Doctoral Dissertation

“We Should Teach What?”

Qualitatively Aligning the Entry-to-Practice Competencies with Curricula in American Sign Language – English Interpreter Education

Abstract

In 1964, Deaf and hearing stakeholders convened at Ball State Teachers College in Muncie, Indiana, to discuss the state of signed language interpreting in the United States. One topic of discussion was the competencies these interpreters should exhibit. Four decades later, Witter-Merithew and Johnson (2005) described American Sign Language (ASL)–English interpreters’ entry-to-practice competencies (EPCs). This study examines the alignment between the EPCs and the 2014 accreditation standards of the Commission on Collegiate Interpreter Education (CCIE). For this study, I followed a four-part process to provide triangulation that (a) compared the EPCs with the CCIE accreditation standards; (b) conducted a document review of three CCIE self-study reports (SSRs) from accredited baccalaureate-level interpreter education programs (IEPs), where I applied a framework adapted from Liebbrandt et al. (2005) to examine descriptions of curriculum; (c) investigated the publicly available course information for 15 of the 16 CCIE-accredited IEPs; and (d) uncovered the perceptions of IEP program directors on how IEPs can infuse the EPCs in interpreting skills courses. The findings indicated that, as predicted, there is significant alignment between EPCs and the 2014 CCIE accreditation standards. Based on the themes identified in the study I provide recommendations to improve interpreter education, IEP curricula, and the CCIE accreditation process. These recommendations include strengthening the accreditation process by making it less reliant on narrative responses and more focused on student learning outcomes, developing systems for the collection of program and individual outcome data to provide insight into the effectiveness of interpreter education, and creating a model curriculum that will support the integration of the EPCs in IEPs.

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Table of Contents for ASL Version of Full Dissertation (Coming Soon)

Full Dissertation Defense Presentation - May 25, 2022