Introduction to the field of Interpreting
Pre-requisite: Competency Screening and Acceptance into the Program

Course Description:
This course is an introduction to the Field of American Sign Language/English Interpretation. In addition to topics concerning the role, function, and skills required of an interpreter, the student will be exposed to cross-cultural issues affecting interpreters, examine current trends in research and the advancement of the field, and explore the various arenas in which interpreters work. Sessions:12 (3 hours each)

Interpreting I
Pre-requisite: Competency Screening and Acceptance into the Program

Course Description:
This course will provide students with practice of requisite skills and process tasks needed for consecutive and simultaneous interpretation.  Focus will primarily be on intralingual language exercises including: shadowing, prediction and anticipation, memory enhancement, text analysis for goal and main points, and paraphrasing.  Students will be exposed to process models and descriptions – CIT, Colonomos, Isham, Seleskovitch, etc. –and will begin to apply them to observed interpretations.  Exercises will be conducted in both English and American Sign Language.  The required text is Interpreting for International Conferences.  Danica Seleskovitch, 1978, Publisher: Pen and Booth, Washington, DC.  Sessions: 12 (3 hours each)

Interpreting II
Pre-requisites: Interpreting I & Introduction to the Field of Interpreting

Course Description:
This class will provide participants with an introduction to theories of interpreting and translation.  Through readings, class discussion, journal writing and hands-on translation practice, we will explore and students will apply these theories to their own translated works in both target languages-American Sign Language and English.  Through readings and source materials that are multi-culturally generated, students will explore and investigate how culture, power relations and context can influence translations.

Students will be introduced to text analysis, intra-and inter-lingual paraphrasing as a foundation for interpreting.  Students will translate increasingly expanding and complex units of material.  They will be introduced to and begin to apply the Gish model of interpreting as a platform for their translation work.  Sessions: 12 (3 hours each)

Language in Use
Pre-requisite: Introduction to the Field of Interpreting

Course Description:
In this course we will discuss a variety of language issues, both at the individual level and at the societal level.  At the individual level, we will include the ways language affects interactions between people-women and men, members of different racial and ethnic groups, people of differing social or economic status.  We will also briefly look at language acquisition and language policies.  At the societal level, discussions will focus on the growth and spread of languages, multilingualism, language planning, and English as a world language.  Emphasis will be placed on American Sign Language and English.  Sessions: 12 (3 hours each)

Course Description:
This hands-on course will provide in-depth study and practice of ASL-English interpretation through the understanding and use of the consecutive mode of interpreting. Students will further develop requisite skills such as text analysis, mind-mapping/visualization, multi-tasking strategies, prediction and anticipation, and identification of “functionally meaningful units” (chunks).  They will deepen understanding of three models of interpreting (Cokely, Colonomos, Gish).  They will be exposed to process management skills, and will enhance their use of tools for self-analysis and peer feedback. Sessions:12 (3 hours each)

ASL Discourse
Pre-requisite: Language in Use

Course Description:
This course will assist students to: gain an understanding of discourse; recognize features of discourse used in American Sign Language such as register, spatial mapping, prosody, discourse structures, rhetorical analysis, involvement and interaction strategies, coherence and cohesion, and framing, and enhance their own use of ASL through incorporation of those features.  Discourse features in English will be discussed and compared with those of ASL.  Multicultural discourse styles will be sampled and students will analyze how knowledge of discourse affects their work as interpreters.   Sessions: 12 (3 hours each)

Internship 50 Hours (ASL Discourse)
Co-requisite: ASL Discourse 

Course Description:
Interactive experience in environments in which ASL is the dominant language will provide students with the opportunity to observe features of ASL discourse explored in class and begin to incorporate these features into their own communication.  In addition to discourse features in general, attention will be paid to the diversity within the Deaf community and its impact on linguistic use.

They will spend 25 hours in an on-going field placement and the remaining 25 hours in various settings.  At each field visit they will focus on pre-identified aspects of ASL discourse e.g. register, transitions, opening and closing a text, spatial mapping, etc.  Students will also formulate questions and discussion points for the Internship Seminar sessions.

Internship Seminar sessions will provide an arena for sharing and discussing students’ experiences in terms of analyzing the discourse features, comparing their hands-on experiences with what they learned in the classroom, and incorporating learning into their own use of ASL. Sessions:4 (2 hours each)

Course Description:
This hands-on course will provide in-depth study and practice of ASL-English interpretation through the understanding and use of the consecutive mode of interpreting and transitioning to the simultaneous mode.  Students will build skills and knowledge through continued study and practice of text analysis, visualization, process management skills and tools for self-analysis and peer feedback.  Sessions:12 (3 hours each)

Interpreting IV Internship
Co-requisite: Interpreting IV

Course Description:
This hands-on course will provide in-depth study and practice of ASL-English interpretation through the understanding and use of the consecutive mode of interpreting and transitioning to the simultaneous mode.  Students will build skills and knowledge through continued study and practice of text analysis, visualization, process management skills and tools for self-analysis and peer feedback.  Sessions:12 (3 hours each)

Ethics & Decision Making
Pre-requisite: Interpreting III & ASL Discourse                                                    

Course Description:
Interpreters are often in situations that may conflict with their own value system.  This course will provide an exploration of the personal ethics and values that influence the decision-making process.  Students will: identify the source of conflict; analyze the situation from the perspectives of Deaf client, agency and interpreter; make recommendations for action.  They will then explore decision-making in interpreting from cultural and socio-political perspectives.  Students will examine moral considerations and ethical systems, address power relationships between the non-deaf interpreter and the Deaf community, and incorporate their impact in functioning as facilitators of communication.  Students will use case studies to explore issues, make recommendations and discuss the consequences of each decision. Session:12 (3 hours each)

Course Description:
This hands-on course will provide further in-depth study and practice of ASL-English interpretation through the understanding and use of the simultaneous mode of interpreting.  Students will focus on both individual and team interpreting and will work with selected team-mates in two separate rotations.  They will be compare transliteration and interpretation and will practice transliteration.  They will review the business of interpretation and the settings in which interpreters work, as they prepare to begin to work in the interpreting field.  Deaf individuals will be invited to class to participate as the “audience” for interpreting practice.  Students will continue to do self-analysis and hone their skills and independent learning techniques.  Sessions:12 (3 hours each)

Interpreting in Educational Settings
Pre-requisites: Interpreting IV, Ethics and Decision Making for Interpreters, or Permission of Instructor

Course Description:
 

This course is designed to explore the implications of interpreted educational in order to address service provision for mainstream students who are Deaf and hard of hearing.  Topics within the scope of this course include: history and laws that affect educational interpreting, cognitive and linguistic development (both first and second language acquisition), language in education, roles and skills of educational specialists, and the impact of classroom variables on accessibility and interpretability. 

Students will have opportunity to analyze a variety of real classroom environments.  Guest speakers, who have expertise in K-12 settings as consumers, interpreters and as service coordinators, will be incorporated.  Sessions:12 (3 hours each)

Interpreting VI                                                                                                           Pre-requisite: Interpreting V                                                                                             Co-requisite: Interpreting VI Internship

Interpreting VI Internship 100 Hours
Co-requisite: Interpreting VI

Course Description:
Students will begin by observing certified interpreters, or with permission, other appropriately skilled professional interpreters, in various interpreting settings.  When ready, they will interpret under the supervision of the professional interpreter.  They will spend 50 of these hours in an on-going field placement and the remaining 50 hours in various settings.  They will focus on pre-identified aspects of interpretation at each session and afterwards will discuss their observations and/or performance, issues and questions with the professional interpreters.  They will compare their hands-on experiences with what they learned in the classroom.  They will continue to consider settings in which interpreters work with a view towards their own career choices.

Internship seminar sessions will provide an arena for discussing students’ experiences in terms of analyzing and evaluating interpreting strategies, examining theoretical and practical issues in interpretation, grappling with ethical considerations, and incorporating learning into their own work.

The supervisor from the on-going field placement will complete an evaluation form regarding both workplace skills, interpreting potential, and performance Sessions:5 (2 hours each)

Language/Interpreting Lab
Pre-requisite: Competency Screening and Acceptance into the Program

Course Description:

Students in the ASL-English Interpretation program will be required to attend the Language/Interpreting lab a minimum of 12.5 hours per trimester.  Classroom instructors will work with the Lab Instructor on topics and presentations that will enhance students' language fluency and allow them to practice interpretation in a guided and structured milieu.  In addition to the required participation, they may attend the Lab as often as they choose, to participate in scheduled lessons or to work individually.

Courses are subject to cancellation based on low enrollment.  Format of specific courses may be revised, but the content will reflect the same philosophical approach to ASL-English   interpreter education.

Pre-and/or Co-requisites may be waived at the discretion of the instructor or program director. Requests will be decided on an individual basis.

Internships: the number of hours, specific dates and times may be revised. Students will be informed of the specifics of  each internship for the given quarter.