An exploration of the efficacy of instructor modelling in the application of situated learning to educating student British Sign Language/English interpreters in healthcare interpreting

The aim of this thesis was to determine whether the performance of student sign language interpreters in simulated healthcare assignments was positively impacted by viewing a modelled interpretation, done by an experienced interpreter beforehand. It also explores the benefits of situating learning in a semi-authentic clinical environment, populated by members of the community of practice, where students can experience legitimate peripheral participation. This improvement in practice was sought in response to the call for interpreter education to address the perceived ‘readiness to work’ gap, which contributes to the disparity in health outcomes between deaf people and their hearing counterparts. This was achieved by undertaking an educational intervention as part of an action research cycle, to evaluate the benefits of situated learning and the cognitive apprenticeship stage of instructor modelling. The study demonstrated that student performance in simulated healthcare assignments was improved in several areas as a result of the educational intervention. For example, there was a reduction in the number of undesirable zero-renditions (which lead to a loss information). Students demonstrated a more proactive and successful approach to negotiating their positioning for the interpretation of a physical examination. They also showed an increased awareness of the role of cues of interest and back channels when used by an authentic healthcare professional. The study also revealed that authentic healthcare professionals use different communication behaviours than an actor playing the role of the professional and that the authenticity of participants in simulation activities is key. Whilst there is some limited existing research about the application of situated learning to interpreter training, it is largely perceptual in nature, without empirical evidence to support the use of such a method of education. This study provides evidence about the impact of this type of andragogy. The results have implications for interpreter education programmes and suggest that using situated learning and instructor modelling is a beneficial stage in the development of students who are soon to transition into practicuum.

Citation

Hughes, T. (2023) An exploration of the efficacy of instructor modelling in the application of situated learning to educating student British Sign Language/English interpreters in healthcare interpreting. University of Wolverhampton. http://hdl.handle.net/2436/625398

Publisher

University of Wolverhampton

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/2436/625398

Type

Thesis or dissertation

Language

en

Description

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Rights

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

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Collections

Theses and Dissertations