Uploaded September 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Find out more at https://gupress.gallaudet.edu/internationalperspectives
"History Is a Relentless Master: The State of Interpreter Education in the United States of America" | Chapter summary in International Sign
Chapter authors: Christopher Tester and Anna Witter-Merithew
From “International Perspectives on Sign Language Translator and Interpreter Education”
Edited by Jemina Napier, Stacey Webb, and Robert Adam
Published by Gallaudet University Press
**This video may not be repurposed or incorporated into other works in any way without the express written consent of the signer and the chapter authors.**
Visual description: A man with short hair and glasses stands in front of a blue background.
Transcript:
This chapter explores three general areas: an overview of the current landscape, prevailing issues, and emerging trends. In the US, the first national certification and assessment system was introduced in 1972, along with different federal laws that triggered the demand and the need for quality sign language interpreters. Thus began a more professional approach to training sign language interpreters. However, today, it has been recognized that the current training and education for SLI is not adequate nor meets the needs of diverse and yet changing deaf demographics.
In this chapter, we touch on various areas, including interpreter education programs; statistics; types of educational degrees; and the marginalization of ASL variations, including but not limited to BASL; heritage signers; and Deaf interpreters within the IEP. Today’s interpreter education is not meeting the needs of our deaf community, and more needs to be done.
Find out more at https://gupress.gallaudet.edu/internationalperspectives
"History Is a Relentless Master: The State of Interpreter Education in the United States of America" | Chapter summary in International Sign
Chapter authors: Christopher Tester and Anna Witter-Merithew
From “International Perspectives on Sign Language Translator and Interpreter Education”
Edited by Jemina Napier, Stacey Webb, and Robert Adam
Published by Gallaudet University Press
**This video may not be repurposed or incorporated into other works in any way without the express written consent of the signer and the chapter authors.**
Visual description: A man with short hair and glasses stands in front of a blue background.
Transcript:
This chapter explores three general areas: an overview of the current landscape, prevailing issues, and emerging trends. In the US, the first national certification and assessment system was introduced in 1972, along with different federal laws that triggered the demand and the need for quality sign language interpreters. Thus began a more professional approach to training sign language interpreters. However, today, it has been recognized that the current training and education for SLI is not adequate nor meets the needs of diverse and yet changing deaf demographics.
In this chapter, we touch on various areas, including interpreter education programs; statistics; types of educational degrees; and the marginalization of ASL variations, including but not limited to BASL; heritage signers; and Deaf interpreters within the IEP. Today’s interpreter education is not meeting the needs of our deaf community, and more needs to be done.
