Getting to Skopos in a Mediated Education Environment: Bridging Research and Practice

Debra Russell, Ph.D.,

Certified Interpreter

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

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Beginnings: Thank You

Thank you to research participants we continue to learn about our work from their

willingness to be involved.

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What Shapes my Interest?

Background and experiences as: Interpreter (still interpret) Elementary Teacher: Direct Instruction Interpreter Educator Curiosity about learning for Deaf children in

mediated vs direct learning with the major emphasis on inclusion in Canada

Skopos - “meaning or purpose”

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Presentation Overview

Research Questions Methodology Findings Implications Next Steps

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Research Questions

Q: To what extent and in what ways does the use of interpreting services impact the academic performance and social development of Deaf students?

Q: What perceptions are held by Deaf students, their parents, teachers and administrators on the quality and impact of interpreting services on the academic and social success of Deaf students?

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Methodology

Case Studies small samples, in-depth exploration yields richer data

Videotaped Samples of mediated classroom communication

On-Line Surveys

Interviews Interpreters, Teachers, Parents of d/Deaf students,

and d/Deaf students

Participants

Surveys: Teachers – 93; Interpreters – 128; Parents – 85

Case Study Interviews: Teachers: 15; Interpreters: 20; Parents: 15;

Students: 10 Classroom samples of interpreting:

30 samples across elementary, junior high and high school

3 samples of Intervening Services with Deaf Blind Children

Provinces – NS, ON, MB, SK, AB, BC, NB, NL, QB04/19/23 Debra Russell

Focus of Interpreting Analysis

How are interpreters representing language in teaching/learning context?

Data being analyzed for linguistic functions in teaching/learning discourse Six common teaching processes chosen (Cazden, 2004) :

Scaffolding (teaching & language structure) Reconceptualizing Meta-cognitive Questions Reciprocal Teachings Feedback Sequencing

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Preliminary Findings

Surveys & Interviews: little agreement on success of inclusion Teachers: 78% - working well Administrators: 100% - believe they operate

“Inclusive” school settings Interpreters: 67% - not working well Parents/Students: 83% - not working well

Classroom Interpretation (n=33): very problematic

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Access to Language Functions

8/33 Interpreters (27%) consistently represented all 6 discourse features of

teaching environment

12/33 (40%) not able to represent all 6 discourse features

13/33 (33%) able to represent some signs, with frequent and

patterned errors inaccurate messages, dysfunctional grammar, requires

child to recover content (if they can)

Example from Case Studies:

Rural setting: 130/280 (46%) utterances successful in Grade 5 social studies class

Urban setting: 298/420 (80%) utterances successful; access to curriculum, however no access to

reciprocal teaching via debate process

Interpreters: majority less than 5 yrs experience; some less

than 2 yrs

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Summary – Access to Meaning

Experienced (5+ years) intuitively focus on the function of the discourse and to the meaning

Majority (Less experienced or those trained prior to 1990’s) chose words didn’t recognize the function or lacked strategies to show

the natural grammar and the intent operated from transmission model

Impact on students: higher level thinking processes not activated when

interpretation lacks these processes moved from active participant to “bystander” or passive

learner

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Policy & Practice Implications

Policies and practices - what can change? When is a child suited to a mediated education? Need for solid training and hiring of interpreters who

can work with children Deaf children falling farther behind with interpreters

who cannot provide full access Need to look to other aspects that can supplement a

mediated education: technology, peer interaction with other Deaf children, assessment

Changing Practices Administrators:

assessments for when mediated vs. direct education is possible

Teacher: Processes; knowledge of teaching in bilingual and bimodal

class Interpreters & assistants

Linguistic competence that matches teachers and classmates

possess interpreting strategies to reflect educational discourse and teaching processes

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For whom and under what context• Challenges:

Language development issues child coming to school with little exposure to

language/starting at a disadvantage

Schools believe that children can learn language by watching an “interpreter” Is the language model competent? Bystander or active participant in education? Classroom practices – discourse pacing/strategies Cognitive load issues not yet been studied

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Rethinking Issues

Question arising from research: How do we determine when a child can manage

the cognitive and linguistic demands of dealing with an interpreters?

BICS/CALP (Cummins, 1988) – Deaf children who don’t have BICS prior to working with an interpreter in academic settings? What are the cognitive demands for any Deaf learner

watching an incomplete language model?

Direct Instruction vs. Mediated Instruction - Comprehension and Engagement?

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References Cazden, D. 1988 Classroom discourse: the language of teaching and learning. Portsmouth, NH:

Heinemann. Davis, J. 2005. Code Choices and consequences: implications for educational interpreting. In Educational

Interpreting and interpreter education, eds. M Marschark, R. Peterson and E.A. Winston. New York; Oxford University Press.

Marschark, M, P. Sapere, C. Covertino, and R. Seewagen. 2005 Educational Interpreting: its about deaf Students. In Educational Interpreting and interpreter education, eds. M Marschark, R. Peterson and E.A. Winston. New York; Oxford University Press.

Napier, J. 2005. Linguistic features and strategies of interpreting: From research to education to practice. In Educational Interpreting and interpreter education, eds. M Marschark, R. Peterson and E.A. Winston. New York; Oxford University Press.

Nord, C. 1997. Translating as a purposeful activity; Functionalist approaches explained. Manchester, UK: St. Jerome Publishing

Reiss, K. and H.J. Vermeer 1984. Grundleging einer allgemeinen Translationstheorie, Tübingen: Niemeyer. Russell, D. (July, 2007). What do others think of our work? Perspectives on educational interpreting from

Deaf students, teachers, administrators and parents. Paper given at the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters. Paper given at the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters, Segovia, Spain.

Winston, E. (2004) Interpretability and Accessibility of Mainstream Classrooms. In In Educational Interpreting – How it can succeed. ed. E.A. Winston. Washington DC: Gallaudet University Press.

7/15/08 Debra Russell