title: Beginning signers' self-assessment of sign language skills.
abstract: Students enrolled in introductory manual communication classes demonstrated limited ability to assess their own communication skills. Questionnaires completed on the third day of class revealed that 70% of the students surveyed would attempt to interpret in a court of law if asked to do so. Although a fifty-minute discussion concerning topics such as ASL, sign systems, and interpreter skills and ethics aided some students in putting their skills into perspective, 41% continued to overestimate their abilities at midterm. The reasons for the overestimation are not clear. Avenues for future research are suggested.
authors.affiliation: University of Iowa, Iowa City.
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Lodge-Miller
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Elfenbein
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012813:Sign Language; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires