Volume 1 ~ November 2009 Preview

ISSN # 2150-5772 - This article is the intellectual property of the authors and CIT. If you wish to use this article in your teaching or in another format, please credit the authors and the CIT International Journal of Interpreter Education.

One Interpreter Education Program, Two Sites: A Comparison of Factors and Outcomes

Karen Petronio 1 and Kimberly Hale
Eastern Kentucky University, United States

Abstract
The past decade has seen an increase in the number of 4-year signed language interpreter education programs in the United States. However, there has been no corresponding increase in research that investigates the factors contributing to student success in these programs. As a start in examining possible factors, this article provides a longitudinal case study of 1 program that ran concurrently at 2 sites over a 10-year period. Although both sites used the same curriculum, had qualified faculty, and required the same prerequisites, the data show that 1 site had consistently higher graduation rates and a higher percentage of graduates achieving national signed language interpreter certification. In comparing the 2 sites, several factors are described that may be related to higher student outcomes. We conclude by proposing that the higher outcomes at the 1 site are influenced by not just 1 factor, but by a combination of factors that together provided students with a more intense experience with a higher degree of engagement.

Keywords: interpreter education program; interpreter training program, 4-year degree; bachelor’s degree; longitudinal case study; student outcomes; signed language interpreting

1Correspondence to: Karen.Petronio@eku.edu.

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