Miscommunication in Interpreted Classroom Interaction

Abstract

Miscommunication or confusion can and does occur between deaf and hearing people when using sign language interpreters in university classrooms. In order to examine this I videotaped thirty-two hours of classroom sessions and with the help of colleagues transcribed and analyzed the spoken and signed language utterances for discrepancies between what was said by the hearing members of each class and what was transmitted to and understood by the deaf student. I found that numerous misunderstandings led directly to confusion on the part of the deaf student. These instances of confusion occurred with the greatest frequency when interpreters were unfamiliar with the subject they were interpreting and/or were required to interpret diagrams or verbal descriptions. The data also showed that the deaf students experienced difficulty looking at the board and at the interpreter simultaneously. In this paper I examine these two problem areas in depth and suggest strategies for reducing miscommunication in university classes.