1. Classroom Discourse: What Is Conveyed Through Educational Interpretation.
- Author
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Langer EC and Crume PK
- Subjects
- Child, Humans, Communication, Motivation, Hearing Loss, Schools, Students, Education methods, Education standards, Health Personnel
- Abstract
When a deaf or hard-of-hearing child enters a classroom with an interpreter, the goal, and sometimes the assumption, is that they will be granted full access to the classroom experience. This study focuses on the clarity and completeness with which critical elements of classroom discourse are conveyed through the interpretations of 40 educational interpreters. Elements studied include conveyance of main ideas, directions for assignments, relevance strategies, orienting commentary, participation solicitation, mental state reference, and semantic organization. The interpretations clearly and completely conveyed approximately one-third to two-thirds of the information (M = 48.6%) related to these elements of classroom discourse. Frequent omissions and alterations rendered large parts of the message markedly different. Results suggest a need to improve training of educational interpreters, increase communication between teachers and interpreters, provide students supplementary services, and heighten awareness that the interpretation process is fallible in ways that can impact access to classroom discourse., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)
- Published
- 2023
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