Increasing undergraduate student interpreters' fluency and accuracy in interpreting STEM content

Authors

  • Judy Vesel

    TERC, Cambridge, MA 02140, USA
  • Ashley Greene

    Department of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, College of Fine Arts and Communication, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX 77710, USA
  • Sean Hauschildt

    Department of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, College of Fine Arts and Communication, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX 77710, USA
  • M. Diane Clark

    Department of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, College of Fine Arts and Communication, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX 77710, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59400/fls.v6i2.1179

Abstract

Interpreters who are skilled in interpreting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) content fluently and accurately are few and far between. This issue is particularly true at the post-secondary level. Those interpreters who are available often do not have command of the vocabulary needed to interpret more specialized content and rely heavily on letter-for-letter fingerspelling and word-for-word transliteration. This project looked at the knowledge of the principles of fingerspelling on undergraduate student interpreters' ability to interpret typical introductory biology lecture material accurately and fluently. Research involved modifying a signing bioscience dictionary (SBD), developing life science content summaries, creating videos of fingerspelling principles, and conducting an evaluation. Key findings showed participants' knowledge of bioscience vocabulary was significantly improved with use of the SBD and that their ability to interpret typical biology lecture material fluently and accurately improved. After watching the videos and learning to apply the principles of fingerspelling, their fingerspelling scores also improved significantly. However, there was no significant improvement in biology content knowledge.

Keywords:

syllabication; science interpreting; ASL science vocabulary; fingerspelling

References

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Vesel, J., Clark, M. D., & Robillard, T. (2020). Use of a Signing Bioscience Dictionary in Increasing Student Interpreters’ American Sign Language Life Science Vocabulary. International Journal of Interpreter Education. Available online: https://sign-sci.s3.amazonaws.com/video/SBD/EN/about/IJIE_Published_Version.pdf (accessed on 14 March 2023).

Vesel, J., Clark, M. D., Greene, A., & Robillard, T. (2022). Increasing Student Interpreters’ Ability to Accurately and Fluently Interpret STEM Content. Hands On.! Available online: https://sign-sci.s3.amazonaws.com/publications/STEMInterpreters_HandsOn_Fall+2022.pdf (accessed on 14 March 2023).

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How to Cite

Vesel, J., Greene, A., Hauschildt, S., & Clark, M. D. (2024). Increasing undergraduate student interpreters’ fluency and accuracy in interpreting STEM content. Forum for Linguistic Studies, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.59400/fls.v6i2.1179

Issue

Vol. 6 , Iss. 2 (June 2024)

Article Type

Article

License

Copyright © 2024 Judy Vesel, Ashley Greene, Sean Hauschildt, M. Diane Clark

Creative Commons License

This is an open access article under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.