New Approaches to Interpreter Education

MA to BA: A Quest for Distinguishing Between Under- graduate and Graduate Interpreter Education, Bachelor of Arts in Interpretation Curriculum at Gallaudet University

1 RISA SHAW, STEVEN D. COLLINS, AND MELANIE METZGER MA to BA: A Quest for Distinguishing Between Undergraduate and Graduate Interpreter Education, Bachelor of Arts in Interpretation Curriculum at Gallaudet University In the fall of 2003, the interpretation faculty at Gallaudet University had the opportunity to conceive and design a new bachelor’s degree program in interpretation where none had existed before.1 The university already offered a master’s in interpretation from a program that had been in place since 1988.2 Therefore, the questions foremost in our minds were twofold: How might graduate and undergraduate education in the field of interpretation differ, and what type of undergraduate program would we want to offer since we were starting from scratch? There were no other institutions at the time (and still none to this date) that offered both degrees. These two questions guided much of the design of Gallaudet’s BA degree program, which welcomed its first students in the fall of 2005. The creation of this degree was done in consultation with colleagues from across the United States and Canada. We had the great fortune to have input from, and numerous discussions with, many experts in our field. In a variety of configurations and over a num1 . At that time, the faculty in the Department of Interpretation consisted of Dr. Valerie L. Dively, Dr. Melanie Metzger, Dr. Steven D. Collins, Ms. Risa Shaw, and Dr. Cynthia Roy. Currently the department has two additional faculty: Ms. Debbie Peterson and Ms. Mary Thumann. 2. Previous to this, Gallaudet University offered an AA degree from 1978 to 1988. 2 Risa Shaw, Steven D. Collins, and Melanie Metzger ber of months, we debated philosophical stances in interpreter education , essential topics in our field, innovative approaches to teaching interpretation, and the various ways in which students of interpretation could benefit from the option of studying their chosen field at both the undergraduate and graduate levels; even more, we dreamed about the possibilities. The faculty in the Department of Interpretation is forever grateful to each person who participated in those conversations, including Dr. Elizabeth Winston and the Department of Education Grant for Interpreter Education (Grant #H160C030001) for funding a think tank meeting that assisted in bringing many of these people together for face-to-face discussions. These exciting collaborations helped define and shape our thinking and design of the actual curriculum. Designing the Program The Pedagogical Approach that Undergirds the Curriculum and Trends in the Field Interpreting is itself a skill that must be developed in addition to a person’s existing high-level skills in two languages.3 Gile (1988, 365) states, “All authors agree that interpretation requires an excellent knowledge of the working languages, much beyond fluency.” Programs in spoken language conference interpreting usually accept bilingual individuals and therefore do not need to focus on the acquisition of language skills per se. Although the demographics of the Deaf and hard of hearing population in the United States do not permit such strict requirements for training in signed language interpretation , it is unreasonable for us to expect students to learn both rudimentary language skills and interpreting skills at the same time. The mastery of basic skills in interpreting will always depend ultimately on an individual’s foundation of solid linguistic skills and cultural adeptness. American Sign Language (ASL) is now taught 3. This section of the chapter relies heavily on, and draws language from, the Gallaudet BA curriculum proposal, 2004, authored by M. Metzger et al., and the Gallaudet MA curriculum proposal, 1988, authored by R. E. Johnson and C. Roy, et al. MA to BA 3 in numerous high schools, colleges, and universities, and it is available in some institutions as a major or concentration. This trend is creating a pool of more experienced ASL users. The pedagogy of teaching has been under continuous examination by educators in sign language interpreting, as well as those in related fields, for many years now. In the 1980s, there came an increasing demand to provide broad-based, liberal arts training, rather than narrow training in the skills associated with interpreting only (Coughlin 1990; Kurz 1988). Concurrently, it had become increasingly apparent that the level of training and education typically provided to signed language interpreters at the AA/AS level was not adequate to meet the complex demands of the task or the current workplace. See Anderson’s (1989) Identifying Standards for the Training of...