This document discusses strategies for delivering interpreter training that incorporates language-specific and bilingual instruction. It defines key terms and explores reasons for choosing the language of instruction. Various learning activities are described that benefit from language-specific or bilingual approaches, including skills-building exercises, healthcare terminology development, and addressing complex concepts. The document also covers engaging language experts in developing and presenting training and adjusting teaching methods for online versus on-site delivery formats.

1. NATIONAL COUNCIL ON INTERPRETING IN HEALTH CARE
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2. NATIONAL COUNCIL ON INTERPRETING IN HEALTH CARE
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4. NATIONAL COUNCIL ON INTERPRETING IN HEALTH CARE
Sponsored by
www.CertifiedLanguages.com

5. NATIONAL COUNCIL ON INTERPRETING IN HEALTH CARE
Welcome!
Guest Presenters:
Natalya Mytareva,
MA, CoreCHITM
Margarita Bekker,
CoreCHITM

6. Not Only English!
Building the Foundation for
Language-specific & Bilingual
Interpreter Instruction
©2019, Natalya Mytareva & Margarita Bekker
Permission to use: This document may be used for any non-commercial (free)
educational presentation with the proper attribution.

7. Webinar Overview
Some definitions
1. Language of instruction
2. Types of learning activities benefitting from language-specific
& bilingual instruction
3. Engagement of language-specific experts in preparing and
delivering training
4. Adjusting teaching methods and materials for on-site and
online delivery
5. Resources
6. Q&A
7

8. You CANNOT say the TL of
a medical interpreter is X.
There are always 2 TLs.
Some definitions:
Target Language (TL) – the language into
which a message is interpreted or
translated.
8
In translation or conference
interpreting:
In medical or court
interpreting:
The term TL is useful
for analysis of
individual utterances
or segments of
interpreting but NOT
as a global concept of
training.

9. Some definitions:
Our preferred term in the training context instead of TL:
Language Other Than English – LOTE
Helpful terms for trainers in the context of knowing your audience:
Working language(s)/language(s) of service – I’m a Russian interpreter (in the
US, it’s assumed that I interpret into English). For the purposes of training,
students must select 1 language.
Native language – the language that a person acquires in early childhood
because it's spoken in the family rather than learning it as a foreign language
Stronger/weaker language – a self-reported concept that reflects the current
level of a bilingual person’s command of the 2 languages; may vary by subject
area and by years of immersion
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10. Some definitions:
Transfer of learning or transfer of knowledge – the capacity to apply
acquired knowledge and skills to new situations.
Every activity should result in transfer of knowledge,
which means that instructor should know if this transfer has taken
place,
which means instructor must design a method of assessment for
each activity (=How do I know that student learned X/ can do Z?).
Student talking time (STT) – for an interpreter skill-building training,
every student should have a meaningful STT.
10

11. 1. Language of Instruction
English Bilingual
Weaker
language
specific
Stronger
language
specific
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Choice should be
based on the
teaching goals and
objectives (and
their attainability).
WHY?

12. Reasons for choosing instruction in English
Ø To teach concepts of the U.S. healthcare interpreting (ethics,
standards, role, etc.)
Ø To teach how to advocate for patients (and the profession)
appropriately
Ø To teach a mixed-languages group of interpreters:
Ø Especially, to demonstrate how some challenges(cultural and linguistic)
are common for different languages, i.e. to allow for peer-teaching and
participatory learning
12

13. Reasons for choosing instruction in English
Ø To teach concepts and terminology typical for U.S. health care
and medicine
Ø To teach new U.S. healthcare concepts and terminology
Ø To improve listening and reading comprehension of:
Ø healthcare topics
Ø U.S. colloquialisms
Ø U.S. cultural references
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14. Reasons for choosing bilingual instruction
Ø To utilize the bilingual nature of interpreting
Ø To teach the actual conversion skills (to ensure transfer of
learning to real job)
Ø To teach specialty complex concepts (related to health care):
Ø in an efficient manner (i.e. when it’s important to provide a correct
model in both languages)
Ø that are too new and require collective agreement on emerging terms
14

15. Reasons for choosing language-specific instruction
Interpreter’s weaker language:
Ø To improve listening and reading comprehension in that
language (healthcare topics)
Ø To teach general terminology
Ø To improve command of colloquial vocabulary
Ø To improve public/professional speaking skills in that language
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16. Reasons for choosing language-specific instruction
Interpreter’s stronger language:
Ø To explain complex concepts (terminology & culture) typical
for the weaker language
Ø To teach new/emerging terminology & colloquial expressions
of that language
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17. Poll #1
Have you delivered training for a mixed-language audience?
17

18. Poll #2
In what modality have you delivered training for a mixed-
language audience?
a) On-site
b) Online – webinar
c) Online – with live instructor
d) Online – self-paced
18

19. What to do when a group is mixed?
Include different types of activities that benefit each type of
student in the group:
Ø Alternate different types of activities for the whole group
Ø Break out into small groups based on which language is
stronger – English or LOTE
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20. 2. Types of learning activities benefitting from
language-specific & bilingual instruction
Conversion skill-building activities:
Ø Paraphrasing (intra- and interlingual)
Ø Sight Translation of Authentic Healthcare Documents
Ø Improvisational Role Plays
Ø Pre-recorded Role Plays (Native Speakers)
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21. 2. Types of learning activities benefitting from
language-specific & bilingual instruction
Healthcare specialty complex concepts:
Ø in an efficient manner (i.e. when it’s important to provide a correct
model in both languages)
Ø that are too new and require collective agreement on emerging terms
Ø Collaborative Glossaries
Ø Parallel Text & Video Materials
21

22. 2. Types of learning activities benefitting from
language-specific & bilingual instruction
Complex U.S. concepts (terminology & culture) (if English is a
weaker language)
1. Work with “parallel” resources:
Ø Educational Materials, including online videos
Ø Vetted Websites
Ø Disease specific forums
2. Prepared & spontaneous public speech presentations in LOTE
(1 min, 3-5 min)
22

23. 2. Types of learning activities benefitting from
language-specific & bilingual instruction
New/emerging terminology & colloquial expressions (more typical for
continuing education than beginner-level)
Participatory Learning:
Ø Comprehension exercises to establish that everyone understand
the concept/meaning the same way
Ø Group discussion of possible equivalents:
Ø Checking online appropriateness of each proposed variant (research skills)
Ø Creating sentences with proposed variants & interpreting them into the
other language
23

24. Types of language-specific materials
Ø Text in a language other than English (LOTE) on a specific topic
(authentic preferred)
Ø Speech in LOTE on a specific topic (spontaneous preferred)
Ø Patient’s side of a dialog (audio preferred but script is acceptable
for written languages)
Ø Bilingual glossary on a topic (based on the actual materials used in
the training)
Ø Model sight or written translation of an English text into LOTE
Ø Model interpretation of an English speech or provider’s side of a
dialog into LOTE (audio preferred but script is acceptable for
written languages)
24

25. 3. Engagement of LOTE experts in preparing and
delivering training
Converting
English
training to
language-
specific
Converting
English
training to
bilingual
25
Creating a
language-
specific or
bilingual
training

26. Poll 3
Have you, as a trainer, worked with a LOTE expert?
26

27. Types of experts fluent in LOTE
Ø Native speakers of LOTE who do not speak good English – for
creating audio materials in LOTE (prompts to interpret into
English)
Ø Recorded speech on a topic/ answer to a question
Ø Recorded dialog between two people
Ø Live appearance in class for role plays (as patient & family), or speaking
on a topic, or as a resource to build a glossary on a complex topic
Ø Native speakers of LOTE who speak good English but are not
interpreters:
Ø All of the above
27

28. Types of experts fluent in LOTE
Ø Translators of LOTE- for:
Ø Selecting texts and videos in LOTE on a specific topic (and translating them into
English);
Ø Translating English exercises into LOTE;
Ø Creating model/correct interpretation scripts in LOTE;
Ø Creating model/correct glossaries
Ø Interpreters of LOTE as:
Ø Instructors
Ø Co-instructors
Ø LOTE coaches (provide model interpretation and feedback to students; evaluate
student’s performance)
Ø Cultural experts
Ø All of the above-mentioned tasks for native speakers and translators
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LOTE expert needs to have a good
understanding of adult teaching principles and
curriculum design, i.e. more than an interpreter
or speaker of a language

29. Engaging LOTE experts
Ø Clearly explain their role and your expectations
Ø Ideally, just work together creating an element of the training or
the full training
Ø Guide at every step of the preparation – explain your whats, whys,
and hows
Ø Have a dressed rehearsal (at least the first time you work with that
expert)
Ø Provide support during the delivery (they should know you have
plan B and C)
Ø Provide feedback – and if you plan to work with them again –
adjust your expectations, your role and preparation in the future
29

30. 4. Adjusting teaching methods and materials for on-site
and online delivery
Strengths Weaknesses
Ø Instructor can monitor that
students are doing what they are
supposed to do & directly interact
with any/every student
Ø Easier to teach a mixed group –
split into small groups/pairs/solo,
with or without a LOTE expert
Ø Can truly do participatory learning
in different formats
Ø Can utilize peer evaluation
Ø Relatively “easy” to prepare
Ø Relatively easy to adjust on the fly
Ø May not be able to find a LOTE
expert (at all or for some LOTEs)
Ø Assignments have to be
completed within a relatively
short time (unless it’s a college-
type training with homework)
Ø Cannot easily quiz all group or
language-specific assignments
within a short timeframe
Ø Limited number of students
30
On-site delivery:

31. Strengths Weaknesses
Ø Large audience across the country –
can be efficient for language-
specific and bilingual instruction
Ø More opportunities to find a LOTE
expert
Ø Share audio & video
Ø Demonstrate live online research
Ø Audience engagement:
Ø polls of the whole audience in 1 min
Ø provide model responses (audio or
scripts)
Ø interact via questions in chat
Ø Multiple-choice quiz
Ø Instructor cannot fully monitor that
students are doing what they are
supposed to do (compensate with
polls)
Ø Limitations on utilizing language-
specific activities in a mixed
audience (you can only display one
screen at a time and play one
video/audio at a time)
Ø Additional preparation by
instructor
Ø Technology failure
Ø Students’ poor technology literacy
31
Online delivery: Webinar

32. Strengths Weaknesses
Ø Instructor can monitor that students
are doing what they are supposed to
do & directly interact with any/every
student
Ø Sufficient audience across the
country – can be efficient for
language-specific and bilingual
instruction.
Ø Same benefits as in webinar
Ø International Students. Synchronous
and Asynchronous work
Ø Limitations on utilizing language-
specific activities in a mixed
audience (you can only display
one screen at a time and play
one video/audio at a time)
Ø Additional preparation by
instructor
Ø Technology failure
32
Online delivery:
Remote Instructor-led

33. Strengths Weaknesses
Ø Large audience across the
country – good for any language
instruction
Ø Same benefits as in webinar
Ø Opportunity for in-depth self-
study (Require completion of an
assignment that requires meaningful/
significant time (=homework) before
moving to the next step, e.g. online
research, self-recording and self-eval)
Ø Opportunity to utilize online
collaboration
Ø Limited interaction with
instructor
Ø Significant preparation by
instructor that requires
extensive knowledge of LMS
Ø Students’ poor technology
literacy
33
Online delivery: On-demand, self-paced,
without live instructor
Sub-type – recorded webinars with a quiz

34. 5. Resources
Ø LOTEs with no or limited reference materials:
Ø Engaging monolingual LOTE experts in creating materials
Ø Participatory learning formats
Ø Glossary building
Ø Assessment of LOTE students without a LOTE expert
Ø It’s crucial to teach self-monitoring (ability to catch your own mistakes) to all
students
Ø For LOTE students, formal self-evaluation with the instructor’s debriefing
may be the only assessment tool (albeit, time-consuming) (Think as a
manager – will you hire this student to be your interpreter?)
Example: U of Westmister Form for SI:
https://www.emcinterpreting.org/emci_drupal_data/
SI%20Assessment%20Sheet%20Adams.pdf
34

35. 5. Resources
SOME examples of online language-specific and bilingual training
programs:
ALTA, CCCS, Inc., CCHI, Glendon College (Canada), HCIN-Learn,
InterpreterPrep, MasterWord (Spanish), MITS (Spanish), Interpreter
Education Online, REACH-Diversity
Some trainer resources:
https://www.ncihc.org/languages-of-limited-diffusion
https://orcit.eu/
https://www.emcinterpreting.org/resources
http://interpreters.free.fr/practice.htm
35

36. Registry of Accredited CE Programs
http://CEAPcchi.org

37. CCHI’s Online Training Portal
http://cchiinterpreters.org

38. Our contact info:
Margarita: margarita.s.bekker@gmail.com
Natalya: nmytareva@cchicertification.org

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You can access the recording of the
live webinar presentation at
www.ncihc.org/trainerswebinars
Home for Trainers Interpreter Trainers Webinars Work Group
An initiative of the Standards and Training Committee
www.ncihc.org/home-for-trainers