Betsy Winston

Director, TIEM Center

Dr. Winston is the Director of the Teaching Interpreting Educators and Mentors (TIEM) Center, a Center focused on excellence and integrity in interpreter and mentor education and research. She has been the Coordinator for the ASL Graduate Program at Northeastern University, including the M.Ed. in Interpreting Pedagogy and the Master Mentor Certificate Program. She was also the Director of the National Interpreter Education Center at Northeastern University, (2005-2010) a grant-funded project (RSA #H160B0002) to increase the number of qualified interpreters in the US. She holds a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from Georgetown University, an M.A. in Linguistics with a focus in American Sign Language from Gallaudet University, and an M.Ed. in Technology & Education from Western Governors University.

Her areas of expertise include teaching and research in interpreting, ASL discourse analysis, interpreting skills development, educational interpreting, multimedia applications in ASL research and teaching, and teaching at a distance. Dr. Winston teaches courses and workshops in faculty development, linguistics, interpretation, mentoring, and educational interpreting nationally.

Ongoing Research:

"'Garbage In = Garbage Out'-- The Importance of Souce Text Selection in Assessing Interpretations"

ABSTRACT: The choice of source stimulus texts is as fundamental to the assessment and evaluation of interpreting as is choosing the appropriate evaluation rubrics. The discussion of which source texts will most effectively draw out the kind of interpretation that reflects those features we intend to evaluate is essential to interpreting education and assessment. In ASL/English interpretations for example, many features that are heavily weighted in evaluation are found with more or less frequency depending on genre and register in ASL source texts. It is those features that contribute, in part, to the creation of a successfully coherent, dynamic equivalence in the target production. This preliminary report addresses the benefit to educators and evaluators in considering the source as the starting point for assessing a target interpretation. It includes both theoretical and evidence-based practices, and practical applications for educators and evaluators.

Research Intern: Danielle Hunt

Relevant Links:

http://tiemcenter.org/index.html