This course offers students an opportunity to integrate content areas in the curriculum through the examination and discussion of issues in the field of interpreting. While the course content and focus will vary depending on current issues and student interest, it will direct attention toward an important issue facing the interpreting profession and will provide an advanced experience of problem solving and value clarification. Students will develop and demonstrate their ability to define a research topic, gather and evaluate scholarly evidence, and present their findings in a paper and presentation.

Students in this course will be introduced to the study of American Sign Language in terms of its linguistic structure and use. In particular, students will learn to analyze the basic features of ASL phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics/discourse In addition, research related to variation in ASL and acquisition of ASL will also be reviewed. Instruction is in ASL (an interpreter will not be provided).

This course presents an introductory look at the interpreter as a bicultural/bilingual mediator, at the center of communicative activity. The interpreter's success requires the analysis of how communication (spoken, written, signed) is structured so that it is socially appropriate and linguistically accurate. This course includes an introduction to significant linguistic features and the analysis of conversational exchanges in English and ASL, focusing on the practical application of analyzing discourse.