Abstract
The purpose of this action research specifically relates to new educational interpreters working with Deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) students. This study provides information about American Sign Language (ASL)/English Educational Interpreting professionals’ practice in self-care to reduce role strain, increase alertness, emotional wellbeing, and cognitive performance. Nutritional intake of my own was documented, analyzed and used to describe how that has had a perceived impact on my work in interpreting. The results of this data provide comparisons between recommended amounts of specific nutrients (e.g., calories and carbs), actual consumption, alertness, and identified emotions from an educational interpreter. The analyzed data includes a phone app called MyFitnessPal that had been used to document a nutritional intake log of an educational interpreter, documented perceived alertness during the interpretation by use of a Likert Scale as well as the Junto Institution’s Emotion Wheel (Chadha, 2020) to track perceived effectiveness, satisfaction, and overall feeling during the end of each work day. Further studies would benefit future and current interpreters as this research indicates a need to experiment with an adequate use of self-care by healthier intake of nutrition in our bodies, and note what kind of impact specific nutritional intake has on our ability to focus and interpreter’s note whether they interpret with a higher perceived efficacy rate compared to inadequate self-care and poor nutrition.
Exit Requirement
Action Research
Date of Award
11-5-2020
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies
Committee Chair
Elisa Maroney
Committee Member
Amanda Smith
Keywords
Interpreting, nutrition, intake, alertness, emotion, self-care
Language
eng
Type (DCMI Terms)
Text
Recommended Citation
Larson, N. (2020). We are what we eat: Gauging the effects of nutritional choices on the cognitive performance of an educational interpreter (master's thesis). Western Oregon University, Monmouth, Oregon. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/theses/144
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