Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
This incisive book explores the current state of educational interpreting and how it is failing deaf students. The contributors, all renowned experts in their field, include former educational interpreters, teachers of deaf students, interpreter trainers, and deaf recipients of interpreted educations.Educational Interpreting presents the salient issues in three distinct sections. Part 1 focuses on deaf students—their perspectives on having interpreters in the classroom, the language myths that surround them, the accessibility of language to them, and their cognition. Part 2 raises questions about the support and training that interpreters have in and from the school systems, the qualifications that many interpreters bring to an interpreted education, and the accessibility of everyday classrooms for deaf students placed in such environments. Part 3 presents a few of the possible suggestions for addressing the concerns of interpreted educations, and focuses primarily on the interpreter.
The contributors discuss the need to (1) define the core knowledge and skills interpreters must have and (2) develop standards of practice and assessment. They also stress that interpreters cannot effect the necessary changes alone; unless and until administrators, parents, teachers, and students recognize the inherent issues of access to education through mediation, little will change for deaf students.
Synopsis
Acting on their perception that schools do not respect educational interpreters, disregard the needs of students who are deaf, and have limited resources to offer adequate services, contributors of these 11 articles review those limitations and suggest solutions. They begin by focusing on students who are deaf with a study of 20 students and their suggestions, a study of the first/second language debate, an assessment of whether children who learn English signing systems are learning correct English, and the role of the educational interpreter in cognitive development. Articles centering on interpreters and interpreting include studies of an Internet discussion group, competencies, and accessibility. Those on improving interpretive education include developing theoretical tools, standards of practice and performance assessment. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR