Irish Sign Language Interpreting in Ireland: The Experience of Deaf Students

This article is based on thesis research carried out at the Centre for Deaf Studies, Trinity College Dublin. The purpose of this research was to examine Irish Sign Language (ISL) interpreting within higher education settings in Ireland. This empirical research documents for the first time the experiences of Irish Deaf 1 students, who use ISL as their primary language, working with interpreters in this domain. This research focuses on Deaf people who availed of an ISL interpreter between the years 2005 and 2015. A total of twenty-seven participants responded to an online questionnaire. The data results indicate that Deaf students prioritise the need for quality interpreting over access and place a high value on the relationship of trust they establish with their interpreter(s). Further exploration of the data reveals that trust is built upon an effective working relationship such as the interpreter acting in a benevolent manner, communicating with the student directly, adjusting signing styles to suit the student and establishing signs for subject-specific terminology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Reach is the property of Irish Association of Teachers in Special Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)