Role of the Interpreter

https://youtu.be/zJ5Pgtfn0uI

To be honest I didn’t think I would choose this topic at first. I felt it was a bit boring of

subject matter, but now I am seeing just how vital it is. Without some type of definition, it is

hard for people outside of the profession to understand what the role of an interpreter is,

especially in a classroom setting.

With that being said though the problem in educational interpreting is there are many

roles that the interpreter must take on. The opinions of those in the field and surrounding it

vary greatly depending on what they feel is the correct role for the interpreter to maintain in

the classroom. There have been various models and role explanations presented over the years

with no real consistency nor agreement on what is correct.

I believe this is because an educational interpreter cannot fit into any one role or model.

There are many different variables that have to be considered in educational interpreting and to

find one model that fits it all is almost impossible. The number one goal of an educational

interpreter should be making sure their student has access to information, but most importantly

understands that information. We cannot be self-centered robots and just sign what is being

said and be like ok that’s good enough I did my job. In many cases the student may be sitting

there just as confused as myself some days in a high-speed deaf conversation. They may be

getting the bits and pieces but not enough for true access and understanding. It is important

that you know the student well enough to know when more clarification is needed even if it

takes you out of your quote unquote interpreter role. Honestly in life we shift between many
roles in day-to-day life and even at work. Why would this not be the same in the classroom. For

example, right now I work remotely for a doctor’s office that is a specialty practice. I send in

prescriptions for patients and that technically is my job. Does that mean when I see a

prescription that doesn’t seem to match up correctly with the notes or the history of the patient

that I ignore that and just send in the prescription anyway? No, I research it and call the patient

for clarification and speak with the provider, so it is all sorted out. In this aspect I am working

more as a researcher and advocate for the patient. What happens when I call a patient for more

information on their prescriptions, and they are having a very bad day and are having trouble

speaking due to being emotional? Do I tell them, OK I will call later when you are more stable

and hang up? No, I talk with the patient for a bit and see if there is anything that I or the other

providers can do to ease any anxiety or concerns or problems they may be having. I work in a

field where it is chronic disease, and the suicide rate can be high. Why would I not lend an ear

for just a few minutes to make sure they are safe and do not need anything further before just

being like well, that is not my job? In this instance I am working more in the role of a counselor

and potential advocate to the provider if the patient needs further emotional assistance. One

last example with my work is when I call for a prescription clarification for a patient and then

they want to ask a triage question. Meaning a question that needs to go to the medical assistant

and nurses on staff. I have two choices during that time. One is to say that is not my job and call

back and use the correct extension, or I can simply say this is not my position with the clinic to

be able to answer this question, but I will get your question to the appropriate department and

have them reach out to you. I choose to do the latter, why make life more difficult for people

when you can simply be nice and use some common sense at addressing the situation. This puts
me in a different role as well. So, in all these situations even in my normal everyday job I have

stepped out of my “role”. If you are stuck in a role and view it as black and white with no grey, it

can lead to a lot of division and misunderstandings and loss of communication. I say all of this

because I feel the interpreting community should realize that even in other careers or jobs there

are situations where people must step out of their “role”. That the model for presentation of

self may not always be equally shared between the student and professor. A model of this in

(Redefining the role of the Community Interpreter, Llewellyn-Jones and Lee, 2014, p.91) shows

how an interpreter can align themselves evenly between student and professor during a

meeting. In reality in the classroom this will shift throughout the year and sometimes

throughout the day depending on the circumstances.

School is already hard enough for the average hearing person that fits into society

“normal”, why make it harder on the deaf student by being rigid and unforgiving in your role.

The “I am just the interpreter” can do more harm than good in these situations. Gallagher

(1993) reported that during the upper elementary school grade, “when self-presentation and

peer group inclusion are highly valued,” student with limited language skills “could become the

focus of negative peer attention” (p.203). We must realize what is going on in our student’s life

within the school and even out of school and adjust as necessary. Maybe this means finding

ways to have a higher or lower presentation of self, depending on the individual situation to

help your student through a difficult time. Teachers themselves will do this if a student seems to

be struggling or having a particularly harder time than usual. They tend to check in more on the

student and offer services to help the student etc. This is showing a higher presentation of self

with the teacher it is only natural that it would happen with an interpreter as well. Using these
phrases can also cause the teachers and administrators to look at you as a conduit model and

not a team player in the education of the student. “This includes avoiding phraseology as “I’m

just going to interpret exactly what you say”; “I’m just the interpreter”; “My goal is to be

invisible”; and “My job is to convey your meaning” (as if meaning is a tangible item and not

coconstructed). Administrators and teachers and those who do not know about interpreting

frequently reference this type of role metaphor, and there is ample data that indicates these

attributions are not accurate (Marks, 2012; Marszalenko , 2016; Metzger, 1995; Roy,

2000;Wadenjso, 1998; Wilcox and Shaffer, 2005) (Advances in Educational Interpreting, Winston

and Fitzmaurice, 2021,p.302)

Being an educational interpreter means you will be a good team player. This may cause a

few shifts in your role throughout the school year. “You need to take time to learn the teacher’s

communication style and the communication style of the deaf student, hearing students, and

various other teachers who also may be part of the classroom or educational environment.”

(Best Practices in Educational Interpreting 2nd edition 1998, Seal p.83) Not only are you teaming

with a teacher, deaf student, hearing students, administrators, IEP team, the list can continue if

the student is involved in extra-curricular activities etc. The team is huge, and an educational

interpreter needs to know how to be a good team player. One example of being a team player

with the teacher who is open to learning and values her deaf student’s education can be that

you are willing to show the teacher a few basic signs so the teacher can connect with the

student. “Signs for GOOD MORNING, PRETTY, GOOD, WOW, EXCELLENT, SORRY, PLEASE, THANK

YOU, YOUR TURN, and any other pet phrases used routinely by the teacher, are important for

the teacher’s rapport with the student. As the teacher models to other students in the
classroom this newly acquired ability to communicate, she demonstrates that the student who

does not her is important. The hearing students will likely follow her lead and find their own

interest in learning to sign or cue to be successfully nurtured.”(Best Practices in Educational

Interpreting, 2nd edition, Seal, 1998, p.63) This is just one way to be a part of a team for the

betterment of the student. With IEP meeting you can be a team player as well. If you advocate

to be an active member of the IEP team, then they would have access to a wealth of

information since the educational interpreter is with the student most of the day. The sad fact is

that “Approximately 45.5% of educational interpreters responded that they are asked to share

their perspectives of the deaf students’ progress during IEP meetings. However, 49.1%

responded that they were sometimes asked to share their perspectives about the deaf students’

progress during IEP meetings. The remaining 5.5% of participants reported they are never asked

to share their perspectives, even if they attend IEP meetings.” (Advances in Educational

Interpreting, Winston and Fitzmaurice, 2021,p.362) This is astounding to me that they don’t

want the interpreter to be an active member of the IEP team in some cases. I have found this to

be happening in my state in Alabama. When I went to a Hands and Voices lecture many of the

educational interpreters were upset because they would not even know when an IEP meeting

was taking place and were never invited to participate or asked their opinion on how the

student is progressing. This mindset needs to change and the interpreter needs to be an active

participant which does that them out of some of the “roles” of interpreters on being impartial

and more robotic. “Although their primary function may be to “facilitate communication” in the

educational setting, more may be required of the interpreter either through participants’ needs

and expectations or through students’ needs, making the purpose more akin to ‘facilitating
education’.”( Advances in Educational Interpreting, Winston and Fitzmaurice, 2021,p.362) This

itself shows that the interpreter may need to be fluid and flow across different roles. There are

many who believe that the role shifts by the age of the student if you look at the model drawn

by Davino (1985) and Lawson and Hamrick (2001) (Advances in Educational Interpreting,

Winston and Fitzmaurice, 2021,p.247) it shows a model of how the interpreter plays more of a

one on one teacher, aide, tutor, consultant role, and then as the student ages it is flipped and

the student takes on more of an independent role and the interpreter a lower presentation of

self-model. While I feel there is some truth to this model, I do think it can fluctuate a bit

throughout the middle and high school years. There may be times the deaf student needs

deeper instruction into course material or comes to you with a personal issue that may arise,

and you need to direct the student to the people and resources necessary to help. This can blur

those models a bit.

I found the best explanation on role shift for an educational interpreter that is presented

is called the Partners in Education Educational Interpreter Role Metaphor. I feel like so far that is

the best explanation for an educational interpreter. “The role metaphor details five stage points

that educational interpreters enact, namely, interpreting, team liaison, being a helpful

employee, direct instruction, and being an advocate. The Partner in Education metaphor for

educational interpreters is the first step intended to minimize role ambiguity and role conflict

and provide the education, interpreting, and deaf communities greater role clarity for, and

about, educational interpreters. (Advances in Educational Interpreting, Winston and

Fitzmaurice, 2021,p.297) This role metaphor tries to help explain the role shift educational

interpreters must perform in their daily work. The times in each of these stages can vary
depending on those days demands and the type of course work etc. An educational interpreter

flows between these stages throughout the day but may only briefly be in one or two of the

roles. It all depends on circumstances. I just found that this particular role metaphor best

described the different areas and educational interpreter will have to shift to throughout the

deaf student’s educational experience. The main point is for the deaf student to have the best

educational experience that promotes learning and growth. If the interpreter is solely in a

conduit role of spouting out information with no regard to the student actual ability to acquire

and understand the information being spouted out, then it is a complete disserve to the

student. As the interpreter, the information cannot just be spouted out if it is not understood.

You are not giving equal access to information. You must take into account that “1. 85% of deaf

and hard of hearing children are mainstreamed in public schools, 2. 96% of deaf children are

born into hearing families who do not sign ASL, and, subsequently, 3. 96% if deaf and hard of

hearing children may have difficulty communicating with friends and family.” (Advances in

Educational Interpreting, Winston and Fitzmaurice, 2021, p.364) This already puts the child

behind a normal hearing student that is being brought into the classroom. If you are just

standing up there being a conduit with no real thought and care of the acquisition of knowledge

by the student, then you are not helping in the education of the student. Number one priority is

the wellbeing of the student!

On another note, which is a little aside from role shift, but I found astounding as I was

reading is the qualifications for educational interpreters being subpar. For one, educational

interpreters are already looked down on by the rest of the community and they state you can

never improve your skills being an educational interpreter. I will be honest at first this alarmed
me since I am thinking of going into educational interpreting due to a grant with the school and

also now seeing the incredible need for educational interpreters out there. At a Hands and

Voices lecture I attended I was shocked at how many parents were there stating that the school

system could not find an interpreter for their child and the child was having to get through

school the best they could with no interpreter. This completely shocked me that there were

several in this same boat. I never had thought the shortage of educational interpreters was so

great.

I have realized what an important part of a deaf student’s life a good educational

interpreter can provide. A good interpreter can set a student up for success and a bad one for

failure. When I was reading some statistics on the requirements for educational interpreters and

how the ability of the interpreter correlates to the student’s success it can be quite intimidating.

“According to the literature, 85% of deaf children are fully or partially mainstreamed in public

schools. Concurrently, nearly 90% of signed language interpreters who responded to our survey

indicate that they interpret in educational settings. Of these, at least 75% have a degree in

signed language interpretation, most having worked 5 years or more in the field. Despite these

credentials, only a third of respondents hold RID certification, and about half hold no

certification but have taken the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA). Of

these, less than 1 % hold an EIPA 5.0, the level deemed necessary to demonstrate the ability to

interpret classroom interactions clearly and accurately. Less than a third of respondents hold

and EIPA 4.0 score and as such, are described as having the ability to convey much of classroom

interaction but not necessarily complex topics or rapid turn taking. Almost half of the

respondents hold an EIPA 3.0, a level described as requiring continued supervision and a need
for continuing education. This study suggests that more than three-fourths of deaf and hard of

hearing signing students work with long-time interpreters who are neither certified nor

qualified by EIPA standards to provide access to classroom interaction, according to Schick et al.

(2013) (Advances in Educational Interpreting, Winston and Fitzmaurice, 2021, p.363-364) This

information was astounding to me. I know I have been advised if I go into education as a new

interpreter to try not to interpret for elementary age children who are acquiring the language. I

also have been told by deaf friends that I have to be careful going into education, that my skills

continue to grow because many people never grow their skills in educational interpreting. This

is scary to me as well as I want to constantly be developing my skills and continuing to improve.

It also is amazing to me that people couldn’t grow their skills in educational interpreting. The

material can be complex and there are many different areas you will get to practice your skills. I

am unsure of how to feel about the comments and also unsure of how to feel about myself

being a new interpreter going into education. I don’t want to do a disserve to the deaf student

by being a new interpreter, but I also realize the need for educational interpreters are very high

and it is an important position. If people only understood the complexity of being an

educational interpreter maybe, they would hold a higher regard for educational interpreters. As

a student who will potentially be in the educational interpreting field it will be my goal to

continue growing my skills, learn to understand the different hats an educational interpreter will

wear, and be an advocate for the student. It will be a learning curve I know but I will be open to

continuing my growth and knowledge as an educational interpreter.

 Sources

Advances in Educational Interpreting, Winston and Fitzmaurice, 2021

Best Practices in Educational Interpreting 2nd edition, Seal, 1998

Redefining the Role of the Community Interpreter, Llewellyn-Jones and Lee, 2014