Conceptual Framework
The Interpreter Education Program abides by UALR’s diversity policy whereby students are prepared to work with children, adolescents, and adults from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. In addition, efforts are made to ensure the students have opportunities to conduct practicum and internship courses in settings where diversity is present.
- Course curricula and classroom materials, including videotapes, guest speakers, and community involvement, infuse diversity to ensure exposure to a multicultural learning environment.
- Structured experiences outside of the traditional classroom setting are incorporated into the curriculum to expose students to individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, and deaf-blind and from multicultural backgrounds.
- A model of mentorship promotes student and community collaboration in which students have the opportunity to participate in language development activitiesby applying language studied in the classroom to a natural home environment with the persons from diverse cultural backgrounds.
The following six components define and provide the conceptual framework upon which this curriculum is based. The integration of these components results in a degree program that represents best practices in the training and education of interpreters.
1. American Sign Language Courses
ASL development courses include special lab assignments and community events to ensure that student possess the conversational competence in English and ASL. A core of four courses provides students with a sequential and spiral learning model in which to develop competence in ASL. The sequence is a combination of classroom instruction, drill, lab work, and community involvement. These courses are
- INTR 1320 American Sign Language I
- INTR 1321 American Sign Language II
- INTR 2320 American Sign Language III
- INTR 2321 American Sign Language IV
2. Foundation Courses
Foundation courses provide students with knowledge about the unique communities and experiences of persons who are deaf, deaf-blind, or hard of hearing. Three courses (INTR 2342 , INTR 3344, INTR 4340/5340) are taken simultaneously with the ASL courses and include study of the profession of interpreting, the deaf community, the code of ethics, cognitive processing of language, and business practices. A fourth course (INTR 346) provides students with information about the specific role and responsibilities of the K-12 educational team (administrators, teachers, interpreters, students) and the function of interpreters in all other types of educational settings. These courses are:
- INTR 2342 Introduction to Interpreting
- INTR 3344 Interpretation Theory and Process
- INTR 4340/5340 Deaf Culture
- INTR 3346 Principles of Educational Interpreting
3. English-based Sign Language Courses
Three courses provide students with knowledge and skills about contact language varieties and those consumers who may prefer to use English-based sign language systems. Students develop skills in receptive and expressive fingerspelling, in SEE II as used in educational settings, and in using conceptually accurate signs. These courses are:
- INTR 2330 MCE in Educational Settings
- INTR 3330 Fingerspelling
- NTR 3360 Interpreting Contextually Bound English Lexicon (ICBEL)
4. Interpretation Courses
The basic cognitive processes of interpretation are developed by focusing on consecutive interpretation tasks before focusing on simultaneous interpretation tasks. This developmental sequence allows students to acquire and refine the cognitive skills of interpretation apart from the temporal constraints and pressures imposed by simultaneous interpretation.
The interpretation courses consist of six courses which progressively build upon one another. Students discuss ethical decision making, theories and models of interpretation and progress to development of competencies from consecutive to simultaneous interpretation and transliteration. Beginning courses focus on exercises in dual-tasking, strategies for determining evidence, and reformulating and restructuring messages from within a monolingual context to successively complex inter-lingual tasks. Since the interpretation process is based upon the working languages of the interpreter, by the time students are enrolled in intermediate and advanced interpretation courses, they are expected to work with each language as both Source Language and Target Language. A seventh course (INTR 4322) is offered on demand and is in a lecture format presenting ASL from a linguistic perspective.
- INTR 3364 Sign to Voice Interpreting/Transliterating
- INTR 3366 Voice to Sign Interpreting/Transliterating
- INTR 3268 Intermediate Interpreting/Transliterating
- INTR 3370 Ethical Standards & Practices for Interpreters
- INTR 4380 Advanced Transliteration
- INTR 4382 Advanced Interpretation
- INTR 4322 Comparative Linguistics
5. Interpretation in Specialized Settings and for Specialized Population Courses
The skill, art, and ethics of interpretation are developed by focusing on participant and consumer interaction paradigms such as one-on-one, small groups, and large groups in a range of realistic discourse settings. A core of five courses is designed with an emphasis on special populations and specialized settings. Students learn to interpret for consumers who prefer oral transliteration and for consumers who are low vision and/or require tactile communication. Specific terminology and strategies are taught for such settings as medical, mental health, legal, rehabilitation, religious, and educational. These courses are:
- INTR 2360 Oral Transliterating
- INTR 4384 Interpreting Academic Subjects
- INTR 3350 Artistic Interpreting in Educational Settings
- INTR 3358 Interpreting for Persons who are Deaf-Blind
- INTR 3362 Interpreting in Specialized Settings
6. Practicum and Internship Courses
A total of 390 clock hours provides students with field experiences, which begin with practicing communication in community-based agencies with persons who are deaf or deaf-blind. Students then progress to observations of interpreting situations and observations of practicing interpreters. Upon completion of interpretation, university core, and minor course work, students are placed in an internship as a capstone experience. These courses are:
- INTR 2370 Practicum
- INTR 4970 Internship