Interpretation Theory and Practice 3: Community

This practical course provides opportunities to build and enhance ASL-English interpreting skills during simulated practice in the classroom and while doing volunteer interpreting in the community. Students will gain versatility in meeting the needs of Deaf, hard of hearing, and Deafblind consumers across a spectrum of varied language use. The primary language of instruction will be ASL. The classes in May and June will be augmented by ongoing volunteering in the summer and a one-week practical learning experience at a Deafblind camp in August.

Prerequisites

INTR 2240.

What you will learn

• Spectrum of (ASL) language use in the Deaf, hard of hearing, Deafblind community:
  - Varieties of English-influenced Contact Sign
  - Close-up ASL and/or hand-over-hand tracking
  - Tactile ASL
  - Pro-tactile signals
  - Hand-to-hand fingerspelling with adapted British manual alphabet
• Power and responsibility in the roles of interpreter and intervenor:
  - Duties of an intervenor compared to those of an interpreter
  - Ethical challenges in maintaining appropriate boundaries
  - Social variables that impact meaning-making
  - Awareness of privilege, intersecting identities, allyship, one’s own positionality and bias
• Ongoing skill enhancement for the steps and sub-processes in interpretation:
  - Predicting what to expect from the discourse
  - Concentrating and attending to source message
  - Representing meaning, dropping source language form
  - Planning to express meaning using target language form
  - Producing a clear and cohesive target message
  - Monitoring and critiquing one’s own process and results
  - Strategies for managing the time constraints of simultaneous interpreting
  - Strategies for using consecutive interpreting and interaction management
  - Criteria for opting between simultaneous and consecutive mode
  - Strategies for effective co-interpreting as a team
• Analysis and assessment of interpretation:
  - Features of a successful interpretation
  - Think Aloud Protocol (TAP) as a learning tool
  - Demand-Control framework as a learning tool
  - Peer feedback and shared analysis
  - Consumer feedback
  - Self-reflection and identification of focus areas/goals for one’s own development
• Professional demeanour and interaction, including:
  - Clear, respectful, effective interpersonal communication
  - Punctuality, effort, enthusiasm
  - Patience with self, others, and circumstances
  - Discretion, diplomacy, confidentiality
  - Working collaboratively with peers, consumers, teachers, and others

How to register

This course is offered as part of a VCC program only.

Contact us

If you have any question, please email at advising@vcc.ca.

† This information is intended as a guideline only. Program and course details are subject to change with the approval of VCC's Board of Governors.