Sign Language Interpretation – Practicum I

The following global ideas guide the design and delivery of this course:

• Interpreters develop skill by practicing the various sub-tasks that are part of the interpreting process.
• Discourse mapping, predicting and preparing are key strategies for interpreters
• The ability to identify and interpret main points of content is an important step, before developing skills to interpret all supporting details.
• Practicing interpreting source text consecutively, in linguistic chunks, is necessary before learning to interpret simultaneously.
• Studying the process models of Cokely, Colonomos and Seleskovitch and current discourse of a cognitive model of interpreting provides an important theoretical base.
• Interpreting in community settings requires assessing the needs of the consumers and of the setting, identifying the demands on the interpreter, and being adaptive as to how to control for these demands.
• A professional interpreter learns to monitor their own work and respond to feedback, as well as to reflect accurately on the success and identify needs for further skill development.
• A professional interpreter always acts in an ethical manner.