Self-Efficacy Among Students in Professional Development

Many developing ASL-English interpreting students enter the workforce with limited bilingual proficiency, cultural and linguistic competence, experience, network or community connections, or interpreting skills. Yet, most interpreting jobs require extensive bilingualism, decision-making abilities, high-demand cognitive processes, and interpreting skills. Moreover, Deaf consumers often express dissatisfaction with entry-level interpreters who do not meet these requirements. Interpreter educators need more time to cover all the necessary skills for interpreting students to gain bilingual fluency and interpreting skills before they graduate. However, an interpreter education program cannot hold back interpreting students indefinitely until they are fully prepared for the workforce. As a result, newly graduated interpreters must continue to develop their bilingual proficiency, cultural and linguistic competencies, and interpreting abilities independently. In this study, I investigated whether prioritizing strengthening students’ self-efficacy for continuous skill-building is more effective for interpreting educators, given limited teaching time. Based on mixed methods research, this study gathered data through pre/post surveys using Likert scales and reflection papers based on observation and pattern analysis. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected. The aim of this study is to answer two research questions: How will students use their self-efficacy in terms of confidence, effort, and resiliency—in addition to their fear and anxiety—to navigate the transition from developing to highly qualified interpreters? Moreover, how important is it for interpreting educators to help students develop their self-efficacy to successfully transition from developing to highly qualified interpreters?

Author dc:creator

• Aidan Mack

• Self-Efficacy
• Interpreting students
• Interpreter education Program

Statement dc:rights

• CC-BY (attribution)

Language dc:language

eng

Repository record dc:identifier

https://wou.omeka.net/s/repository/item/13474

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wou.omeka.net:13474