Our Professional Identity Journeys. Maroney, E., Smith, A., Hewlett, S., Trine, E., & Darden, V., Eds. (2019). Integrated and open interpreter education: The open educational resource reader and workbook for interpreters. Western Oregon University Digital Commons.

Harwood, N. (2017). Exploring professional identity: a study of American Sign Language/English interpreters (Master’s thesis). Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Oregon. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/theses/37

Hunt, D. (2015). “The Work is You”: Professional Identity Development of Second-Language-Learner American Sign Language–English Interpreters. [Doctoral dissertation]. Gallaudet University, Washington, DC, USA

Slay, H. S., & Smith, D. A. (2011). Professional identity construction: Using narrative to understand the negotiation of professional and stigmatized cultural identities. Human Relations, Volume: 64 issue: 1, page(s): 85-107. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726710384290

Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an actionsensitive pedagogy. London, Ontario, Canada: State University of New York Press.

Winslade, J., Crocket, K., Monk, G. & Drewery, W. (2000). ‘The storying of professional development.’ In G. McAuliffe & K. Eriksen (eds), Preparing Counsellors and Therapists: Creating constructivist and developmental programs (pp.99-113). Virginia Beach, VA: Association for Counsellor Education and Supervision.

Witter-Merithew, A., & Johnson, L. J. (2005). Toward competent practice: Conversations with stakeholders. Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Incorporated.

Internal Cartography: Our Professional Identity Journeys

Our Professional Identity Journeys

Halle Hamilton and Alissa McAlpine

In this chapter, the development of the professional identities of two interpreters over the course of their transition from interpreting student to interpreter is discussed. This chapter will be written in the form of personal narratives sharing journeys of becoming professional interpreters in both practice and personal-perception. There is a need for sharing personal experience among interpreters that are designed not to get gratification from showing off battle scars, but to instead validate the experiences and emotions that one goes through on their way to becoming a member in the interpreting field. The two parallel accounts simultaneously emphasize the individualistic aspect of professional identity and reinforce that, though the paths look different, many of the themes of struggle, questioning, and triumph are common.

Introduction

Hi, hello and welcome!

In this chapter, Halle and Alissa, who are graduates of Western Oregon University’s Masters of Interpreting Studies and Bachelors of Arts in American Sign Language (ASL)/English Interpreting program, will discuss the development of their professional identities over the course of their transition from interpreting student to interpreter. This chapter will contain personal narratives where both authors will share their journeys of becoming professional interpreters in both practice and personal perception, synthesis of the common themes from both accounts, and activities that encourage self-reflection. Halle and Alissa believe that there is often a need for sharing personal experiences among interpreters that are designed not to get gratification from showing off battle scars, but to instead validate the experiences and emotions that one goes through on their way to becoming a member in the interpreting field. Sharing these stories, particularly with an unknown audience, is a vulnerable place to be. It has been a challenge to form these stories in a way that feels safe, yet still carries the significance of what is being shared. The ITP that Halle and Alissa both went through puts a strong emphasis on the development of vulnerability and the importance of showing up for hard conversations, and that education is what has allowed this project to continue.

Halle and Alissa hope that by sharing their narratives, they can show interpreting students that they are not alone in their experience and might benefit from the knowledge of some of the tools they have employed in their professional journey. This chapter will also be beneficial to practicing interpreters and interpreter educators. By reading personal accounts of the identity development process, instructors can add two more stories to their understanding of the mindset of interpreting students. Halle and Alissa hope that these stories can help to support interpreter educators in their interactions with students by providing an intentionally synthesized description of the professional development process which may spark meaningful conversations. Practicing interpreters may also be able to find some validation for their own experiences in this chapter, as professional identity development is an ongoing process. It may also provide some insight into the mind of emerging professionals for interpreters who are hoping to take on a mentorship role.

The activities in this chapter are intended to be completed individually and at the end of each section, unless directed otherwise. These activities were developed to help set a tone for reading and encourage readers to reflect on their professional identities in a way that might be new to them.

Getting to Know Us

One of the goals Halle and Alissa had while writing was to experiment with the look, feel, and set up of this chapter. The development or this chapter began with them freewriting about their professional identity journeys. Once this was done, they noticed common emotions that appeared in both of their narratives, and even showed up multiple times within their own accounts of their experiences. These emotions were then used to guide the writing of the narratives you will see throughout the chapter. While writing these narratives, it was decided that it was important to maintain the conversational tone that was employed during the initial brainstorming sessions in the final product. By doing this, Halle and Alissa hope that while you are reading this chapter you can see their different personalities and how being individuals affected their experiences. For each section of this chapter they have each written a personal narrative statement, which were then discussed and synthesized as a team. In the hopes of clearly differentiating who is narrating which statement, personal narratives appear in text boxes labelled with the author’s name. Since this chapter is about their personal professional identity journeys, they wanted to first introduce themselves to you.

Halle: I’m currently an educational interpreter at the Learning Center for the Deaf in Massachusetts, and before that I worked as an Educational Interpreter in Indiana. I have been working in the field of interpreting for two years now, so I am still very much a new interpreter. I attended Western Oregon University (WOU) for both my undergraduate degree in American Sign Language/ English Interpreting, as well as for my Master’s Degree in Interpreting Studies. I have always loved research, and for my M.A. I conducted and wrote an auto-ethnographic action research paper focusing on my personal growth and development as a new interpreter while working in a K-12 setting. My co-author, Alissa, shares my passion for research. We have gone through our higher education journeys together as two-time-cohort members, roommates, and most importantly friends. We have had essentially the same interpreting education, though we recognize no two experiences are exactly alike. By writing this chapter, I hope that we can explore our parallel journeys of becoming professional interpreters while keeping our individual narratives intact.Reflecting on my journey with Alissa, and now with you, has been an interesting experience. I found it challenging to name my past emotions, identify the reasons I had experienced them, and come to terms with them. After doing this I ended up feeling comfortable enough to write them down and share them with you. While I may have been uncomfortable and the start of this process, I have found writing this chapter to be both validating and cathartic.

~Halle

Alissa: I am currently working primarily as a K-12 interpreter in Vancouver, WA. I also work VRS and take some community and postsecondary work when I can. In addition to being an interpreter, I am dual-trained as a transcriber and occasionally provide those services as well. This is my first year in the K-12 system; last year I worked freelance and postsecondary. I’m at a place right now of trying things out and seeing what fits. I have by no means “made it,” but I think that the perspective of development from someone who is in the throes of it can be enlightening! I tend to take a more academic approach to things, and heading into my MA program I thought that I would be focusing on linguistics and cognitive processing as my main areas of study. Then as I tumbled through the transition from school to professional practice, I realized the importance of the emotional process, and that kind of took over my research direction. I still have a passion for the more qualitative data sets, but I believe that those can’t be put into practice if we don’t know ourselves first. There is time for all of that later. For now, let’s look a little closer at the people behind the work.~Alissa

Activity

One-word “where I’m at.” In one word, describe your professional identity right now.

Interpreters as a Folk Group

When folklore first began to be studied, the groups that shared knowledge through storytelling were often perceived as being less advanced because their societies could not share information through written language. However, now folklore is thought of differently. There are many different definitions of folklore that can range from specific to broad, depending on what groups you are looking at. In general folklore is seen as traditions that encompass a group’s past and present (Flora, 2013). One researcher, Brunuand (1998 cited in Flora 2013), defined folklore as “Something that is orally transmitted, traditional in form, exists in different versions, and is usually anonymous” (p.19). Then according to Abrahams (1971 cited in Flora 2013) folklore typically addresses two kinds of problems. Problems related to social and ethical dilemmas, and problems that address the “physical preservations of the individual and the group” (p.22). This is important information to note, because when Flora was working towards the possibility of labeling the interpreting field as a folk group, he first needed to set and define what folklore is. Flora discerned that by looking at these definitions of folklore, he could consider interpreters a folk group who share specific folklore among themselves. Occupational folk groups describe their folk life using specific jargon, narratives, and skills that directly related to their shared experience in a job community (Flora, 2013). In this chapter, we feel that by sharing our narrative we are contributing to the folklore to our occupational folk group. The narratives that have been compiled for this chapter are stories that we have previously shared orally, and have documented in written English for this chapter.

On Beginnings

Halle: My perception of the interpreting program during the application process and the reality of experiencing it were quite different. Like anything with an application process, my competitive nature immediately kicked in. I have been told that I am very much Capricorn and a Slytherin, so that should give you a good baseline for my general demeanor, values, and motivation. This meant that when I decided that I wanted to apply to this program a year before I applied, I began to take steps to ensure that my application would set me apart from other applicants. I was focused on myself and wanted to ensure that I had a spot in the program. Once advising meetings for people interested in joining the 2017 interpreting cohort began, it became clear that the tone of the program would be one that I was not anticipating. The program was set up in a way that allowed anyone ready to enter the program a spot. There was no cap for the number of students accepted, and if I’m being honest I didn’t quite believe that this was the case until after I had been accepted and met all of the interpreting department faculty. I had anticipated that this interpreting program would have a competitive culture encouraged by the faculty, but in reality, the department encouraged learning from shared experiences and collegial support. The values I have developed and prioritize as a practitioner have been due to these cohort expectations.

At the start of the interpreting program I was feeling excited because Alissa and I had both been accepted, but it wasn’t long before I experienced my first program related reality check. After going through orientation and the first week of classes, I began to realize that while I was a competent signer I really didn’t know anything about the field of interpreting, the interpreting process, and APA style guidelines. With this realization came discomfort, anxiety, and a bit of self-doubt. While I first perceived these emotions as being negative, one of my major takeaways from the program was learning that with discomfort comes growth.

Alissa: I remember the day I got my acceptance letter for the interpreting program. It was spring break. I was in a hotel room in Mexico, just getting back from a SCUBA dive. It was one of the rare times when I had internet access, so I hopped onto my email to check in on the world above water. My heart stopped for a moment: there was an email with the results from my application. The download time on that slow hotel Wi-Fi felt like an eternity, with the universe holding its breath. Finally, the .PDF opened, and I read the first word: “congratulations.” The universe jumped from pause to fast forward in an instant. A grin broke across my face and I laughed with relief. Heart pounding, I showed my parents, who hugged me and shared that moment of joy. Five minutes later, that goofy grin was still plastered across my face, the muscles in my cheeks beginning to cramp with the unaccustomed strain.

But after the initial giddiness wore off, I began to plan for “what if.” Could I double-degree to make sure that if I hated interpreting I would still have a backup? What if all of the horror stories were true? What if it didn’t work out? These fears were intensified as we approached new student orientation. I’d heard rumors about this program. How hard it was. How grueling. How easy it was to be kicked out.

I walked into orientation intimidated. As the professors spoke, I couldn’t see past my fear to the people who truly, deeply wanted me to succeed. I was caught between “I’m not going to be good enough,” and “I’m going to make them think I’m good enough or die trying.” My Hermione mode was in full gear. Then the teachers left us with a group of students who were already in the program to have some time to ask peer-to-peer questions. In this space I had the opposite experience as most of my cohort; I was deeply relieved by the time to talk with them. I had already formed deep friendships with many of the students who were ahead of me in the program, so I was able to ask my questions and have them answered by someone that didn’t intimidate me. From the stories I heard later, the experience wasn’t reassuring across the board. Many other students heard the stories of struggle and failure in that space and became more afraid than they were before. Where I felt the burden of perfection being lightened, the burden of others’ experiences began to weigh down on other members of my class.

Synthesis

Our thoughts about the interpreting program and how to get accepted started well before the application for the program went out. During this time, we both made a point to talk to a variety of people who were currently first year students in the program. This allowed us to gain more knowledge of what the program entailed, make new friends, and further develop a strategy of how to get accepted into the program by looking at different people who were already accepted. We valued planning and being strategic in our actions. We both signed for several years before coming to Western to pursue interpreting, and while at Western we made a point to go above and beyond when it came to our ASL and interpreting course work. Our competitiveness was not directed at our peers, but instead was directed at ourselves. We always strove to show our best work and wanted to show that we were improving our knowledge and practice. We entered Western’s ASL interpreting community with signing experience and a bit of arrogance. When talking about this section of our experiences, we recognized that we both felt capable and like we deserved to be accepted into the interpreting program. The word arrogance is not our favorite word, since it does have a negative connotation and is often paired with words like conceited, self-important, and egotistical. But at this time in our journeys we felt like we were ready and competent, which in retrospect might have come off as arrogance.

While we felt confident during the application process, feelings of self-doubt and the realization that, “I know nothing about interpreting” hit us after the program’s orientation and the first week of classes. There is nothing quite like the power of reading a syllabus to kill the buzz of getting accepted into the program. While we both felt confident in our ASL ability, the majority of our knowledge about interpreting came for the Pre-interpreting Skills Development class we took the year before. This class discussed what interpreting typically looks like, the certifications and education needed to be an interpreter, and started our preliminary reading on the field of interpreting. While this was good information to know before starting the process to become an interpreter, the first week of fall term made it clear that we were only aware of the tip of the iceberg. Realizing that there was so much information that we didn’t even know we didn’t know was quite overwhelming. These feelings of incompetence led to self-doubt, but at the same time it further motivated us to work hard and be successful.

Both of us have a bit of a competitive streak, for sure. But an interesting similarity arose as we discussed our experiences applying for the program: both of us were deeply influenced by the idea of the “gatekeeper.” Knowing that there was someone (or, in this case, a panel of someones) who would be judging whether or not we would be entering the program was a significant factor in how we chose to prepare. We wanted to bring our “A” game. We wanted to show that we deserved to belong. Rather than going into it with the mindset of “I am going to do my best and these awesome people who care a lot about me are going to decide if I’m ready to move forward,” we were both tempted by the much easier story that “these people are out to get everybody. They are going to be judging everything that I am and they will have the final word on whether or not I as a human being am worthy of joining their profession.” Not only was this incorrect, it was dangerous. It made it so much harder for us to trust the process that we were in.

Both narratives stress the disparity between our expectations and the reality we faced as we entered the program. This is not unusual for beginnings. Humans are, by nature, pattern-finders. The ability to predict gives us an edge (Mattison, 2014). We don’t like to go into things without an idea of what is coming. Unfortunately, the “reality” we build up before a beginning is very rarely an accurate representation of what we will actually be facing (Brown, 2015). In this case, our stories were shaped by what we heard from older students, especially those who had not been admitted to the program. Horror stories have a kind of attractiveness of their own, and feed with terrible efficiency into the pattern what Brené Brown refers to as “foreboding joy” (Brown, 2015). In moments of uncertainty, we rehearse the negative endings in hope of preventing their sting if they happen. This doesn’t work, and it prevents us from fully embracing the experience we are having. But it fits so nicely into our pattern-finding nature. This is important to keep in mind as we approach beginnings as professionals. What are the stories that are forming our view of reality? How are our stories impacting others?

Takeaways: It was so much easier for me to believe that I was going into this alone, because then I would have more control over the outcome. But in reality, there were people on my team. People I didn’t even know were there every step of the way to ensure that the results would be most beneficial to me.

The Program

Halle: While starting the interpreting program was exciting and overwhelming, I gradually adjusted to the program’s pace and expectations. When you are going through the classes and trying to keep up with assignments, it is often difficult to grasp that everything assigned is done so with intention. Before you can start interpreting you need to first understand the theory of what is happening in your brain, the ethical decisions that you make while interpreting, and how to train your brain into strengthening its short-term memory. During my first year in the IEP (Interpreting Education Program) I did find myself getting a little frustrated that the closest I got to interpreting was doing various versions of the 10-Step Process (Witter-Merithew, Taylor & Johnson, 2002). However, now that I have completed my undergraduate interpreting program and have been working as an interpreter, I am better equipped to see that building a foundation of knowledge about the interpreting process before trying to start interpreting was vital for my development. For me, this relates back to the idea of unconscious incompetence. If you try to do something that you don’t fully understand, you are unable to recognize the mistakes you are making. For interpreting this could look like unconscious omissions in your work, or the inability to grasp and incorporate implicit meaning. So, take it slow. That’s what I tried to do, but I also wasn’t always successful at that. After getting the basics down in the first year of the program, I was more equipped to get my hands-up and analyze my interpreting practice. Sometimes this meant just being able to talk about how I was feeling while I was interpreting. Was I understanding the topic? Could I understand the speaker or signer? Was I nervous? While other times this meant breaking down my work through a lens of one various interpreting process models (i.e. Colonomos’s Pedagogical Model, Cokely’s Model of Cognitive Processing, etc.) (Colonomos, 1992; Cokely, 1992).On a slightly less academic note, the friendships I developed with the members of my cohort, the cohort above mine, as well as with my instructors helped me to adjust to the demands of being in an interpreting program. While I did not have a close relationship with everyone in my cohort, the friendships I did have were strong ones. I found it helpful to have people I could talk about class assignments with, and to just have a group of close friends who were going through the experience with me. I also had several close friends in the cohort above mine, including my senior buddy. Having friends who had already gone through the first year of the program allowed me to see where I was headed, and they were able to provide me with some much-needed perspective. When going through WOU’s interpreting program you are assigned a senior buddy, who you are encouraged to keep in contact with. I was lucky enough to be paired with someone I had recently became friends with, and we ended up meeting to chat about our lives, the program, and interpreting post-graduation pretty consistently for the next several years. I still consider her a close friend and am so sad that being on different coasts makes it so much more challenging to do consistent coffee dates. As for relationships with my instructors, I was lucky enough to have an interpreting faculty whose goal was for us, as a cohort, to be supported and successful. Because of this I never had to experience “the school of hard knocks” approach that I have heard in many other interpreter’s educational experiences. Having positive rapport with my instructors allowed me to be comfortable asking question, participating in class discussions, and sharing my interpreting work without the fear of ridicule.

Alissa: I thought I knew what I was getting into. I’d already taken 5 years of ASL classes, interpreting is just saying what you hear in another language, right?! Then, in the first term of the program, I had a bit of a reality check. This was going to be a lot of work, and there was a lot more to it than I had thought. To be frank, I had no idea why we were doing a lot of the drills we did. Of course, our professors explained that we needed to build primary skills in memory, language processing, etc. before we could move forward to any interlingual work, but a lot of the time I found myself getting impatient. When were we going to start doing “real” work? In retrospect, I see the distinct logical progression of my education, but it took a long time for me to build the trust in my program that I needed to feel like I really was moving forward, even when it didn’t feel like it. Talking with other interpreters I realize how fortunate I was to have time devoted to learning how to make use of my memory, take effective notes, and read between the lines of a text. It seems like such a simple thing, but really internalizing that my instructors had a long-term plan and wanted the best for me as a professional completely changed my approach to my schoolwork.

ITPs are hard. Like, really hard. And the cool thing about really hard stuff is that it has a unique power to bring people together. The first Saturday of winter term our class had a bonding moment. We had taken 3 months to build trust with one another, then in one emotionally charged class, the tension broke. Vulnerability rose to a whole new level. And many of us left that day with a changed narrative. We were a unit now. We had a community. We had people we could go to and say “dang, this is really hard!” That was a game changer. The very heart of professionalism is that it takes place within a community of practice. That was the moment my community of practice was born. There were countless other moments throughout my journey that reinforced that feeling of camaraderie, that reminded me that I am not an interpreter, I am an Interpreter: one of us. The first time I went to a gathering of professional interpreters and was welcomed, I realized that this was bigger than me. The first time I volunteered at a professional conference and saw how many people were there, fired up to learn more about this crazy thing we do. The first time I presented my research, fully convinced (and hopeful) that no one would care about my study, only to find that I had a crowd of people around my table clamoring to know more. This is bigger than me. And that realization was a huge step in my becoming a professional.

Synthesis:

What you just read feels redundant, and there is a reason for that. We both wrote these reflections without reading the other’s or talking about it beforehand, so the fact that we wrote almost exactly the same thing is significant. There is something here worth looking at. For both of us, when we thought back on our experiences these were the two things that stood out. While it definitely won’t be the same for everyone, the takeaways that we held from our time in the program make sense. Our feelings of frustration and later realization of the importance of the beginning work are reflective of the core growth process that we underwent in terms of our process. In the beginning, we thought of the work on a surface level; we figured that the work would be exactly what it looked like. Our instructors knew things we didn’t, and we first had to acknowledge their expertise before building the skills we needed to progress to interpreting work as we had envisioned it. We first had to learn how much we didn’t know.

Our reflections on community seem logical as well, although they may be somewhat amplified in our stories. Both of us are thoroughly independent people. We are good at taking care of ourselves, and becoming a part of such an integrated and necessary community was a new and challenging experience for both of us. We are still highly independent people. We still have times when we prefer to do things alone. But over the course of our five years of training we learned that interpreters can’t operate alone. At least, healthy, productive, happy interpreters can’t operate alone. We learned that “independent” doesn’t mean “does not play well with others.” Interpreter training stretched our expectations of interpreting as a process, a product, and a community, and that stretch is what has stayed with us as we go out into the world.

Takeaways: The people around me are my biggest asset. They have so much more to give than I could possibly try to learn on my own. It’s just going to take some time. Understand that there is intention behind the order of things you learn, and just because your hands aren’t up interpreting, doesn’t mean you aren’t learning.

Internship

Alissa: Internship wasn’t at all what I expected. When I started my internship, it was set that I was going to be doing a split internship with equal parts K-12, postsecondary, and community work. The week before I was set to start, the postsecondary and community sections fell through, and suddenly I found myself in a full-time K-12 internship, which was not the interdisciplinary explorative undertaking I had hoped for in my internship experience. That being said, it was a great experience and I learned a lot. It was the first time that I found myself working closely with interpreters that did not have the same background as myself. Differences in views of ethics, professionalism, and interpreting process forced me to think more critically about what I believed. This, in itself, was a beginning; it was the time when I began the development of my own independent professional values, incorporating what I had learned in school and putting them into practice in my own way for the first time.

It can’t be denied that internship was a formative experience for me, but it also can’t be denied that I was disappointed. I didn’t get to have the experience that I’d hoped for. That disappointment was valid, but I struggled to accept and acknowledge that because every story that I had heard was how amazing internship was, or how traumatizing it had been. I felt like I had no right to feel anything but positive when nothing horrible had happened. Looking back on this I realize that the nature of comparison took away the uniqueness of this beginning; my experience began before I even realized it as I internalized the stories of others.

Halle: When I was looking into where I wanted to do my internship I was primarily focused on finding a place where I could potentially see myself living and working post-graduation. I was born and raised in California, and had spent the last four years in Oregon, but I could never really imagine myself in either place. I let my internship coordinator know this and began researching different places that I thought had larger Deaf Communities and interesting potential internship sites. My internship coordinator ended up suggesting that I contact The Learning Center for the Deaf (TLC) in Massachusetts. After a successful Video Phone call with them in early January, I had my internship placement set up and was really looking forward to spring term.Going into internship I was elated to be able to have such a unique internship opportunity in a part of the country that I had never experienced. After having a successful practicum during winter term, I was feeling incredibly excited that I was finally going to be able to experience day to day life as an interpreter. I feel so lucky to have been able to spend my 10-week internship working at TLC. The Learning Center’s interpreting department is special because they had about twenty staff interpreters who work on campus, in mainstream classrooms, as well as in and around the community. The interpreting department works with interns regularly and encourages their interns to take notes during assignments, ask questions, and build quality relationships with colleagues and consumers. Coming from Oregon and entering a Deaf school on the East Coast was quite a culture shock for me. I found that there were regional signs specific to the East Coast and to TLC that I was unfamiliar with, and the general life and signing pace in Massachusetts was a lot quicker than what I was used to. Fortunately for me, I worked with a group of experienced and supportive interpreters who helped me adjust to all the new interpreting settings I was observing and working in. While I was initially intimidated by this work setting and the extremely skilled interpreters I was shadowing, I tried to focus on recognizing that we were at different stages in our professional journeys and not to compare my current self with their present skill levels. Before going on Internship, my junior year senior interpreting buddy told me, “don’t rush the process, you are exactly where you need to be.” This is one of the single most helpful pieces of advice I have ever received, and is something that I find helpful to repeat to myself whenever I start to feel myself spiraling in “I should…” thoughts.

Synthesis

It’s clear that our experiences were largely disparate. We were placed in somewhat similar settings, and that’s just about where our shared experiences end. That’s worth noting, because it’s easy to say “and then there is internship” and assume that “internship” is one distinct aspect of the professional development process in which people have a particular set of experiences. While there are certainly broad-level learning goals for interns, the experience is so highly individualized that it provides a unique opportunity for people to tailor their learning to what they need and where they want to go.

Neither of us approached the internship experience as just another checkbox before graduation; we knew how we wanted this experience to help us grow as professionals. That’s important, because it was a manifestation of our self-analyzed professional identity. Also, it guided the way that we grew over the course of our internship. We both framed our experiences through the lens of our goals, and our identities shifted accordingly.

While these self-directed aspects of internship were important, it was also the place where both of us had our first true exposure to interpreting mentorship. Mentorship is such a key part of internship and professional development. A good mentor-mentee relationship is built on mutual trust, respect, and both parties being willing to put in the work. When these three things are present in a mentoring relationship, the mentee and mentor are willing to share their work, accept feedback, and ask questions without the fear of being ridiculed. For Halle, mentorship was one of the most beneficial parts of her internship. Instead of working primarily with one mentor for the entirety of internship, she was able to benefit by working with multiple mentors. The relationships that Halle was able to develop with her mentors kept feelings of isolation at bay, whereas Alissa’s mentorship relationship focused entirely on skill development, which again relates to the goals held while entering these new phases of professionalism.

Leaving the community we had developed over the past several years behind and moving to a new place to start internship was a challenging transition. We both moved out of the state of Oregon and entered environments where we had no experience. After writing our narratives for internship and discussing them together, one of the main parts of our experiences we discussed was the growth that happens when one is uncomfortable. Transition periods are rarely comfortable, but they are something we feel are important to embrace and lean in to. During our internships we learned about how we handle new and stressful environments, as well as learning how to cope when our expectations don’t meet the reality of the situations we found ourselves in. Halle spoke of “shoulding” on herself when it came to not being able to keep up with her expectations for her skills development, and Alissa struggles with “shoulding” on the experiences she was having on internship compared to the experience she envisioned herself having. One of our most impactful takeaways from internship was that the experiences and feelings we were having were valid, and not to attempt to rush through and avoid transition periods because it is more comfortable.

Takeaways: I wasn’t able to see what I was learning while I was in internship, and honestly the primary growth that happened wasn’t in my interpreting skills. Rather, it was the time when I first had to stand “alone” in my work and my process.

Graduating and Starting Grad School

Alissa: I never planned on jumping straight into a Master’s program. I hadn’t even planned on getting my MA in interpreting. Throughout my undergrad career I always planned on waiting a few years, then going back to school to get my M.A. in linguistics. Then, in the course of 24 hours in the winter of my senior year, all of that changed. I decided to stay in Oregon and apply for the Theory and Practice track of the Masters of Arts in Interpreting Studies program.

Because I knew that I would be beginning my next classes in a week, graduating with my B.A. didn’t feel like much of a transition. The only thing that changed is that suddenly I felt like I didn’t have an excuse anymore. I had a degree. I was on the path to certification. That meant it was time for me to start taking “real” work. No more excuses for putting it off, now I actually had to do this thing. And I realized that I really had no idea where to start.

Simultaneously I felt like nothing had changed, and everything had. I was still the person I had been a week before, but now there was a document showing that I had completed my introductory training. That conflict stuck with me for months. I felt like it was time for me to start getting out there and working, but I didn’t feel anywhere near ready.

Halle: Graduation really didn’t feel all that life changing for me. I was excited to be done and have my degree, but towards the end of my internship I was really getting into the swing of having an 8:00 am-4:00 pm work schedule. This made graduation feel like just something that needed to happen for me to continue on that path. Several months before graduation, I found out that Western was adding a new tack for their Masters of Arts in Interpreting Studies Degree, and I decided to do it. After I graduated with my B.A. I had precisely one week of freedom before starting the most challenging term of my academic career. Looking back on this experience, it really makes sense that there was such a shift between undergraduate coursework and what is required for graduate studies. However, in the moment I did not have the brain capacity to come to terms with this reality. I was just trying to keep my head above water while I was trying to figure out how to be a student and manage my time when working towards completing an online degree. Summer term was difficult because I was adjusting to a new schooling format, and the subsequent terms were challenging because I had to find a way to balance working full-time and being a full-time graduate student. While this was stressful and at times hard to manage, starting grad school around the same time as starting my first interpreting job made me feel like I was still connected to a community and had a network of people I could rely on.

Takeaways: Jumping straight into graduate school kept the momentum going, but it really made it feel like there was no change after graduating from the program. For us, the graduate school experience was just another step in training, but it did emphasize the point that milestones in professional identity can be moving targets, and it was worth it for us to move with them.

“Real World” Work

Alissa: It took me months to start accepting regular freelance work. The fear of going without a net was overwhelming for me. I found some work that felt safe and slowly dipped a toe into the water. This was one of the scariest beginnings for me. I knew that I was prepared. I knew that I had strong enough ethics to keep myself and my consumers safe. But that knowledge couldn’t overcome the possibility that I could make a mistake that would have unstoppable ramifications. That possibility, however rare, took on a reality all its own in my still fragile professional identity, and it took a year of carefully accepting work, going through grad school, working with mentors, and participating in supervision to bring myself out of that fear and into a competent, though still cautious, mindset.

Halle: Feelings of imposter syndrome set in when I started working in Indiana. When I accepted the K-12 interpreting job, it was my understanding that I would have colleagues, but I quickly realized that was not actually the case. I was suddenly the district’s expert in interpreting, when in reality I was still a novice interpreter. I felt weird that I was the most experienced interpreter when I only just graduated from a training program and LITERALLY had 10-weeks of intern interpreting experience. I did feel prepared entering the job because I was comfortable in a K-12 setting, was confident in my decision making, and competent in my interpreting, but working in an environment with limited on-site support and with children with severe language deprivation; proved to be quite overwhelming.

Takeaways: No matter how prepared I was, jumping in and actually doing the work was a really scary experience. The only way that I was eventually able to get over that fear was to start slowly and get myself to do it even though I was scared.

Self-Perceptions: Rise and Fall of Confidence

Halle: During my first year of work, I became acutely aware of the impact that inadequate access to education can have on a student’s ability to understand the world around them. At work I was up close and personal with the lasting effects of language deprivation, and it became incredibly important for me to look at my own interpreting practice to ensure that I would not be a hindrance to someone’s education. For my graduate project I completed an action research paper titled ‘“Ever Since I Left the City”: An Auto-ethnographic Action Research Project on Interpreting in a K-12 Setting” (Hamilton, 2018), that discussed the various ways I worked towards improving my interpreting practice in a region with limited access to physical resources. I completed work samples and analyzed them with mentors I met with synchronously, tracked my use of various ASL features in my practice and documented various social aspect of my interpreting during my workday. Completing this project helped me to intentionally work towards my professional development goals, and encouraged me to keep up contact with mentors even when I was alone in my workplace.

Alissa: At the end of my internship, I was on top of the world. I was more confident in my skills than I had ever been in my life, and I was excited to try my hand at the “real thing.” Then, suddenly, I realized that nearly everything in my life was changing. I was moving to a new home, starting grad school, beginning a new relationship and starting a new non-interpreting job. And I’m supposed to start interpreting “without a net” now too?! I shifted from excited to panicked in the blink of an eye. Fortunately, I had done enough “feelings work” during undergrad to recognize the impact that these changes were having. A mentor of mine (I semi-jokingly say that I want to be her when I grow up) responded to my complex stew of emotions with a valuable insight; she told me that, while moving on is exciting, that place was also a period of mourning. I was saying goodbye to a way of life that I’d held for years, I was leaving the community that had raised me as an interpreter, and I was stepping out of my “student” identity and into my “professional interpreter” identity. She gave me the permission to honor what I was leaving behind, and that was a huge part of my journey forward.

For me, the discomfort of moving out of my student skin manifested as an intense, overwhelming fear of making decisions at work. I couldn’t think of any choice in any given situation as “ethical.” Is it ethical for me to leave an assignment after both the Deaf and hearing consumers told me they were done and I could go? I DON’T KNOW!! (Literally. I cried in my car for 15 minutes about that. That was a true story.) That story happened three months after I graduated. In the months before, I had been too afraid to even take work. Confidence was completely absent. Fortunately, at that time I was enrolled in grad school and starting to think about the topic for my action research project. This jumped to mind as a perfect topic for me to study. I decided to write a piece entitled: “But who am I to know what’s right?! A resilience-based approach to ASL-English interpreter self-concept and ethical process.” As I conducted this study, I realized that there was a clear pattern to my feelings of confidence. I had expected that as I gained experience, I would also gain confidence, but I was wrong. For me, confidence comes in waves. It plummeted suddenly after I graduated with my B.A., but then rose to higher levels than it had been before. And, even more importantly, a sense of pride in myself and my own work did not arise in my data until AFTER that plunge. It was necessary for me to navigate that dark space in order to step more fully into my professional identity (McAlpine, 2019).

Unconscious Incompetence/False Confidence

Alissa: I remember sitting with a group of friends one day in the first year of our ITP. In class we had discussed how it can be even harder interpreting in front of ASL students because you are more likely to receive unsolicited feedback. We laughed about some stories that had been shared that day, but then started to think back on our own stories. I remembered being in that same space myself. When I was near the end of ASL III, I thought I was hot stuff. I knew this sign language thing. I knew it all. What more could I possibly learn in the next two years of classes? Looking back on what I had thought at that time in my life, I was mortified. I almost didn’t say anything, but I decided to go for it. I mentioned that I remembered being in that same thought world where I might have considered offering advice to a working interpreter (thank goodness I didn’t happen to have access to any working interpreters in my life at that time, now I can only hypothetically make a fool of myself). To my amazement, some of my friends shared similar stories. I wasn’t the only one who had been so extremely, incorrectly confident. We laughed about how much we didn’t know back then, and lovingly began to refer to that mindset as “the middle school effect” as we remembered having a similar outlook on life in general between the ages of eleven and fourteen.Little did we know that this is actually a researched phenomenon. It is referred to in literature as the Dunning-Kruger Effect, after two scientists who published a paper on it in 1999 entitled “Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments.” In essence, their study found that it is possible to have enough experience in a particular subject to believe that you are more competent than you actually are. In this case, people are more likely to rate their own work as more effective than it is. They literally can’t see the mistakes they are making. Not only that, but they tend to rate expert work lower in this period as well. It’s not a bad thing, necessarily, it just means that they haven’t yet learned enough to realize how much they don’t know.This phenomenon makes sense when viewed through the lens of the four phases of competence as described by the instructors in our M.A. coursework. The first phase is unconscious incompetence. In this phase, people don’t know enough about a particular practice to even recognize that they are not skilled in that area. The second phase is conscious incompetence. At this point, people recognize that they do not have the skills or knowledge to do well at something. In my case, my Dunning-Kruger period fell at the end of the unconscious incompetence stage. I was starting to learn about ASL, but I really didn’t know how much I didn’t know. As I jumped into conscious incompetence, I realized “holy cow I know nothing and I’m very much embarrassed by my fifteen-year-old self.” After that comes unconscious competence. This is where I was at when I was too afraid to take work after graduating. I was competent. I had the skills I needed to do entry-level interpreting work. I didn’t think that I did, though. I thought that I was still incompetent and my humiliation at my egotistical idiocy when I was fifteen made me want to make sure that I didn’t let myself go there again. The final stage is conscious competence. It’s when a practitioner realizes that they are qualified to do what they trained to do. It doesn’t mean they know everything, and it doesn’t mean they are perfect. It means that they have an accurate view of what they know.

Takeaways: The development of confidence is an indicator of professional development, but looking back we learned that our confidence level was not a direct indicator of our competence.

Activity

Draw a timeline of how you have perceived yourself over the past year. Two? Ten?Draw a picture of a mirror. Inside that mirror draw or write how you perceive yourself. Outside the mirror draw or write how you think others perceive you. What do you notice?What is your inner monologue when: You do something really well? You fail at something? Someone compliments you? Someone criticizes you? You’re about to do something scary?

Isolation

Halle: Over the past few years I have experienced a few different kinds of isolation. During my time at WOU I went through a period of self-isolation during the winter term of my junior year in response to a death in the family that was perpetuated by my undiagnosed Seasonal Affective Disorder, then while I was away on internship I was isolated from the rest of my cohort, who mainly chose to stay in either Oregon or Washington. Luckily during my internship I had tremendous amounts of support from the people I was working with, so I never really felt alone. However, feelings of being truly isolated started to hit me after I moved to Indiana. I was the lone interpreter in my district and the Teacher of the Deaf was unfortunately more of a hindrance than anything else. Every day after work I felt stuck and exhausted because of the high demand low control nature of the environment I was working in (Dean & Pollard, 2001; Schwenke, 2012; Schwenke, Ashby & Gnilka, 2014).

Alissa: Isolation is an interesting stage for me. I’ve gone through a few periods of isolation so far in my journey. The first one I can think of is during the second year of my ITP, before going on internship. I suddenly found being around other students exhausting, and slowly withdrew from my classmates. I was ready to build my own identity, and I felt like the collective stress that my class was feeling as we approached internship was more hurtful than helpful. Then, internship itself was an even more drastic shift into isolation. I moved to an area where I knew absolutely no one. I moved in with strangers, I met my mentor on the first day of internship, my best friend was a time zone away, and my teachers were no longer a constant presence in my life. I’m bad at keeping in touch with people. Ask anyone. While I was on internship I was flying solo. I had a couple of people that I kept in touch with, but I spent a lot of time alone over those three months.

It was tough to feel like I was on my own for the first time, but it was also tremendously important for me. I spent a lot of time reading, walking, and thinking about how I was responding to the changes in my life and the situations I was facing at work. This period of isolation provided me with much-needed time for self-reflection.

The second period of isolation came after I graduated with my M.A. I moved to a new town and started my first full-time interpreting job. Yet again, I felt like I had to completely re-acclimate to an entirely new situation. Only this time it wasn’t just for three months. I’m still trying to build a new community here. I have friends and colleagues, but I definitely don’t have the same kind of robust network that I had while I was in college. Maybe this is just how “adult” life is, I don’t know yet. In a way, I’m still in a period of isolation. I am the only interpreter in my school, and one of two staff interpreters in my district. For the first time I am completely on my own for the long term. That transition forced me to find my voice. I have realized that, since I’m the only one, I am going to have to speak up for myself. I don’t have anyone to follow along behind anymore. The majority of the staff at my school have never interacted with a d/Deaf child before, let alone an interpreter. I’ve had to come into my element and learn to speak out.

Reaching Out

Halle: After a few weeks at my job in Indiana it was apparent that I needed to make a change or risk getting burned out my first year on the job. My first attempt at reaching out lead me to register for Indiana’s Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf’s annual conference in the hope of meeting interpreters from my area. Unfortunately, I came to the realization that none of the interpreters who had attended the event lived and worked within an hour of where I did. My second attempt at reaching out was a lot more successful. Since I graduated from WOU I had the opportunity to be involved in a program called Professional Supervision for Interpreting Practice (PSIP). This was a one-year program for new graduates where we were able to partake in monthly synchronous supervision following Dean and Pollard’s (2001) Demand-Control Schema (DC-S) framework. Since I was involved in monthly supervision, I was able to present a case about some of the challenges I was facing at work. Talking about my experience with trusted colleagues helped to validate my feelings and provided me with different ideas about how to handle the situation. I also was able to take advantage of the fact that I was a graduate student, this allowed me to talk about my experience and develop an action plan of how to continue to develop my skills in an area with limited resources in the form of my graduate action research project. Another thing that helped me was remembering that everything is temporary, this thought led me to make the decision that I would only stay in this position for a year.

Alissa: I never really liked asking for help. All that changed in my second year in the program. Winter of 2017 was a dark time for me, and I found myself slipping professionally. I knew that what I was doing was unsustainable, and I finally reached out for help. I went to a teacher who has now become one of my most trusted confidants and asked for advice. She didn’t give it at first, which frustrated me to no end. Instead she listened to my whole story, and as I told it I unfolded pieces that I hadn’t even noticed before. I realized that relying on others is necessary, and tremendously powerful. That lesson spread and I began seeing a counselor to continue exploring my personal and professional growth. Ever since, I have acknowledged the power of my community in times of need.

Even so, it can be hard to realize when that time is. Recently I have been faced with a professional situation that has been difficult and painful to navigate. In the beginning I reached out to mentors who were able to support me and provide some advice, but when their suggestions and every other solution I could imagine failed and the situation became steadily worse, I gave up. I kept on trying new things but I stopped reaching out. I didn’t want to be annoying. I didn’t want people to think I just wanted attention. I didn’t want to be needy. I dealt with it on my own as long as I could, but when it got to the point where I was in tears at work more often than not, I knew that I was in trouble, and reached out again. The support that I got from friends, family, mentors, colleagues, and professional counselors lifted a huge burden from my life. The situation is still hard, but I know that I have people on my side, and there are people now who know what is going on and check on me to make sure I’m ok. I have also become more vocal at work in advocating for what I need. Even though I know how powerful my community can be, it still took me reaching the point of no return before I was willing to become fully vulnerable and share what I was experiencing.

Takeaways: There was an interesting dichotomy here that growing as a professional required both isolation and community. Both were enlightening and allowed for different kinds of growth, and I’m sure that I will continue to cycle between the two as I move forward.

Activity

Think of a story that you have heard often about interpreting as if it were a fairy tale. Who are the heroes? Who are the villains? What is the moral? Why do you think that story is being told?

Where Are We Now?

Halle: In September of 2018, I packed up my car and drove twenty hours to get from Indiana to Massachusetts to start my new position as a Staff Interpreter at The Learning Center for the Deaf. When writing this chapter, I had only been at this job for around three months, but if I had to choose one word to describe how I feel about my life right now, I would say that I am content. I am working in a place that allows for variety in my workday, has a team of supportive and knowledgeable interpreters, and is challenging in a manageable way. Of course, there are days that are more trying than others, but I feel like I am better able to manage a situation because of my experiences up until this point, and because I have a team that I trust behind me. In the three months that I have been in Massachusetts, I have already started to see improvements in my interpreting practice, and I am looking forward to see what the future has in store.

Alissa: The first term of the M.A. program, I adopted a new motto: “Something’s gonna happen.” I’m a planner. I love to have everything predictable, established, and, preferably, color-coded. As I entered M.A. classes and professional work, I began to realize that my life was probably done being planned to the second, at least for the time being. That was ridiculously hard for me. Reminding myself that even though I couldn’t be sure what was coming, something was going to happen helped me “unfreeze” and get myself moving again. Embracing “something’s gonna happen” led me to accept a job offer and a sudden opportunity for housing. As I’ve transitioned into full time interpreting work, holding onto that motto has helped me tremendously. As a person who does not naturally “go with the flow” (I’m more stone than bubble), it’s still possible for me to manage the ever-changing nature of interpreting work. It just requires another step in the professional identity development process; I’ve had to learn that a professional can modify their choices and plans while still maintaining composure and “control” over the things they need to influence. We all have roadblocks during the development of our identities, and that was one of mine. As of now, I’m (somewhat) comfortably navigating the ebb and flow of professional life, and continuing to learn everything that I can!

Conclusion

The similarities between Halle and Alissa’s experiences is certainly amplified by their studying together, but they predict that their readers will be able to find pieces in the reflections above that resonate with their own experiences. Halle and Alissa both experienced struggle, triumph, loneliness, confusion, and connection as they stumbled and glided through the journeys that led them here. These are not unique to their stories, nor are they unique to the growth of new interpreters; they are inevitable parts of life. It is Halle and Alissa’s hope that the readers will find the common threads tying their experiences to the ones they read above and extend those threads to others, in turn creating a web of connection that can serve to further unite our field. For mentors and educators, it is Halle and Alissa’s hope that this chapter sparks some fruitful discussions between you and the young interpreters with whom you work. To all of you, whether or not you found something in this chapter that felt like something you have experienced, know that your experience is real, it is valid, and it is important. As Brown (2015) says, “disconnection fuels disconnection.” Sharing stories is a significant step toward a community of collective growth based on mutual respect and trust. Those with whom we work have to know where we are coming from in order to join us on the path forward. We’re all learning. We’re all growing. We’re all developing our professional identities. Let’s tell some stories.

Activity

Create a map of how you got here. What challenging terrain have you seen? What amazing landmarks do you remember? Share your map with a partner. Can you read their map? Did you visit any of the same places?

Note for Instructors

Thank you for considering using our work in your class. This chapter is largely focused on exploring some common stages of identity development. The conversations that emerge from this chapter are likely to be very different among students at different points in their training. The activities listed in the chapter are designed to supplement the reading and support further thinking, but they are by no means necessary. Feel free to supplement with your own activities (if you come up with one that is particularly effective, go ahead and send it our way and we will add it to the chapter for future instructors to use!) There is a possibility for vulnerable stuff to come up when students work through this chapter, and it is also possible that conversations will be fairly surface-level if students aren’t in a place where they are comfortable sharing with one another. Either one is fine. You’re awesome!

About the Authors

Halle Hamilton, M.A.

The Learning Center for the Deaf

hallejoyhamilton@gmail.com

Halle Hamilton is currently an Educational Interpreter in Framingham, Massachusetts at the Learning Center for the Deaf. She received both her M.A. in Interpreting Studies and her B.A. in American Sign Language/ English Interpreting from Western Oregon University. Halle values gaining experiences by working with individuals in various Deaf communities, because of this, she has lived or worked as an interpreter in California, Oregon, Indiana, Washington, Massachusetts, and Ghana. She has been to Ghana on two occasions, her time there was spent working with a team of interpreters facilitating short-term sign language interpreter trainings at the University of Education in Winneba. This experience reinforced Halle’s interest in interpreter education, reflective practice, and self-lead professional development.

If desired, her action research project “Ever since I left the city”: An auto-ethnographic action research project on interpreting in a K-12 setting, is available at: https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/maisactionresearch/1/

Alissa McAlpine, M.A.

Vancouver Public Schools

amcalpine12@wou.edu

Alissa McAlpine is currently an Educational Interpreter in Vancouver, Washington for Vancouver Public Schools. She also does VRS and Community work from time to time. She received her MA in Interpreting Studies and her BA in ASL/English Interpreting, both from Western Oregon University. Alissa is currently the co-chair of the Membership Committee for the Oregon chapter of RID. Alissa has a passion for research and conducted her Master’s Action Research project on the relationship between self-concept and ethical confidence in new interpreters. Alissa is deeply committed to the development of her own interpreting practice and the cultivation of the next generation of interpreters.

References

Brown, B. (2015). Rising strong. New York, NY: Spiegel & Grau.

Brown, B. (2017). Braving the wilderness: The quest for true belonging and the courage to stand alone. New York, NY: Random House

Cokely, D. (1992). Interpretation: Towards a sociolinguistic model. Burtonsville, MD.: Linstok Press.

Colonomos, B. M. (1992). The Interpreting Process. Riverdale, MD: TBC.

Dean, R. K., & Pollard Jr., R. Q. (2001). The application of demand-control theory to sign language interpreting: Implications for stress and interpreter training. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 6(1), 1-14.

Flora, P. (2013). The stories interpreters tell (Masters thesis). 5. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/theses/5/

Hamilton, H. (2018). “Ever since I left the city”: An auto-ethnographic action research project on interpreting in a K-12 setting(Masters action research). 1. Retrieved from             https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/maisactionresearch/1/

Kruger, J., Dunning, D. (1999) Unskilled and unaware of it: How difficulties in recognizing one’s own incompetence lead to inflated self-assessments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology77(6) 1121-1134. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.77.6.1121

McAlpine, A. (2019). But who am I to know what’s right?! A resilience-based approach to interpreter self-concept and ethical process.(Unpublished Master’s action research). Western Oregon University.

Schwenke, T. J. (2012). Sign language interpreters and burnout. Journal of Interpretation, 20(1), 7.

Schwenke, T. J., Ashby, J. S., & Gnilka, P. B. (2014). Sign language interpreters and burnout. Interpreting: International Journal of Research & Practice in Interpreting, 16(2), 209.

Witter-Merithew, A. (2002). Understanding the Meaning of Texts and Reinforcing Foundation Skills Through Discourse Analysis. Retrieved from https://www.unco.edu/cebs/asl-interpreting/pdf/library/meaning-of-texts.pdf

V

Section 5

Practice: The Necessary Preparation for working with People

The Necessary Preparation for working with People

Sarah Hewlett

Maybe you are enrolled in an interpreter education program, or maybe you have graduated from a program already and are back for more training. Or even still, maybe you are looking to start into an interpreting program, have found this resource, and now reading anything you can because you like to prepare. Or even still, maybe you are going to skip the program route altogether and plan to ready yourself for the profession via another avenue; whatever floats your boat. But no matter who you are, there is one real thing – interpreting requires practice.

Learning new skills takes work and becoming proficient at a new skill takes even more work. While studying the theory and fundamentals of a skill are vital, practice is also imperative. Whether you are learning ballet, oil painting, accounting, a musical instrument, cooking, or even interpreting between languages, you cannot become a professional in these areas without a lot of practice. Meadows (2013) researched how American Sign Language/English interpreting professionals experience real-world shock upon entering the profession even though they have had intensive training. What can we do during our training to prepare new professionals as much as possible for real-world situations? We could probably practice more thoughtfully, more often, reflect, and repeat.

An Analogy

For the sake of stepping back for a fresh perspective, follow this analogy. Imagine you want to learn how to play the piano. Where to start? There are so many keys and so many different combinations of keys that sound different when played together. The sheet music looks like a foreign language, and there are even key signatures that situate the whole feeling of a song. A song can make you feel things, guys! There are tempos, accidentals, crescendos, decrescendos, and who knows what else. But you like music and you like how the piano sounds. You have fingers and can push the keys. So, you begin an adventure of learning how to play the piano, with the goal of arriving at the level of piano-playing where you are capable of understanding the music theory so deeply that you can “play” with playing, and sound good doing it! You want to be a professional. You will play a composed song with confidence! You could even use your knowledge of music theory and make up your own song – maybe it won’t be catchy, but you know what cords to play when.

You have to start somewhere. Learn what keys are what, how to read music, how to count measures. There are a lot of rules. You can plink out a scale now, and even play “Hot Crossed Buns” like a boss. You take Piano 101, 102, and 103. Heck, you take all the piano classes your university offers. You got As, and you feel pretty proud of your rather quickly acquired knowledge. Your teachers like the songs you play and said you played them very well. You are so proud of your hard work and new abilities, and you have seen professionals out there who play the songs composers in real time. The professionals watch the composer literally writing the song on paper, or they can even read their minds, it seems. The music is really from the composer in real time, just through the pianist. Listeners can even respond, and it just looks all so useful. You want to be that professional who facilitates music to audiences. You sign up for the classes and, holy smokes, it is harder than you thought, but you have cohort members, instructors, and safe spaces to practice your craft.

You complete your program despite the challenges, and you feel victorious after doing something hard – as you should feel! But now, you are kind of on your own. Sure, there are friendly professionals out there, and there are even unfriendly ones. There are very clear composers, and some that you just do not understand what they want you to do, and the listeners all have opinions too. It feels heavy with so many people involved, and it feels like there was so much more to learn. You did not practice all these songs being composed in the community, but you announce that, “If my program had me practice this, I would have done a better job!”

Okay, you see what we are doing. Sometimes, analogies take us away from how close we are. We have a harder time interrupting to become defensive. Having space from focusing solely on the art of interpreting and using other crafts as examples can take a step back lend us some fresh perspective. Again, maybe you are a student currently in an interpreter training program. This chapter is here to give you another friendly reminder that all the practice you are doing in class, and all the practice you are required to do at home (whether or not you are actually doing it but it is required nonetheless) is worth it. It is worth it if you intentionally practice the skills required to interpret. Maybe you have already completed an interpreter education program and are looking for more training; you definitely know and feel that this is a practice profession where you need a solid foundation to be able to handle the myriad of layers that build an interpreted situation.

Useful Practice: Just One Tool of Many

While repetitive practice is crucial to building skills, reflection and implementation of previous learning is the key to improvement. Gibbs (1988) offers a thorough yet simple model that is used widely across practice professions so that each experience can make the next one better. After practicing some aspect of interpreting, whether it be a hard skill or a soft skill, a student can isolate a demand from their experience and follow Gibb’s Reflective Cycle to extrapolate to brainstorm new controls on how to respond should the demand arise in the future. For example, let us use Isabella Interpreter as a hypothetical illustration. Isabella Interpreter is a student in an interpreting program, who is currently enrolled in an Interpreting Practicum class. For this class, students are placed in authentic postsecondary classes to practice interpreting lectures without the presence of a Deaf person. Isabella has a rough experience being thoughtful of her work because she feels that the absence of a Deaf person makes it pointless, yet her whole term will be spent in this setting so that she can practice in a risk free environment. Isabella Interpreter needs to reflect on her intrapersonal feelings and make a plan for how to get the most out of this practice environment. She can follow Gibb’s cycle to strategically plan to make her next practice session more beneficial. Figure 1 shows Gibb’s Reflective Cycle.

Figure 1. Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle. Adapted from Gibbs, G. (1998). Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Future Education Unit. Oxford Polytechnic. Oxford.

Gibbs’ model provides a very useful framework that can be cycled through as often as necessary. Isabella Interpreter might identify her feelings of mock interpreting feeling pointless, and go through the cycle as follows:

1. Description: I feel ridiculous interpreting from English to ASL with no Deaf person present. The room is full of hearing people. I don’t even know if a Deaf person would understand what I’m doing in here because I can’t see them. There is no backchanneling.

2. Feelings: ridiculous, annoyed and frustrated this is an assignment, maybe embarrassed

3. Evaluation: I was not thoughtful while practicing today because I just felt silly. I will be in this class all term. This did not work for me.

4. Analysis: The problem, for me, is that I feel like I need to look at a Deaf person while interpreting. But for a reason, there is no Deaf student in here. This is a conflict of what I feel like I need and the demand of the situation.

5. Conclusion: I see two options. One is that a Deaf person could come to class. A second option is that I can let go of the need to have a consumer. Perhaps I can accept the demand as it is, and focus my energy on interpreting to a camera that I can later watch the recording and analyze my interpretation.

6. Action Plan: If this situation happened again, and it will in a couple days, I will put a imagine a Deaf person is watching me. I will set up my phone to record my work to later analyze, but in the moment, I will imagine that my Deaf friend is attending class from a distance, and that I am the interpreter.

This is a brief example of one way this tool could be used. There are other tools available that promote reflection, identification of barriers, and encourage brainstorming action plans, but for the sake of starting with something, this cycle is helpful in identifying problems and potential ways to approach them the next time they arise, for problems will always arise.

Potential for this Section

This section is one slice of a larger work that can include reminders of intentional practice focusing on the technical skills of interpreters, as well as the soft skills that are required in the field. Both technical and soft skills can be worked on separately, and activities can be developed to combine the two in preparation for entering the field where people are depending on your interpretation for participation. This section would benefit from chapter contributions including but not limited to:

- Narratives from the perspective of recent graduates working as professionals, describing the challenges they faced and how they overcame them.

- Practice activities

- Soft-skill practice activities for interpreters

- How to handle resistant participants who prefer not to have an interpreter present

- How to practice professional boundaries with participants who continually try to pull an interpreter out of their professional duties

- How to behave during down time

- Technical-skill practice activities for interpreters from English to ASL

- Technical-skill practice activities for interpreters from ASL to English

The notion of practice being required to be proficient is apparent, but knowing how to practice is a skill on its own. Even professionals with years of experience can get into ruts or face challenges in their work that require reflective and intentional practice so the challenge can be overcome. This section could become a resource of a whole host of activities and ideas that students and professionals could try until they find a tool that clicks for them.

References

Gibbs, G. (1988). Learning by Doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods. Further Education Unit. Oxford Polytechnic: Oxford.

Meadows, S. A. (2013). Real-world shock: transition shock and its effect on new interpreters of American Sign Language and English (Master’s thesis). Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Oregon. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/theses/8