Uploaded August 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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McDermind, Campbell, & Houkes, Lisanne. (2022). Response: Social Construction and Working in the Zone of Proximal Development: Gish Revisited. In Laurie Swabey & Rachel E. Herring (Eds.), SIGNED LANGUAGE INTERPRETING PEDAGOGY: INSIGHTS AND INNOVATIONS FROM THE CONFERENCE OF INTERPRETER TRAINERS (pp. 169-177). Gallaudet University Press.

https://gupress.gallaudet.edu/Books/S/Signed-Language-Interpreting-Pedagogy

****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.****

This chapter looks at the work of Sandra Gish.

In 1982 she published a piece in which she focused on the work of a Russian psychologist, Vygotsky. Vygotsky studied child development and recognized that they learn through a process of social learning and reciprocal teaching. Having read his work, Sandra Gish applied this theory to teaching sign language interpreters.

She looked first at how programs instructed students. And she recognized that many instructors used a process of modeling with their students. This involved identifying student errors and demonstrating the correct way to interpret. As a result, and as the students progressed to graduation, they may not have necessarily developed the ability to assess their own competencies. Instead, they relied on their instructors and a process of modeling.

So, Sandra Gish worked with a small group of four interpreting students and had them examine samples of their work. They were told to write up what they had noticed and she as their instructor would do the same. Upon comparing their findings to hers, she noted a lack of ability to do more in-depth analysis. Instead, the students looked at superficial aspects of their work such as vocabulary, grammar, and general mistakes.

When she examined her own assessment, she realized she focused on more of their cognitive abilities. She wondered why they had chosen certain signs or words and how they had come to that decision. So her assessment was much more in-depth. She then thought about how to teach the students that ability and decided to apply social learning theory to the class.

The central belief of this theory is that students have certain skills and abilities that the instructor must recognize. Having determined this level, the instructor must then try to pull them up to higher-order thinking. This is referred to as the ZPD, or the zone of proximal development, following the view of Vygotsky. Once an instructor determined the zone that the student was working in, they then posed questions to have the student think at a higher level.

One way of promoting higher thinking was to pose questions, which would then lead the students to reflect on their abilities. So that was the process of social learning. Now how can one promote social learning theory? One means of doing this is by establishing groups. These groups will then be given different resources to interpret followed by a discussion of their work. The students will then engage in helping each other. Or a student can practice different translations of a piece, and after repeated practice can then meet with the instructor who engages in posing questions, again in keeping with social learning theory.

Now social learning theory has many benefits, as it promotes more in-depth self-analysis. At the same time, however, there are some limitations to the theory. For example, classes in sign language interpreting may have a larger number of students and class sizes. This makes it a challenge for the instructor to participate in the various groups. Students may continue to focus on superficial levels such as grammar or sign choices, as they may not know how to reflect at a deeper level. It could be possible that these students are used to being taught rules didactically and to memorize and apply those rules from past classes. And so they continue to practice the process they've been taught.

Throughout their education, in elementary and secondary school, their instructors may have used didactic teaching. The students are used to being passive recipients of their education where the instructors have provided the information to them. This is a banking model, where learning is seen as teachers depositing information into students. So, they may not be familiar with the process of questioning by their instructor.

Also, the instructor has to have the ability to identify the students’ level of development and then pose questions that will bring them to a higher level of thinking.
There are a number of ways to resolve some of these problems.

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