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In a previous blog, Masters candidate Debra Page launched a questionnaire aimed at exploring staff experiences of the Young Interpreter Scheme. Now officially a PhD student after successfully completing her Masters with a distinction, Debra updates us on the results of her questionnaire.

Hello readers. I hope that you’re familiar with my name by now, but if not I am conducting research on the Young Interpreter Scheme under the supervision of the Centre for Literacy and Multilingualism at the University of Reading and with Hampshire EMTAS as a collaborative partner. My Masters research dissertation looked at staff experiences of the Young Interpreter Scheme with a specific focus on motivation for participation in the scheme, views around teaching pupils with EAL and effects of running the scheme on children, staff and schools. Thank you to all that completed the questionnaire. The results are in! Findings are grouped within 5 main themes: 

- Empathy, self-esteem and self-concept

- Opinions on home language of pupils with EAL 

- Intercultural awareness

- Misconceptions surrounding concepts and use of Young Interpreters

- Effects on academic achievement

To find out more, download the summary by clicking the link attached to this article (see top right). You can also discover findings in a poster which the team and I presented at the recent NALDIC conference; here we are in action:

From left to right: Astrid Dinneen, Naomi Flynn, Debra Page and Ludovica Serratrice

We also were involved in making promotional videos for collaborative funded studentships, can you spot any of your Young Interpreters in the videos?

What’s next?  Stay tuned!
 
If you have any questions about the research please email me – debra.page@pgr.reading.ac.uk.
 

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