Presenter: Elizabeth Jean-Baptiste, MS, RID CI/CT, has been a sign language
interpreter for 15 years and an interpreter educator since 2005. She
received a B.S. in Sign Language Interpreting and a Master’s degree in
Adult & Continuing Education Leadership from the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has five years of overseas experience as a
teacher of the Deaf in Kenya as a Peace Corps volunteer, a professor in the
Deaf Education department at the Zambian Institute of Special Education,
professor in the Addis Ababa University Linguistics department's
Ethiopian Sign Language and Deaf Culture program, and volunteer in
post-earthquake Haiti. Elizabeth currently serves as faculty for the
University of Cincinnati's Signed Language Interpreting and Deaf Studies program. She oversees
program and curriculum development and manages the supervision of student-interpreters in
practicum experiences and at internship sites. Her areas of academic interest include approaches
to teaching critical thinking, service learning, interdisciplinary curriculum for improved
interpreter education, cross-training of spoken and signed language interpreters, and international
experiences as a key element to interpreter education. Lesson Title: “Simultaneous Interpreting In-Class Activity” Description:
This lesson provides instructors with a classroom activity for advanced student-interpreters
working in the simultaneous mode. It demonstrates how to encourage an active learning
environment by assigning all students to a particular role that allows them to identify evidence of
foundational skills in student’s interpreting work, including: 1) Practicing critical thinking processes;
2) Identifying and using effective assignment preparation strategies and tools;
3) Interpreting in the simultaneous mode with a co-interpreter;
4) Integrating new knowledge into their interpreting work;
5) Practicing effective teaming approaches;
6) Providing constructive feedback;
7) Discussing ethical decision-making by leading a supervision discussion using the
Demand Control Schema framework; and
8) Conducting reflective discussions.
Prerequisites to this lesson: This activity has been designed as an advanced course that is meant to mirror real-world
interpreting experiences from the call-for-work to post-assignment reflection and everything in
between. The activity usually covers the span of three hours – the first hour focusing on preassignment considerations, the second hour focusing on during-assignment considerations and
the final hour on post-assignment reflection. For the sake of this 50-minute session, the instructor
will provide an abbreviated version of the during-assignment considerations and post-assignment
reflections and ask that students complete the first hour’s work outside of class. (Included at the
end of this document.) Lessons on preparation for assignments, the RID Code of Professional Conduct (RID CPC),
teaming strategies, discourse analysis, error analysis, appreciative inquiry, and Demand Control
Schema should have been covered in previous class sessions. However, in this lesson these
topics are put into practice with the assumption that participants have an advanced knowledge of
these theories, models, and approaches to interpreting work. Teaching Slam participants may
want to do a cursory review of these materials so that they have the prerequisite knowledge for
this lesson. Considerations for Teaching Slam participants: Prior to this lesson, participants will be grouped into quads and roles will be assigned to each
student– Working Interpreter (WI), Co-Interpreter (CI), Client (C), and Supervisor (S). Working Interpreter – Interprets the source material from ASL to Spoken English Co-Interpreter – Supports the work of the Working Interpreter Client – Listens/Watches the interpretation into the target language without access to the
source text. Provides notes and discussion regarding their understanding of the material Supervisor – Leads a critical feedback session guiding the WI and CI to reveal lessons
from their work Logistics There are a number of logistics that need to be addressed before conducting this activity, namely,
the physical arrangement of the room should be as such for each quad: SHARED SCREEN C S WI CI And that each quad has access to the following: ◻ NIEC TerpTalk video “African American Hair Care” https://vimeo.com/64667168, either
on a laptop for each group or a screen at the front of the room; and ◻ device or paper to take notes And that the instructor has access to the following: ◻ A screen with internet access to Vimeo and polleverywhere.com that is visible to all
participants at the same time Participant Preparation Participants who are assigned the role of Working or Co-Interpreter should imagine that they
have been called by a local community-based interpreter referral agency with the following
details and assume that they have (for the purpose of this activity) accepted the assignment. They
should consider (no writing required) the following questions and be prepared to share in-class. 1. Based on the information provided below, would you accept this assignment? If so, why?
If not, why not?
2. What assets do you have that qualify you (or don’t) for this assignment?
3. What tenets of the RID CPC have you considered?
4. What questions would you ask of the Scheduler before or after accepting the assignment?
5. How will you prepare for this assignment? What resources are available to you?
The Job Request Date/Time: Tuesday, July 12, 2016 2:30-5:00pm Location: Gateway Technical College, Covington, KY Event: Deaf Instructor presents a half-hour introductory lesson about “How to Care for
African-American Hair” followed by other mini-lectures and a Q&A session. Client: Whitle’ Jackson Language: ASL Team: Fill in co-interpreter’s name here Site Contact Person: Elizabeth Jean-Baptiste, 555-253-3547 The Working and Co-Interpreter should then prepare for the assignment, including discussions
about teaming strategies and preferences. The only restriction is that they may not view the
actual video. They will interpret this assignment in the simultaneous mode. Participants with the Supervisor or Client role do not have any pre-assignment responsibilities,
except to be prepared to provide feedback and facilitate a post-assignment discussion.