1. Are there any Interpreter Education Programs for Heritage Signers/Coda Learners?
Marianne T. Doremus, INT 492 Senior Seminar Project & Portfolio, Spring 2016
Introduction
Findings:
Conclusion
The purpose of this study is to research who are heritage signers/learners and if there are any interpreter education programs, options for heritage signers/Codas and certified interpreters who have worked in the field for many years and want to return to school to broaden their professional interpreting education.
There is a lack of IEP programs designed for heritage signers/Codas and research in this area.
Interpreter Education Programs for Heritage Learners:
Sorenson Communication Services, Compass Program
Foundations of Interpreting for Codas, by Betty Colonomos
2012 Coda Week-long Workshop developed by Juniper Sussman & Jamie Yost – Gallaudet University
There are a few programs available for heritage signers/Codas; need to expand unique interpreter education for them as they become professional interpreters.
Literature Review
Recommendation for Future Research:
Heritage speakers are bilinguals who learn a minority home language from birth, but subsequently become dominant in a majority language (Polinsky & Kagan, 2007).
Continue with current research to develop a proposal based on empirical evidence for a model Interpreter Education Program for Heritage Signers/Coda Learners with heritage signers/Codas as instructors.
Recent findings on heritage speakers of spoken languages shows how this applies to Coda signers and other sign language bilinguals, and what it means to view ASL as a heritage language. Students who have one or more deaf parents are native users and heritage learners of the signed language, and 80% of children born to Deaf parents are hearing (Compton, 2014).
Image from Chen Pichler, D., & Reynolds, W. (2016)
References:
Discussion:
Chen Pichler, D., & Reynolds, W. (2016, April 13). Heritage signers: Bimodal bilingual children from Deaf families. Lecture presented at Gallaudet University Department of Linguistics, Washington, D.C.
Compton, S. (2014). American sign language as a heritage language. In T. G. Wiley, J. K. Peyton,
D. Christian, S. C. Moore, & N. Liu (Eds.),
Handbook of Heritage, Community, and Native American Languages in the United States: Research, Policy, and Educational Practice. New York: Routledge and Center for Applied Linguistics.
Williamson, A. (2015). Heritage learner to professional interpreter: Who are deaf-parented interpreters and how do they achieve professional status? Master thesis. Paper 22.
Foundations of Interpreting for Codas.
This workshop provides an introduction to the Foundations of Interpreting Processes (I‐VIII) by using highly interactive activities.
This workshop is designed to address the unique experiences of Codas.
Codas will learn strategies for understanding and improving control of ones own internal process
Consideration of this population enriches our discussions on heritage language development, attrition, and maintenance (Chen Pichler & Reynolds, 2016).
Methodology: Data Collection
2012 Coda Week-long workshop titles:
Read Master thesis,
Reviewed Interpreter Education Program websites,
ed IEP contact persons inquiring about Heritage Signer Learner courses,
Attended researchers’ lectures, panel discussions in Gallaudet University’s Department of Linguistics, and Collegial discussions on recent researches with professionals in this field.
Identifying Core Coda Cultural Competencies
Professional Communication
Depiction: Use of Space in ASL
Consecutive Interpreting for Codas
Coda Interpreters in the Legal Setting
How do Hearing People Say (or do) that?
COHA-CODA: Collaboration in Interpreting
Confirming & Celebrating Core CODA Cultural Competencies