Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In recent years, there has been an increase in the use of educational interpreting at tertiary institutions in South Africa. Various pilot studies, as well as long-running interpreting projects at North West University, University of the Free State, and the University of Johannesburg have shown that educational interpreting is a viable way of implementing a multilingual language policy and accommodating various languages in the classroom. Educational interpreting has also been researched at Stellenbosch University (SU) in recent years and following the success of a 2011 pilot project at the Faculty of Engineering, the university plans to implement the service in other faculties as well (see Stellenbosch University Language Policy 2014). The study reported in this thesis was conducted at SU and was interested in the perceptions of interpreting held by the three main role players in the interpreting service. The main focus of the study was on examining perceptions of interpreting held by second year Engineering students who attended lectures in which educational interpreting was used as mode of delivery. The data collected on these perceptions was also contextualised by findings from data collected on students’ language backgrounds (including language use, language attitude and actual and perceived language proficiency). As a secondary aim, the study was interested in the perceptions held by lecturers and interpreters working in the Faculty of Engineering. Findings indicated that students generally had positive perceptions of interpreting and felt that interpreting was a good way to accommodate various languages at SU. It also proved useful to collect data on students’ language backgrounds in order to contextualise the results of the interpreting questionnaire, as important nuances emerged which were not apparent when these results were considered on their own. This lead to the insight that feedback from students regarding their experience of the interpreting service should be contextualised in terms of their language backgrounds, as this would lead to more valuable and useful feedback. Finally, lecturers and interpreters both showed positive perceptions of interpreting, with a marked progression in perception of the role of the interpreter in the classroom becoming apparent as experience of educational interpreting increased. The most important suggestion to follow from this finding was that students and lecturers should be made (more) aware of what interpreting entails, how interpreters are trained and how they prepare for lectures, as this should lead to more positive perceptions and increased use of this service. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Opvoedkundige tolking het oor die afgelope paar jaar baie gewild geword by tersiêre instellings. Verskeie loodsprojekte en gevestigde tolkprogramme by NWU, UVS en UJ het bewys dat opvoedkundige tolking ‘n lewensvatbare manier is om meertalige taalbeleide te implementeer, en om die gebruik van verskeie tale binne die klaskamer moontlik te maak. Opvoedkundige tolking word ook by SU nagevors en sedert die sukses van ‘n loodsprojek gedurende 2011 by die Fakulteit van Ingenieurswese het die gebruik van opvoedkunidge tolking in klaskamers begin toeneem. Die studie het belang gestel in die persepsies van tolking van die drie hoofrolspelers van die tolkdiens. Die primêre fokuspunt van die studie was om die persepsies van tolking van tweedejaar-ingenieurswesestudente wat lesings gehad het met opvoedkundige tolking te ondersoek. Die data wat oor hierdie persepsies ingesamel is, is ook gekontekstualiseer deur bevindinge wat gemaak is uit die beskouing van data oor die studente se taalagtergrond (insluitende taalgebruik, taalhouding, en werklike en waargenome taalvaardigheid). Die sekondêre fokuspunt van die studie was om insigte te verkry oor die persepsies van tolking van dosente by die Fakulteit van Ingenieurswese, asook van die tolke wat die ingenieursmodules getolk het. Soos reeds genoem het die Fakulteit van Ingenieurswese reeds sedert 2011 sekere modules aangebied deur middel van opvoedkundige tolking. Teen die tyd wat data ingesamel is in die tweede semester van 2013 was dit moontlik om data te verkry van tweedejaar-ingenieurswesestudente wat reeds vir amper twee semesters aan opvoedkundige tolking in hul klaskamer blootgestel is. Die bevindinge van die studie het oor die algemeen aangetoon dat studente ‘n positiewe persepsie gehad het van tolking, en dat hulle gevoel het tolking ‘n goeie manier is om verskeie tale by die universiteit te akkommodeer. Die gebruik van data oor studente se taalagtergrond as konteks vir die bespreking van die persepsiedata was ook baie handig, aangesien belangrike nuanses vorendag gekom het wat nie duidelik was toe die persepsiedata op sy eie beskou is nie. Dosente en tolke het beide ‘n positiewe persepsie van die tolking getoon, met ‘n duidelike progressie wat plaasgevind het in hul persepsie van die rol van die tolk in die klaskamer namate die omvang van hul ervaring met opvoedkundige tolking vermeerder het.

Rapid establishment of interpreting skill and knowledge standards for public school sign language interpreters has created a virtual mandate for their immediate, time-compressed, professionalization. A series of federal laws requiring accessibility to communication for deaf people have escalated demand for interpreters far beyond the supply. Thousands of people with varying levels of knowledge, skill, and experience, have been drawn into service in schools without professional preparation. Responding to specialized research, evaluation, technology, and education related to educational interpreting, states have quickly been establishing standards for interpreting skill and knowledge including phased in degree requirements. Educational interpreters have had to find ways of gaining necessary skill and knowledge rapidly, even though they typically work full-time, in isolation, and have little ready access to resources. Few occupations have experienced a juggernaut-like transition of this nature, leaving insufficient information to understand and address the phenomenon. This study was designed to investigate what we can learn from adults absorbing intense pressure of elevating their education and skills unfolding on a daily basis, most of whom are already experiencing "high-demand low-control" work environments. The findings give voice to members of a field of practice at a historic point in the professionalization of their field: sixty five experienced educational interpreters with diverse foundational preparation who completed a specialized, two-year, inservice program delivered at a distance. Online survey research, using a variety of response formats complemented by open-ended questions, generated data which were analyzed using descriptive and analytic statistics as well as coding schemes for themes and patterns that emerged from the qualitative data. The study illuminated a variety of challenges, successes, and, for some, the transformative nature of the experience, which warrants further study. Beyond acquiring knowledge and skills participants learned how to learn and achieved self-realization of their resilience points. They especially experienced themselves transforming into professionals with abilities to actively contribute to the school environment, reporting themselves to be informed, competent, and confident in all typically expected roles. Challenges typical of the adult distance learner abounded. It is recommended that adult learning principles be incorporated into any such program design, and that the wider interpreting community of practice be expanded as a learning resource. Equally important to recognize are the many people who have the same enthusiasms for the work, and the same professionalizing experiences as their more skilled peers, but who may never become sufficiently skilled to pass interpreting skill exams or their state standards. A follow up study is recommended to learn what emerges next. Is there a place for them in education that fully acknowledges and uses their experience and competencies? / Ph. D.

Signed language interpreting in South Africa has not received much academic attention, despite the profession having undergone major transformation since the advent of democracy. This study aims to create a better understanding of signed language interpreters’ behaviour in one specific setting in South Africa – post-secondary education. During the researcher’s own practice as an educational interpreter at a post-secondary institution, she experienced role conflict and found little information available to assist her in making professional decisions on which direction to take. This provided the impetus to embark on this research. The study begins by outlining the field of liaison interpreting and educational interpreting, and examining the existing literature regarding the interpreter’s role and norms in interpreting. It then goes on to examine authentic interpreted texts, filmed in actual lectures in post-secondary settings. These texts are analysed with reference to interpreter shifts and deviations from the source text, with particular focus on interpreter-generated utterances (additions), borrowing (fingerspelling), omissions (both errors and conscious choice) and various types of collaboration between the interpreter and primary participants. These shifts are examined in more detail to explore whether they indicate any change in the interpreter’s role. Further, interpreters’ own views about their practice, elicited from individual interviews, enable the reader to understand how the interpreters view the role(s) that they fulfil. The research will provide information for interpreter trainers about the roles assumed by SASL interpreters in higher education and provide a platform from which to scaffold future educational interpreter research and training. / Linguistics / M.A. (Linguistics)

Signed language interpreting in South Africa has not received much academic attention, despite the profession having undergone major transformation since the advent of democracy. This study aims to create a better understanding of signed language interpreters’ behaviour in one specific setting in South Africa – post-secondary education. During the researcher’s own practice as an educational interpreter at a post-secondary institution, she experienced role conflict and found little information available to assist her in making professional decisions on which direction to take. This provided the impetus to embark on this research. The study begins by outlining the field of liaison interpreting and educational interpreting, and examining the existing literature regarding the interpreter’s role and norms in interpreting. It then goes on to examine authentic interpreted texts, filmed in actual lectures in post-secondary settings. These texts are analysed with reference to interpreter shifts and deviations from the source text, with particular focus on interpreter-generated utterances (additions), borrowing (fingerspelling), omissions (both errors and conscious choice) and various types of collaboration between the interpreter and primary participants. These shifts are examined in more detail to explore whether they indicate any change in the interpreter’s role. Further, interpreters’ own views about their practice, elicited from individual interviews, enable the reader to understand how the interpreters view the role(s) that they fulfil. The research will provide information for interpreter trainers about the roles assumed by SASL interpreters in higher education and provide a platform from which to scaffold future educational interpreter research and training. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / M.A. (Linguistics)

I takt med att döva personer i Sverige får ökad tillgång till alla områden i samhället börjar också antalet döva högskolestudenter på olika lärosäten runtom i landet att öka. Denna studie undersöker döva universitetsstudenters upplevelser av en utbildning i samarbete med teckenspråks- eller skrivtolk och har som mål att utöka kunskapen kring detta relativt outforskade område. I detta syfte utfördes sju semistrukturerade intervjuer med döva studenter vid lärosäten i Sverige där de fick svara på frågor om bland annat sin tillgång till tolkning, sin upplevelse av tolkningen och sin känsla av inkludering i klassen. Av resultaten framgår att studenterna utnyttjar möjligheten till tolkning på ett sätt som inte alltid reflekterar deras upplevda behov av det. Studenterna ställer sig övervägande positivt till tolkarnas arbete på högskolenivå. Det framgår även att studenterna i olika grad känner sig inkluderade i sin klass, både vad gäller relationer till lärare och till andra hörande studenter. Faktorer som kan ha påverkat studenternas intervjusvar är deras upplevda hörsel, nivån på deras nuvarande utbildning och dövmedvetenheten hos de lärare de mötts av. Då studien fokuserat på många aspekter av studenternas utbildning kan det inte dras djupgående slutsatser kring varje tema som framkommit. / As Deaf people in Sweden receive increased access to all areas of society, the number of Deaf students enrolled in higher education around the country increases. This study examines the experiences of Deaf university students regarding their education in collaboration with a sign language or speech-to-text interpreter and aims to expand the knowledge around this relatively unexplored field. For this purpose, seven semi-structured interviews were held with Deaf students at universities around Sweden, in which they were asked to answer questions regarding, among other things, their access to interpreters, impression of the interpreting received and feeling of inclusion in their class. The results show that the students do not always make use of interpreters in a way that reflects their perceived need for them. The students are generally positive regarding the interpreters’ work in a higher educational setting. It is also shown that the students feel included in their classes to varying degrees, both in regard to their relationships with teachers, and with other hearing students. Factors that may have affected the students’ responses are their perceived hearing, the level of their current education and the Deaf awareness of their lecturers. As the study has focused on many different aspects of the students’ education, no in-depth conclusions can be drawn regarding each of the subject matters raised.