The interpreter's role and deaf students' autonomy in mainstream classrooms.
Lisa M Prinzi
PMID 38483329WHAT IT FOUND
Deaf students felt less autonomous when interpreters followed them, redirected attention, disciplined them, or decided what to interpret.
They felt more autonomous when interpreters explained roles, collaborated, and let them choose.
Key findings
01Deaf participants said interpreters who followed them all day, repeatedly demanded attention, or decided when to interpret without asking them limited their autonomy.
02Deaf participants felt more autonomous when interpreters helped communication, bridged classroom cultures, negotiated roles, honored preferences, and included students in decisions.
03Deaf participants said they were not taught how to work with interpreters or how interpreter and teacher roles differed, leaving them unable to negotiate roles.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample was small and recruited by snowball sampling through the author's networks, so it may not represent deaf students or interpreters more broadly. Deaf and interpreter participants were not paired, so their accounts do not describe the same classroom relationships. The author was a hearing certified interpreter and interpreter educator, and some participants may not have felt comfortable sharing all views. Recruitment did not control for interpreter experience, race, gender, familial hearing status, or full-time and part-time mainstream status. Deaf participants were adults aged 18 to 35 recalling school experiences, so findings are retrospective. No teachers were interviewed, so teacher perspectives are inferred from deaf students and interpreters.
Declared interests
No funding or conflicts of interest were declared. The author was a hearing certified interpreter, interpreter educator, and doctoral student, and the study fulfilled doctoral program requirements.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these accounts as proof that interpreter behavior causes reduced autonomy. The study used snowball sampling, interviewed 18 deaf individuals and 23 interpreters who were not paired, and reports perceptions.