http://jdsde.oxfordjournals.org/content/11/1/3.full
Read this article and select three things to discuss with you classmates.
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- Monica
- Here is a safe place to discuss and learn issues directly related to dignity. Together we will explore, learn and grow.
1. The fact that 60% of sign language interpreters had inadequate skills to meet the needs of students who need an interpreter blew my mind. This just makes me wonder how hard is it to pass? Is the test really that hard? Are the sign language interpreters really that untrained? This brought me to a second thought: If there are no state minimums for interpreters to go by, then how can people expect that they will get an adequately trained interpreter? This just means that the states need to implement standards. I thought it was interesting that “approximately 25 states require some sort of minimum performance standards”. What is holding them all of the other states from implementing guidelines?
ReplyDelete2. The issue of if an interpreter is even helpful in a child’s education was interesting as well. The article mentioned that “those students who used an interpreter also scored significantly poorer in measures of grammar, vocabulary, and story construction.” Why isn’t there any research on this? This could significantly change the way deaf or hard-of-hearing students learn. If interpreters aren’t helping a child learn the basics of elementary education then maybe it is time to consider adequately training and hiring ASL interpreters or build more state schools.
3. The article mentions how lecturing young children may not be the best form of teaching, and I agree. They are energetic, imaginative people whose brains are at the peak of soaking in knowledge! Sitting in a boring classroom with a boring teacher isn’t going to help them learn, no matter if they are deaf, hearing, or hard-of-hearing. How can teachers make learning engaging for young people, especially with deaf or hard-of-hearing students in their classrooms?
The first topic that I found interesting was the section/research about how students learn through an interpreter. The research was done in a college setting and shows that deaf/hoh students did worse on tests than hearing students. The researchers didn’t really specify why that was other than the fact that deaf/hoh students had to learn through another person. I found it really interesting that the research proved hearing students did better on tests. I could see how learning a college subject that needed to be interpreter would be hard.
ReplyDeleteA second topic is how students (grades 3-12) that use an interpreter score less are grammar, vocabulary, and story structure. I could understand how students would score less on grammar and story structure but vocabulary was kind of surprising. With grammar, ASL and English are so different that I would be surprised if students did not get confused. I could not imagine watching an interpreter and then writing something down in English. Switching sentence structures within seconds would be difficult!
Lastly, I didn’t know that only 25 states require standards for interpreters. I would have thought that all states would have requirements for interpreters. If students need an interpreter, they should be qualified for a school setting. That student should not suffer because the interpreter is not qualified. I would think that public schools would want the best for students and offer top-notch services. But somewhere along the line, the public school system has failed for students that need extra services.
I was also very surprised by how many interpreters had inadequate skills! I was completely floored by the statistic, mostly because we should have well educated people helping students in a classroom. Interpreters need to have the knowledge so the student can excel.
ReplyDeleteI think that you pointed out how students are probably be scored and evaluated in English and so their scores may be lower. I didn't think of that when I was reading the article. It would be very interesting to see the results from a study that evaluated a student on ASL grammar, vocab, and story structure.
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