Reforming Interpreter Education:  A Practice-Profession Approach

Funded by the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) grant #P116B010927

Publications:
The demand-contol schema:  Effective curricular implementation

Training medically qualified interpreters: New approaches, new applications, promising results

What's the problem?
A tremendous increase in demand for competent sign language interpreter services has occurred since the Americans with Disabilities Act became law in 1990, creating a shortage of sign language interpreters. In response, the number of educational programs offering to train sign language interpreters has increased 45% in the past 10 years. There are no enforced standards for program length, content, or practica training. US interpreter training programs (ITP) range from 6-week "certificate" to master's degree programs. Seventy-eight percent offer an associate's degree or less. Prior research conducted at the University of Rochester Medical Center indicates that many working interpreters find their college training to be insufficient resulting in poor work quality and high rates of stress-related illnesses among working interpreters.

Most ITPs teach sign language, sign-to-voice skills, and Deaf culture -- presuming that interpreters are mere "technicians" of translation. Interpreting work involves challenges beyond language, and demands broader knowledge and ability than ITPs deliver. These additional demands involve knowledge of the characteristics of specific work settings (e.g. medical environments), the dynamics and communication objectives of the people who are present, even the subjective state of the interpreter.

What's being done?
Interpreting is a practice profession, like medicine or law enforcement, where the acquisition of professional judgment and self-evaluation skills in training programs should be imparted along with "content" knowledge. The University of Rochester (UR) and the University of Tennessee (UT) are collaborating on this FIPSE-funded project. The UR investigators have developed interpreter training methods that reflect this broader view of interpreter competencies and a practice-profession style of learning. Their approach draws from demand-control theory (D-C) and problem-based learning (PBL). UT is partnering with UR to implement a 5-course D-C/PBL track in UT's baccalaureate ITP.

During the first course in the baccalaureate sequence, students are taught that the variables relevant to interpreting work are much more extensive than those pertaining to language and culture alone. With this more holistic foundation, students explore in the subsequent two courses how these additional variables (paralinguistic, environmental, interpersonal, and intrapersonal) impact the work of an interpreter through observing in-vivo interactions in medical settings and post-secondary educational settings. Unlike most observational techniques employed in ITPs to improve language acquisition and fluency, these students are not observing interpreted assignments or deaf individuals' communications but, instead, are observing hearing people involved in typical interactions which highlight these often overlooked but salient additional aspects of interpreting work. The final two courses are practica where students employ Dean and Pollard's schema in their work and in their analysis of work situations with fellow students.

Course Descriptions:
Application of Demand-Control Theory to Sign Language Interpreting: In this course, students are introduced to Dean and Pollard's schema for interpreting work which is based on Karasek's Demand-Control theory. Students are introduced to the complete spectrum of interpreting work challenges and learn how specific factors within interpreting work environments affect them, their consumers, and their resulting translations. These challenges, called demands are framed into four categories (environmental, interpersonal, paralinguistic and intrapersonal) which guides students to analyze interpreting work systematically. Using the demand-control schema as a work analysis tool allows students to begin incorporating practical knowledge of work environments into their growing skills repertoire. This is a foundational course and the schema that is taught in this course is employed throughout the remainder of the course sequence. This course substitutes for two required courses: HS 450 #49735 or RD 579 # 74538

Medical Interpreting: In this course, students learn about medical interpreting by applying Dean and Pollard's schema during observations of medical situations. Equipped with the understanding of the factors important to interpreting work and the schema to discern them, students shadow medical doctors into their appointments with hearing patients. Consistent with problem-based and expeditionary learning techniques, students are exposed to basic medical knowledge, typical doctor patient interactions/conversations by direct observation (contrasted with traditional classroom instruction methods) which has shown to improve student's practical understanding, integration, and retention of information.

Post Secondary Education Interpreting: Like medical interpreting work, there is a great demand for interpreting in post-secondary education settings. Understanding the challenges faced by interpreters in these settings is vital since the majority of interpreters will find themselves working in this type of setting. In this course, students will spend the majority of their class time in settings on the university campus observing the environment, the people, and the type of interactions that typically occur. Like the first PBL course, students will employ Dean and Pollard's schema during their observations.

Practica I and II: Students with a concentration in interpreting at UTK must complete two field experience courses, one in a general human service setting and the other in an interpreting setting. The final two courses in the project sequence revise these required field experiences by asking students to implement Dean and Pollard's schema in their field work as well as in a new field work group supervision seminar. Students in both

Practica I and II courses will attend a weekly conjoint supervision seminar where discussions about their growing knowledge and understanding of interpreting work will be framed in a demand-control format.

Key Project Personnel:
University of Rochester Medical Center
Robyn Dean, CI/CT
Faculty Associate in Psychiatry (Psychology)
(585) 275-6572
Robyn_Dean@urmc.rochester.edu

Robert Pollard, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Psychology)
(585) 275-3544
Robert_Pollard@urmc.rochester.edu

University of Tennessee
Jeffrey Davis, Ph.D., CSC, SC:L
Associate Professor, Counseling Deafness and Human Services Department
(865) 974-0427
jdavis49@utk.edu

Marie Griffin, MS, CSC, CI, CT, SC:L, OIC:C
Research Instructor, Counseling Deafness and Human Services Department
(865) 974-4136
mgriffin@utk.edu

Carol LaCava, MS, CT
Coordinator of the Educational Interpreting Program
(865) 974-2626
clacava@utk.edu

This project is sponsored in part by the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE), U.S. Department of Education.
FIPSE Website:  http://www.ed.gov/FIPSE/
US Dept. of Education Website: http://www.ed.gov