Curriculum
Rationale
The rationale of the EUMASLI project is that professional development of sign language interpreting in the participating countries has reached a stage where qualified input into the areas of research, development, and management is needed in order to develop the field beyond its present level of providing services to Deaf and hearing citizens. In recent years, important steps have been reached in Germany, Finland and the United Kingdom towards the recognition of sign language interpreting as an essential tool for enabling hearing and Deaf people to interact on an equal footing. However, project partners agree that it is necessary to go beyond first-level academic training programmes in order to provide skills and competencies that will enable the field of sign language interpreting to grow into a coherent self-organized professional body that can serve the interests of Deaf people more efficiently than it does today.
The EUMASLI project is set within the so-called ‘Bologna Process’ that aims at the creation of a European higher education area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe. The project reflects a stage in the development of professional sign language interpreting services in Europe, where, as yet, most countries are concerned with establishing adequate first-level training programmes, while a small number of countries can draw upon relevant experience to move towards second level academic education. The project draws upon the strength of a long-standing European partnership in an effort to establish the first master-level study programme of its kind in Europe, thereby hoping to promote a more general introduction of professional sign language interpreting training opportunities Europe and encourage developments that can be expected to spread more widely throughout Europe over the next ten years.
By concentrating on research, development and management functions, the EUMASLI programme will provide background and substance for jobs already done by sign language interpreters ‘out there,’ i.e. in research and training, in administrative functions within various institutional contexts, in policy development, international settings such as conferences as well as mentoring and supervision. Without excluding the possibility and usefulness of more narrowly defined training opportunities, at this stage, project partners have opted for a rather broadly based development of competences and qualifications, trying to open up various routes into ‘higher level’ functions within the professional field of sign language interpreting to the programme’s participants. More particularly, participants of the programme will have
- acquired experience and skills in conducting research and thus be enabled to contribute to the growing body of literature on sign language interpreting
- reflected their interpreting experience and gained new insights concerning the profession and the performance of sign language interpreters
- seriously considered social, ethical, and organizational aspects of advancing their field with a view to respecting and supporting the interests of deaf people and their communities
- acquired knowledge and skills in the areas of management and policy making, and thus be prepared to take a leading role in the development of the professional field.
Starting points
- The programme will be administered to an international group made up of 15–20 students, to begin with mainly from the participating countries. It will involve the staff and facilities of the three universities involved and will include learning experiences in all of the partner countries. Interaction between participants from different countries will be encouraged throughout the programme.
- Prospective students will be expected to have a first academic degree in a relevant subject, preferably in sign language interpreting. Secondly, students will have substantial experience as practicing professional sign language interpreters. Thirdly, students are expected to have appropriate English language to fully participate in the programme. The programme is not specifically designed to meet the requirements of Deaf interpreters, but applicants who fulfil the general requirements will be considered irrespective of their hearing status.
- Since the programme aims at participants who are professionally operative in the field of sign language interpreting, it will be offered on a part-time basis. It is expected that a majority of the students will work part-time parallel to participating in the programme in order to finance their costs of living, programme fees, and additional, e.g. travelling, expenses. 90 ECTS (i.e. 2,700 student working hours) are to be obtained within 2.5 years or 5 semesters.
- The programme will use blended learning techniques: In order to implement the international dimension of the programme, contact teaching will be complemented by web-based distance-learning methods, video-conferences, etc.
- The programme will lead to the acquisition of a master’s degree, recognized by the three participating universities. Due to national regulations, the title of the degree will be different for each participating university, i.e. Master of Science (Heriot-Watt University), Master of Humanities (Humak University Applied Sciences), and Master of Arts (University of Applied Science Magdeburg-Stendal).
Module structure
There are three major areas of study:
Study area 1: International skills (modules 1.1–1.4 = 30 ECTS)
This part of the programme affords opportunities for applying and strengthening linguistic and translatory skills. While English will be the main language of teaching, participants will be expected to acquire elementary skills in all of the participating spoken languages, including Finnish and German, and each of the national sign languages involved, i.e., Finnish Sign Language (FSL), British Sign Language (BSL) and German Sign Language (Deutsche Gebärdensprache, DGS). International Sign (IS) will be afforded a special place in the programme. Possible uses of IS in transnational communication, including transnational interpreting assignments, are thus reflected, and it is expected that experience in IS will have positive effects on the use of each participant’s national sign language.
Study area 2: Developing the profession (modules 2.1–2.2 = 20 ECTS)
This part of the programme is concerned with various aspects of analysing the professional situation of sign language interpreters with a view towards developing the profession. Results from interpreting and translation studies will have a place here, but students will also be discussing individual, social, and political aspects of working as a professional interpreting practitioner.
Study area 3: Doing research (modules 3.1–3.2 = 40 ECTS)
The third major part of the programme is to lead up to and implement ‘doing research’. Treatment of relevant research methods and critical reflection of research as practised in the field will prepare students for carrying out their own study in the context of producing a Master thesis to conclude the programme.
The following table shows the overall module structure of the programme. Partner countries in charge of individual modules are indicated in brackets (DE, FI, UK). Click on a module to view its aims and objectives.
| Sem | ECTS | Modules | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | 1.1 Introducing the European perspective: Countries, languages & personal development 15 ECTS FI | UK | DE | ||
| 2 | 15 | 1.2 Signing in transnational contexts I 5 ECTS DE | 2.1 Interpreting and translation studies 5 ECTS UK | 2.2 Developing reflective practice 5 ECTS FI |
| 3 | 15 | 1.3 Signing in transnational contexts II 5 ECTS UK | 2.3 Working with Deaf and hearing communities 5 ECTS DE | 2.4 Interpreting management and policy 5 ECTS FI |
| 4 | 15 | 1.4 Conference interpreting and transnational contexts 5 ECTS FI | 3.1 Research methods: Sign language interpreting and translation as profession and performance 10 ECTS UK | DE | |
| 5 | 30 | 3.2 MA thesis 30 ECTS FI | UK | DE | ||
1.1 Introducing the European perspective: Countries, languages & personal development
By the end of this module, students will be familiar with the organisation, contents, and European Perspective of the Master programme. They will have acquired knowledge and skills for cooperating transnationally within the programme. They will know themes and contents that will be built upon in later modules of the programme.
In particular, by the end of the module students will
- know basic facts about the history, structure and politics of the European Union, in particular as it relates to deafness, sign language and sign language interpreting
- know basic facts about the partner countries and their deaf communities
- be aware of essential features of and have elementary knowledge in the spoken and signed languages of the partner countries
- be able to apply a range of professional skills to their everyday interpreting practice
1.2 Signing in trans-national contexts I
This module builds upon students’ encounter with different national sign languages in module 1.1. Students will be introduced to International Sign (IS). They will reflect the unique potential of IS as a communicative practice in the international Deaf community, become aware of its structure and be able to use it in communicative contexts at a basic level. They will also be aware of the controversies concerning the political and linguistic status of IS.
In particular, by the end of the module students will
- be aware of the history, status and use of IS
- know essential features of the structure of IS
- be aware of structural differences between their national sign languages and IS
- know a set of lexical signs commonly used in IS communication
- be able to communicate in IS at a basic level
1.3 Signing in transnational contexts II
This module will build on the introductory IS module (1.2); by offering a comparative perspective, it will lay the foundations for dealing with IS texts in interpreting settings (1.4). The module will exploit the existing knowledge and skills of students and their actual experience as practitioners and professionals with the aim of providing students with knowledge and skills preparing them to engage in IS interpreting.
By the end of the module, students will be able to:
- show awareness of contrasts in structure between IS and national signed and spoken languages
- show awareness of the linguistic potential and limitations of IS
- be able to communicate in IS beyond a basic level, employing appropriate general, structural and communicative features
- articulate and put into practice strategies in translation for exploiting and responding to the linguistic potentials and limitations of IS
- undertake basic English-IS and IS-English translation
- reflect in an informed way upon their own and others’ translation processes and products where IS is involved (hereafter referred to as ‘IS translation’)
1.4 Conference interpreting and transnational contexts
This module builds upon skills in International Sign (IS) students developed in module 1.2 and 1.3. Conference interpreting is introduced as a relevant context for the application of skills in IS. Students will practice interpreting between English and IS in conference settings at entry level.
Thus, by the end of the module students will
- know the specific demands of conference interpreting
- have experienced and reflected upon interpreting between English and IS in conference settings
- have acquired a basis for developing their ability for interpreting in conference settings further
- have acquired a basis for developing their ability to apply IS skills in relevant interpreting contexts further
2.1 Interpreting and translation studies
Building on the existing knowledge and skills of students and their actual experience as practitioners and professionals, the aim of this module is to provide students with deepened knowledge of the current theoretical issues in translation and interpreting studies.
By the end of the module, students will be able to
- apply learned theoretical knowledge within their professional lives
- independently understand and critically reflect upon theories in the field of translation and interpreting
2.2 Developing reflective practice
The module builds upon the ‘skills’ part of module 1.1 and further clarifies personal aspects of working as a professional interpreting practitioner. Students will engage in reflective and co-reflective practices to develop a critical interpreting awareness.
By the end of the module, student will
- have deepened their self-reflective and self-evaluation skills
- have tools for improved performance in pair/team interpreting
- have a critical perspective on interpreting per se as well as particular interpretations
- be able to account for and explain choices made in an interpreting situation in the light of relevant conceptual models
2.3 Working with Deaf and hearing communities
This module builds upon the reflection of personal aspects of professional work as a sign language interpreter in module 2.2 to consider the larger social context of the profession. As a professional service that brings together and mediates between different social groups, sign language interpreting and, increasingly, sign language translation is faced with divergent customer expectations that are often hard to reconcile. Students will consider the challenges that changes in the composition and attitudes of the different customer groups, and in particular the Deaf community, as well as technological innovations have brought to the profession.
By the end of the module, students will
- have critically reconsidered traditional conceptions of the ‘role’ of sign language interpreters
- have reflected their position as professionals in relation to the Deaf community
- be aware of challenges posed by changes in the make-up of traditional customer groups and the development of new customer groups
- be able to assess risks and weigh professional options in ‘critical’ assignments
- be aware of new challenges and options posed by, e.g. technological, innovations
2.4 Interpreting management and policy
This module complements module 2.3 by adding a political dimension and exploring options of formulating coherent policies and managing the profession as a whole. Students will be familiarised with the overall process of sign language interpreting and translation service production from the perspective of co-operation. Student will be made aware of the different structures and bodies of society that are linked to sign language interpreting and translation services. Student will learn how to participate in collective policy making.
By the end of the module, students will:
- understand underpinning theoretical notions about professions and professionalisation
- be aware of national and supra-national social and policy contexts
- be aware of policy topics significant for the development of the profession
- demonstrate competence in formulating, substantiating and planning the implementation of coherent strategic sign language interpreting and translation policies
3.1 Research methods: Sign language interpreting and translation as profession and performance
The aim of this module is to provide students with a critically engaged outlook towards research and policy texts which have the professional structure and the performance of sign language interpreting and translation as their topic.
Students will develop an understanding of relevant social and linguistic research methodology and be given tools with which to make informed assessments concerning the validity of research findings through analyses of published texts from relevant fields of practice and scholarship.
This module will guide students towards developing small-scale, pilot research projects in areas relating to (a) the profession of sign language interpreting and translation and (b) the performance of practitioners in the field, including the analysis of language output. At least one of these projects will be undertaken (at an appropriate – i.e. small-scale, pilot – level) and evaluated.
By the end of the module, students will
- be able to demonstrate, through the selection and design of small-scale, pilot research projects, an awareness of the significance of fundamental issues in research design (including the primacy of empiricism and descriptivism, the relationship between methods and outcomes, the necessity of ethical reflection and the nature of fundamental branches of social scientific methodology)
- be able to critique published texts from relevant fields of practice and scholarship, identifying methodological strengths and weaknesses in light of relevant theoretical frames of reference
- have developed initial competence in identifying, eliciting and accessing data appropriate for specific research purposes
- have shown competence in selecting and substantiating research methods appropriate for addressing specific empirical questions
- be able to produce and evaluate at least one robust analysis of a pilot-scale set of data relating to the profession or performance of sign language interpreting and translation
3.2 MA thesis
The module builds upon work done in research module 3.1. It provides an opportunity for students to undertake an independent study related to the professional structure and/or the performance of sign language interpreting and translating. Students will be expected to demonstrate an ability to develop and sustain a logical and consistent argument in relation to the analysis of relevant issues. This must be accomplished with due regard for the validity of available evidence and methods of enquiry.
By completing their master thesis students will demonstrate
- an awareness of issues of current or potential significance for the development of the field of sign language interpreting and translation
- an awareness of issues pertinent to carrying out empirical research
- the ability to formulate research questions for an independent study and develop an appropriate methodological design
- the ability to gather, analyse and interpret relevant data
- the ability to present the results of an independent study in a coherent form according to established scientific standards
Organisation
Semester 1 serves as a general introduction to the programme, its European perspective, and the different countries, languages and backgrounds involved. It will be organized around three one-week blockseminars, one to take place in each partner country.
Modules in semester 2–4 conform to the following pattern: An initial self-study period is followed by contact time in an international blockseminar; subsequent individual or group work is followed by a concluding event, which will often involve media-based interaction through video or online conferences. The international blockseminar is the central event of semester 2–4. The blockseminars will be offered by the partner in charge of the ‘International skills’ module in each semester (i.e., DE in semester 2, UK in semester 3, and FI in semester 4). The blockseminar will be organized roughly as follows: One week of teaching is devoted to the ‘International skills’ module; the second week of teaching will be divided between the other two modules of the same semester. Delivery of these modules may involve the attendance of teachers from partner countries.
Semester 5 will consist of individual work leading up to the Master thesis. Each student will be supervised by two tutors from two of the participating countries. At the end of module 3.2 there will be a conference to conclude the programm. Students will be requested to present their work to each other, members of the partner institutions and a wider audience of stakeholders in the field.