Interpreter Education

Associate in Applied Science Degree

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This program provides a solid foundation of the theory and skill sets required for Sign Language Interpreters, develops a strong foundation for students who choose to transfer to bachelor’s programs in Interpreter Education, and begins the critical preparation required for practitioners seeking to sit for National Level Certification Exams.  The program is founded on best practice for sign language interpreters and provides a template for application of skills in a variety of settings.  Completion of this program will provide comprehensive knowledge and practice for students desiring to continue their education in this field.

Goal 1 To provide students with the knowledge they need for employment in educational interpretation

  • Graduates will secure employment in a Pre-K –12 and /or post-secondary educational setting, within one year of completing their degree
  • Demonstrate a broad knowledge of theory and principles regarding interpreting in an educational setting
  • Demonstrate a broad knowledge of theory and principles of Sign Language interpreting as it relates to an educational setting
  • Demonstrate proficiency in American Sign Language
  • Explain the criteria for abuse and neglect and the reporting process
  • Explain the factors associated with violence in the schools and the prevention of violence in a school setting
  • Obtain the certifications in Child Abuse and Neglect and in Violence Prevention

Goal 2 To provide students with the skills they need for employment in educational interpreting

  • Demonstrate competence in using skills in interpreting such as: receptive and expressive skills, analysis and interpretation of the macrostructure and microstructure of academic texts, translation of frozen texts, an introduction to team interpreting, and production of transliterations which are appropriate for contact language situations, apply text analysis skills to the simultaneous English to ASL and ASL to English interpreting tasks, apply the principles of diagnostic feedback, affect equivalency between source and target languages, is text analysis and consecutively producing an equivalent message in the targeted language, interpreting management strategies for ASL to spoken English interpreting and spoken English to ASL interpreting
  • Demonstrate behaviors that indicate cultural awareness and respect for the inherent worth, dignity and self-determination of individuals in the population

Goal 3 To provide students with an opportunity to communicate in professional and academic environments

  • Demonstrate the ability to effectively communicate both orally and in writing in academic and professional settings
  • Demonstrate understanding and application of professional ethics and behaviors

Goal 4 To provide students with an understanding of the process and methods of social science research

  • Demonstrate an understanding of the principles and theories of scientific methods of social science research used in this field

Goal 5 To prepare students for transfer to related bachelors programs

  • Graduates will transfer with full junior level status
  • Graduates will maintain or improve their GPA at the transfer institution

Goal 6 To prepare students to demonstrate information literacy

  • Students will use traditional and contemporary information technology
  • Students will identify, access, and appropriately use authoritative sources of information

Total Credit Hours: 62

First Semester

This course is an opportunity for students to develop the skills necessary to be successful in college. Students learn the importance of the faculty-student and advisor-advisee relationship, develop time management techniques, apply effective study skill techniques, recognize the implications of living in a diverse society, utilize college resources, and explore career and transfer requirements. Collaborative projects are included. Students matriculated in a degree program must take this course in their first term of study.

This course focuses on several kinds of writing-self-expressive, informative, and argumentative/persuasive, and others. A minimum of five essay compositions are required. The course emphasizes the composition of clear, correct, and effective prose required in a variety of professions and occupations. Prerequisites: Appropriate high school GPA or placement test score or EN090 Basic Writing Skills or SL116 ESL4: Advanced Composition or SL145 ESOL Advanced Composition

This course introduces American Sign Language (ASL), a natural and visual-gestural language used by deaf people in the United States and Canada. It covers finger spelling, signs, grammar, syntax, sentence structure, non-manual behaviors, basic communication techniques, and conversational skills as well as receptive and expressive language skill development. It reviews facets of Deaf culture. A minimum of five hours of participation in the Deaf community is required.

This course further develops receptive and expressive finger spelling and signing skills. Functional language strategies are presented to expand conversational skills beyond talking about oneself to talking about other people and activities, giving directions, and making requests. Skills are developed to identify others, exhibit appropriate conversational strategies, and learn to handle interruptions. Study focuses on ASL sentence structures, time, numbers, spatial referencing, temporal aspects, distributional aspects, pluralization, and sign vocabulary. Information about the Deaf community and Deaf culture is covered. A minimum of 15 hours of participation in the Deaf culture is required. Prerequisite: Grade of C or better in AL101 American Sign Language 1.

This course provides an overview of the history and current status of education and educational interpreting throughout the United States. Content includes the role, practices, and skills of educators and educational interpreters in K-12 settings; philosophies of teaching, learning and assessment; communication systems; pertinent laws and regulations; resources, information, and strategies for consumer awareness and education; administrative practices and personnel structure of school systems; assessment and management of educators and educational interpreters; and topics that concern educators and educational interpreters.

Second Semester

This course encourages a deeper understanding of human nature and the human condition through the study of ideas and values expressed in imaginative literature. Emphasis is placed on the use and development of critical thinking and language skills. Library-oriented research is required. Prerequisite: EN101 English 1: Composition or EN105 English Composition for Speakers of Other Languages or EN106 English 1: Composition & Reading.

This course covers an increased number of specialized vocabulary terms and an expansion of grammatical features. The skills of accurately producing finger spelling, numbers, classifiers, and non-manual markers are included during practice and spontaneous conversations. Conversation structure in ASL is taught as a part of ASL discourse. A minimum of twenty-five hours of participation in the Deaf community is required. Prerequisite: Grade of B or better in AL102 American Sign Language 2, and a specific score on the ASL Proficiency Test, Level 2.

This course introduces the many and varied facets of psychology. Emphasis is on interactions of individuals in their cultural, social, and economic environments as determined by their cognitive, behavioral, and emotional experiences and training.

This course introduces aspects of deaf culture and the deaf community. The distinctions between the two are reviewed and characteristics of both are identified. The language, norms of behavior, values, traditions and possessions (materials) of the deaf are covered. The evolution of a pathological view of the deaf to a cultural one is analyzed from a historical and sociological perspective. Intercultural issues relating to the role of hearing people within the deaf community are covered.

Students should select from: MA108, MA110, MA115, MA121, MA125, MA131, MA139, MA150, MA151, or MA172

Third Semester

This last course in the ASL series for interpreting students builds upon the foundation of the previous courses. Specialized vocabulary and the basic ASL discourse structure for a presentation are covered. Vocabulary, structural principles, and linguistic principles related to narratives of ASL are expanded and applied. Multiple meaning English words and English idioms for expressing concepts in ASL are analyzed. Linguistic principles and discourse features to develop and create ASL narratives are incorporated. Issues related to the Deaf culture are introduced based on topics in each unit. A minimum of forty hours of participation in the Deaf community is required. Prerequisite: Grade of B or better in AL201 American Sign Language 3, and a specific score on the ASL Proficiency Test, Level 3.

This course introduces the mental processing skills (pre-interpreting skills) of consecutive and simultaneous interpretation and an in-depth look at the interpreter as a bicultural/bilingual mediator. It includes an overview of the theoretical models of interpretation, skill development activities, and practice activities. Interpreting theory, visualization, listening and comprehension, shadowing, paraphrasing, abstracting, dual task training, text analysis, cloze skills, and translation are included. A focus is presented on the interpreters communicative competence. It includes a study of conversational exchanges in English and ASL. Prerequisite: EI101 Introduction to Education and Educational Interpreting with a grade of "C" or better. Corequisite: AL202 American Sign Language 4.

Students should select from: MA108, MA110, MA115, MA121, MA125, MA131, MA139, MA150, MA151, or MA172

Take any General Education Natural Science Course

This course assists in making intelligent health-conscious decisions through topics such as wellness, aging, sexuality, drugs and alcohol, and communicable diseases. It introduces activities and skills for leading healthy lifestyles including fitness assessment, weight management, and exercise.

Fourth Semester

This course develops the ability to produce equivalent messages from English into ASL and ASL into spoken English. It focuses on text and communication analysis, as well as an introduction to process models in both consecutive and simultaneous interpretation. Content includes development of the skill sets needed while interpreting, along with management strategies. Prerequisites: EI120 Processing Skills and Discourse Analysis with a grade of “C” or higher and AL202 American Sign Language 4.

This course covers the underlying principles of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) Code of Ethics and application of the Code of Ethics to the various situations and settings in which sign language interpreters work. It explores how professional interpreters apply these principles in their daily work and how deaf consumers perceive the ethical role and function of interpreters. In addition to ethical considerations, etiquette and protocol for each setting are discussed. Settings include K-12, post-secondary, religious, medical, mental health, deaf-blind, performing arts, business and industry, and vocational rehabilitation.

This course introduces the task of sign language transliteration. It covers the ability to translate simultaneous from a spoken English message into an equivalent signed message while retaining English features. The focus is on transliterating in Pre-K-12th grade educational settings. Topics include analysis and interpretation of the macrostructure and microstructure of academic texts, transliteration of frozen texts, an introduction to team interpreting, and production

of transliterations appropriate for contact language situations. Corequisite: EI250 Practical & Ethical Applications of Interpretation.

This course introduces the nature and study of history, and covers the emergence and development of Eurasian civilization to about 1500 A.D. in the Near East, India, China, Europe, the Western Hemisphere, and Africa. Attention is given to religion in these civilizations and on the rise of the West to a position of world power during the Middle Ages.

Students should select from: EN197, HU183, HU184, HU187, HU188, HU204, HU205, HU210, HU292, PT205, TH193 or TH195

(a) Mathematics Elective: Students should select from MA108, MA110, MA115, MA121, MA125, MA131, MA139, MA150, MA151, or MA172.

(b) Natural Science Elective: Students should select from BI103, BI105, BI141, BI216, CH101, CH111, CH120, CH131, CH141, GL100, GL101, GL102, PH106, PH112, PH141, PH151, PH261, or WE101.

(c) Arts Elective: Students should select from EN197, HU183, HU184, HU187, HU188, HU204, HU205, HU210, HU292, PT205, TH193, or TH195.