Running head: EDUCATIONAL INTERPRETING

Educational Interpreting:
A Comparison of K-12 and Post-Secondary Settings
Brenda Puhlman
Western Oregon University

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 3
Abstract.. 4
Introduction 5
Method... 7
Results 8
Discussion. 10
References......... 14
Appendix... 15

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Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I must express my gratitude towards the interpreters who took time to
participate in my survey and giving honest answers regarding their experiences working in
educational settings. I would also like to express my thankfulness to Lynn Kohler, we have never
met, but you helped to spread my survey and give me ideas of ways to get the link out to the
most people possible. Thank you so much!
I also need to give a huge shout out to my teachers that helped me with the writing
process, survey process and IRB process: Vicki Darden and Erin Trine. You ladies are wonderful
human beings. Thanks for dealing with an overly stressed student and responding to numerous
emails and endless questions! I dont think I could have survived writing this paper without you
and all of your knowledge on everything!
And last but not least, Western Oregon University ASL/English interpreting program
students, thank you for being there and for always supporting one another!

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Abstract

Interpreters are asked to wear many different hats to interpret in many different settings. Each
setting requires varying levels of involvement as well as varying amounts of education and
certification. This paper will focus on the differences of those aspects comparing kindergarten
through 12th grade (K-12) interpreters and post-secondary interpreters. Information has been
gathered from the literature of scholars who have had experience in either one or both of these
settings and will also reference a survey that I have conducted with professional interpreters.
This paper will examine the Code of Professional Conduct as presented by the National
Association of the Deaf/Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID, 2005). This paper also
analyzes the effectiveness of Ashworth, Braivner, Thompson, Schevyhart, and Carrothers (1996)
structure of the Broken Arrow Success in Working with Interpreters Curriculum (BASIC) and the
relationship between the age of the Deaf student and the level of direct involvement of the
interpreter in the classroom. The goal of this paper is to raise awareness of the roles of
interpreters in different educational settings.
Keywords: American Sign Language, Interpreting, Education

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Educational Interpreting:

A Comparison of K-12 and Post-Secondary Settings

There are various roles that American Sign Language (ASL)/English Interpreters play
depending on the setting that they are in. The process of interpreting itself is complex and varies
based on different situations. In Interpreting: An introduction, Nancy Frishberg explains the
interpreter must perceive and understand a message in one language, extract the meaning of the
message from the words, intonational features, gestural behavior, pausing, and any other cuing
mechanisms, and reformulate that meaning into the language of the listener (1990, p.3).
Frishberg explains the process of what an interpreter does, but what is the role? And how does
that role vary from assignment to assignment? How can interpreters adequately prepare for the
variation of direct involvement in different settings? In each setting, interpreters are required to
have varying levels of direct involvement as well as varying amounts of education and
certification. This is especially true when comparing two different educational settings:
kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) and post-secondary.
The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID), explains most sign language interpreters
either interpret, which means working between English and ASL, or they transliterate, which is
working between spoken English and a form of a signed language that uses a more Englishbased word order (Professional Standards Committee, 1997, para. 2). Simply enough, the
interpreter provides interpretations of what is being said/signed. However, that is not always the
case. When looking at the educational setting, the interpreter seems to play a bigger part in the
scenario. In Best Practices in Educational Interpreting, Brenda Chafin Seal describes
educational interpreters are those individuals who provide interpreting services in an
educational setting. Although they may carry a generic title and perform conventional

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interpreting tasks, educational interpreters also must demonstrate special skills necessary for the
demands of the educational setting (Stuckles, Avery & Hurwits, 1989) (2004, p.6). Seal
continues to explain the role of interpreters in the educational setting by stating:
The educational interpreter may need to be versed in multiple topics and subject areas.
The educational interpreter may need to work with students of different age ranges,
different hearing levels, different cognitive levels, different cultural levels, and varying
levels of language competency. The educational interpreter may play various roles in
various settings for various individuals. The educational interpreters work, like the
breadth and depth of the scope of his or her practice, can be all-inclusive (2004, pp. 6-7).
Seal explains the diverse role that educational interpreters play in the classroom. The
responsibilities of the educational interpreter include, but are not limited to, facilitating
communication within the educational setting, setting up the physical environment for successful
interpretation, working with other faculty as expected, following policies established by the
school, and complying with the responsibilities of various roles, such as note-taker, interpreter,
aide, tutor, etc. (Seal, 2004). Melissa Smith explains in her book, More Than Meets the Eye, that
interpreters in public schools may very well be the childrens first adult language model
(Smith, 2013, p.7). These roles show the variation in expectations of interpreters working in an
educational setting.
As an interpreter in an education setting, it is important to comply not only with the Code
of Professional Conduct, written by National Association of the Deaf(NAD)/Registry of
Interpreters for the Deaf (RID, 2005), but to also align yourself in a manner that complies with
the workplace code of conduct. The third tenet of the Code of Professional Conduct advises that
interpreters conduct themselves in a manner appropriate to the specific interpreting situation

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(RID, 2005, p. 2). To further expand on this, tenet 3.4 says that interpreters must comply with
established workplace code of conduct, notify appropriate personnel if there is a conflict with
this Code of Professional Conduct, and actively seek resolution where warranted (RID, 2005, p.
3). Therefore, interpreters in educational settings not only align their roles with that of the Code
of Professional Conduct (RID, 2005), but with that of the hiring party what the school has
implemented.
In An Overview of K-12 Educational Interpreting, RID emphasizes as a related
service provider, educational interpreters/transliterators share their professional expertise while
supporting the educational needs of deaf or hard of hearing students. When not interpreting or
preparing for interpreting, other duties may be part of the educational interpreters assignment
(Professional Standards Committee, 2010, p. 3). RID expands on this statement by supplying a
list of roles that interpreters participate in, similar to that provided by Seal (2004). When in the
K-12 educational setting, roles outside of interpreter may be implemented to best match the
needs of the consumer.
Method
How do professional interpreters feel about their level of direct involvement in the
classroom? What do interpreters do in the education field? I have conducted an original,
anonymous, voluntary, online survey to gather information from professional interpreters
regarding their first-hand experience in the field of educational interpreting. The survey can be
found in Appendix. Professional educational interpreters were asked to complete any and all
parts of the survey that they could answer with the experience of educational interpreting that
they had. Participants would not be penalized for lack of responses. This short survey asked
professional interpreters to recount their time spent in an educational setting and compare the

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settings within K-12 elementary, middle, and high school and also reflect on their time spent
interpreting in a post-secondary setting.
Results
The survey found that as the grade level of the consumer increases, the level of direct
involvement decreases. After collecting responses from over 100 professional interpreters who
have worked in some variety of an educational setting, the results are as followed:
Elementary school interpreting. The survey found that 66 of the 90 interpreters who
have worked in an elementary school setting claimed to have jobs outside of interpreting while in
the classroom. Other roles that were explained included: behavior keeper, tutor, teachers aide,
bus duty, and language model, etc. Of those 90 interpreters that had experience in an elementary
setting, 37 explained that they spent on average less than 50% of their day in the classroom
interpreting. This being said, that means those interpreters spent a majority of their day doing
things other than interpreting. One interpreter explained in their survey response that they had to
be aware of when they should be interpreting and when they need to switch roles and become
more of a tutor for the students. One other interpreter explained that the role of an elementary
interpreter is much more hands-on than any other interpreting position.
Middle school interpreting. As grade level of the student increases, the expansion of
roles of the interpreter decreases. In the same survey of educational interpreting, only 42 of the
86 who had worked in a middle school setting had stated that they have roles outside of
interpreting while in the classroom. Only 13 of these interpreters claimed to spend less than 50%
of the time interpreting compared to the 37 who spent that amount in an elementary setting. It
was explained that the students can more easily identify the roles of the teacher compared to the

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roles of the interpreter in this setting. A majority of the middle school interpreter who had roles
outside of interpreting explained that their other role was as a tutor. One professional interpreter
explained that as the tutor they spend more one-on-one time with the student expanding on the
concepts discussed in class when students were expected to work independently. This includes
things such as interpreting complex readings from English to a more ASL structure so the student
can have a better understanding of the text in their native language. The interpreters in these
settings spent more of their time, on average, interpreting than other roles when compared to that
of an elementary setting.
High school interpreting. The role of the interpreter has significantly less variation
when in a setting of older students. Continuing with the focus of roles of the interpreter, high
school level interpreters had even fewer variations in their daily expectations. Of the interpreters
surveyed, 92 of them had worked in a high school setting. Of those 92 professional interpreters,
only 30 had roles outside of interpreting. Of the 30, only 7 claimed to spend less than 50% of
their work day interpreting. One professional educational interpreter emphasized that they prefer
to have the student advocate for themselves for things such as closed captions on movies and an
interpreter friendly environment proper room establishment, good lighting, one person
speaking at a time, etc. The high school students are given more independence. The boundary
line of the teacher-interpreter roles are clearer in the higher grade level after the student has had
more opportunities to utilize interpreters.
Post-secondary interpreting. When working in a post-secondary setting the
responsibilities may be a little less demanding. As explained to the teacher of a deaf student in
Interpreting for Post-Secondary Deaf Students: You should understand that the interpreter has
a single responsibility in your class, that being to facilitate communication between you and your

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deaf student(s), and between the deaf student(s) and hearing classmates (Sanderson, Siple, &
Lyons, 1998, p.11). The article from Post-secondary Education Programs Network (PEPnet), an
interactive website dedicated to reaching out to individuals who are deaf and hard of hearing,
explains the interpreters role in a post-secondary classroom as a communication facilitator.
Notice that it does not include hyphenated roles such as interpreter-aide, interpreter-notetaker, and so forth. Of the 91 professionals surveyed who have worked in a post-secondary
setting, 7 had stated that they have a role outside of interpreting. By the time the consumer has
reached the post-secondary education setting, they are familiar with the role of interpreters, and
there is no confusion of the boundary lines. One interpreter explained in their survey responses I
treat post-secondary situations like I am interpreting for an adult. I have stronger role boundaries
and only interpret.
Discussion
In More Than Meets the Eye, Smith reflects on an encounter she had with an interpreter
who was searching for more information on educational interpreting:
When she contacted me looking for good references related to educational interpreting, I
asked her why she was looking. She replied, To be honest, the reason I am looking for
more info on educational interpreting is just for more clarity. I think that is can be a sticky
area to interpret. A lot of different ethical issues come up weekly, most of the time
dealing with your role in the classroom. It seems everyone I talk to has a varying opinion
of answers to sticky situations (Smith, 2013, p.9).
Smith continues to discuss that amount of times she has been asked similar questions about the
varying roles of the interpreter in educational setting. From the current study, I have found that

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the direct involvement of the interpreter varies immensely during different age levels. Many
interpreters have admitted that the job is not easy, when it comes to interpreting and finding your
role in the classroom. However, with that being said, multiple interpreters responded to the
survey saying that they wouldnt want any other job and that in the end, it is worth it. The lack of
research on educational interpreting does not stop these interpreters from quitting what they have
a passion for.
Smith explains that a deeper understanding of the responsibilities of the job is necessary
to improve both the education of interpreters and practice of interpreting in educational settings
(Smith, 2013, p.7). What does this look like? How do interpreters know the level of direct
involvement that they should implement? There needs to be a bottom-up approach to
adequately prepare interpreters for their experience in an educational setting. This developmental
approach means that we should change our interpreting practices based on the students cognitive
level, maturity, and social needs. As the student matures, the demands become less. This does not
mean that the better skilled interpreters work in the higher level classes; rather, the interpreter
works where their own practice best benefits the setting (Seal, 2004, pp. 11-13). The bottom-up
approach allows for students needs to be met and for the interpreters to feel comfortable and
prepared while working in such settings.
When this approach is used, interpreters can also align themselves with the Broken Arrow
Success with Interpreters Curriculum (BASIC) in their involvement in the classroom (Ashworth,
1994). BASIC shows interpreters different levels of where students are and the involvement of
the interpreter in correlation to said level of student see Figure 1.1. The curriculum is beneficial
to the interpreter because it not only involves suggestions for the roles that the interpreters
should play, but includes checklists and observation evaluations to be able to self-analyze your

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own work. Using a curriculum,
such as BASIC, allows guidelines
for interpreters that are new to the
field and provides legitimacy to
the roles of the interpreter as
viewed by other staff members in
the school district. If these
practices are made aware during
interpreter preparation programs,
recently graduate interpreters
would be able to have a better
understanding of the level of
direct involvement they will have
in the classroom and their

expectation for assignments can be better met.

The demands for the interpreter are less in the post-secondary setting versus that of an
interpreter in a lower grade setting. The role of the interpreter varies with the age, as well as the
level of sophistication, of the student that the interpreter works with. A younger student would
have a harder time differentiating the role of an interpreter with that of the teacher, rather both
are seen as an adult in the classroom (Humphrey & Alcorn, 1994). Smith explains one area of
confusion is the distinction between the roles and responsibilities that should be taken on by
interpreters in K-12 settings and those that should remain with the classroom teacher or other
members of the educational team (Smith, 2013, pp. 7-8). The educational interpreter will need

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to be prepared for the different needs in the respective classroom settings. By going into an
assignment with a bottom-up approach and implementing the standards of the Broken Arrow
Success with Interpreters Curriculum, interpreters can better prepare for what a day in the life of
an educational interpreter will entail.

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References

Frishberg, N. (1990). Interpreting: An introduction. Alexandria, VA: Registry of Interpreters for

the Deaf, Inc.
Humphrey, A. & Alcorn, B. (1994). So you want to be an interpreter? An introduction to sign
language interpreting. Seattle, WA: H & H Publishing Company.
Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. (2005). Code of Professional Conduct. RID - Code of
Professional Conduct. Retrieved November 16, 2014, from
http://www.rid.org/ethics/code/index.cfm
Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf Professional Standards Committee. (2010). An Overview of
K-12 Educational Interpreting. Alexandria, VA: Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc.
Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf Professional Standards Committee. (1997). Professional
sign language interpreting. Alexandria, VA: Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc.
Sanderson, G., Siple, L., & Lyons, B. (1998). Interpreting for postsecondary deaf students.
Pepnet 2.
Seal, B. (2004). Best practices in educational interpreting. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Smith, M. (2013). More Than Meets the Eye: Revealing the Complexities of an Interpreted
Education. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press.
Witter-Merithew, A., & Johnson, L. J. (2005). Toward competent practice: Conversations with
stakeholders. Alexandria, VA: Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.

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Appendix

Survey Questions:
1. What certifications do you have in regards to interpreting?
NIC
OTC
EIPA
CDI
SC:L
Ed: K-12
CLIP-R
Other:___________
2. Briefly describe your experience interpreting in a K-12 setting.
3. As an interpreter, what amount of involvement (e.g. strictly interpreter, aide, tutor,
etc.) do/did you have in the elementary classroom?
Interpreter
Teachers Aide
Tutor
Note taker
Other: _________
4. As an interpreter, what amount of involvement (e.g. strictly interpreter, aide, tutor,
etc.) do/did you have in the middle school classroom?
Interpreter
Teachers Aide
Tutor
Note taker
Other: _________
5. As an interpreter, what amount of involvement (e.g. strictly interpreter, aide, tutor,
etc.) do/did you have in the high school classroom?
Interpreter
Teachers Aide
Tutor
Note taker
Other: _________
6. Briefly describe your experience interpreting in a Post-Secondary setting.
7. As an interpreter, what amount of involvement (e.g. strictly interpreter, aide, tutor,
etc.) do/did you have in the Post-Secondary classroom?
Interpreter
Teachers Aide

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Tutor
Note taker
Other: _________
8. Compare different age levels and your involvement as the interpreter.
9. In an elementary classroom, what percent of the day was spent interpreting?
0-25%
26-50%
51-75%
76-100%
10. In a middle school classroom, what percent of the day was spent interpreting?
0-25%
26-50%
51-75%
76-100%
11. In a high school classroom, what percent of the day was spent interpreting?
0-25%
26-50%
51-75%
76-100%
12. What involvement, if any, do you have with the academic team? (e.g., IEP meetings)
13. What are your responsibilities for facilitating assistive technology in an elementary
classroom?
Change hearing aid batteries
Use FM system
Run the PowerPoint
Other:_____________
14. What are your responsibilities for facilitating assistive technology in a middle school
classroom?
Change hearing aid batteries
Use FM system
Run the PowerPoint
Other:_____________
15. What are your responsibilities for facilitating assistive technology in a high school
classroom?
Change hearing aid batteries
Use FM system
Run the PowerPoint
Other:_____________
16. What are some additional challenges you face when interpreting in an educational
setting? What tools do you use to meet those demands?
17. Do you have any additional comments in regards to educational interpreting?

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