Access to Postsecondary Education through Sign Language Interpreting

TLDR

Sign language interpreting is essential for deaf students, yet research on its classroom effectiveness remains surprisingly limited. The authors reviewed prior work and conducted a study involving 23 interpreters, 105 deaf and 22 hearing students who attended two interpreted university lectures with pre‑ and post‑tests, while collecting demographic and qualitative data and examining the effects of preference match, interpreter familiarity, and experience. Results showed that matching interpreting preferences influences learning, but deaf students still acquire less than hearing peers from interpreted lectures, underscoring how student, interpreter, and setting factors jointly affect academic access and success.

Abstract

Despite the importance of sign language interpreting for many deaf students, there is surprisingly little research concerning its effectiveness in the classroom. The limited research in this area is reviewed, and a new study is presented that included 23 interpreters, 105 deaf students, and 22 hearing students. Students saw two interpreted university-level lectures, each preceded by a test of prior content knowledge and followed by a post-lecture assessment of learning. A variety of demographic and qualitative data also were collected. Variables of primary interest included the effects of a match or mismatch between student interpreting preferences (interpreting vs. transliteration) and the actual mode of interpreting, student-interpreter familiarity, and interpreter experience. Results clarify previous contradictory findings concerning the importance of student interpreting preferences and extend earlier studies indicating that deaf students acquire less than hearing peers from interpreted college-level lectures. Issues relating to access and success in integrated academic settings are discussed as they relate to relations among student characteristics, interpreter characteristics, and educational settings.