Course Description
This field-based course provides students with an introduction to the practice profession of Sign Language interpretation. Learning is focused on: continuing development of pre-interpreting skills such as vocabulary development, discourse mapping and discourse reconstruction (paraphrasing); application of the Demand Control Schema (best practice process for reflection and decision making); an introduction to the Deaf-Blind community.
Course Content
The following global ideas guide the design and delivery of this course:
- Ongoing application of discourse analysis is an ever-evolving skill of interpreters.
- Ongoing learning about the varieties of language use and cultural identities encountered in an interpreter’s work is required for effective practice.
- Current knowledge on a variety of topics is required for effective practice.
- Interpreters may work with people who are Deaf-Blind, which entails mastering an additional skill set to accommodate specific communication needs and intervening techniques.
- The decision-making process of interpreters is a complicated process requiring a multifaceted approach that considers all perspectives.
- The Demand Control Schema provides useful constructs that allow for reflective dialogue about interpreting work, with the goal of improving effective and ethical decision making.
Learning Activities
- Lecture/discussion
- Demonstration/practice
- Group work
Means of Assessment
- Demonstration/practice
- Group work
- Written assignments
This is a letter-graded course.
Learning Outcomes
- Apply techniques learned through observations to one’s own emerging professional practice;
- Explain the etiology of Deaf-Blind identities and communication methods used by Deaf-Blind people as well as define the distinction between interpreters and interveners;
- Apply strategies for on-going vocabulary development;
- Examine various settings in which interpreters work, using a Best Practice Process approach.