University Hires Expert to Train Interpreters

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) _ A linguist who is well-known for her research involving deaf Central American children who started a language of their own will train American Sign Language interpreters to work in Maine schools.

The University of Southern Maine has hired Judy Kegl, who studied under renowned linguist Noam Chomsky. Kegl is fluent in four languages and has taught at several institutions, including Princeton University, Swarthmore College and Rutgers University.

Deaf children in Maine often don’t get the help they need in school because interpreters lack the necessary sign language schools. Part of the problem is that the training to improve their skills hasn’t been available in the state.

USM is hoping to change that by hiring Kegl, who is 45.

“She’s probably one of the best qualified people to do this type of thing in the world,” said Kenneth Hale, a professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

She’s well-known for her ground-breaking research in Nicaragua, where Kegl discovered a group of deaf children who had spontaneously created a new language to communicate with each other. Her work gave new weight to theories that children are essentially wired from birth to acquire a language and can even create their own.

Maine schools have about 320 students who are deaf or hearing impaired. But few if any of the 75 sign language interpreters in the school systems throughout the state are certified, experts said.

Kegl could have set up shop at a number of institutions.

She chose USM because she likes the area, the university’s proximity to the Gov. Baxter School for the Deaf, and the fact that she will be involved in the start of a new program.

“There is excitement that I saw happening throughout lots of areas. It made me feel this was the place to come to work together with people to really make a big change,” said Kegl, who is married and has two children she adopted in Nicaragua. “On a lot of levels, there is a lot of room to grow.”

Kegl will begin teaching at USM next month. She will train people in the use of American Sign Language and also run a laboratory on High Street in Portland where research will be done on cognitive development and the structure of American Sign Language.

Kegl said she expects the lab to attract out-of-state researchers who will work with undergraduate students, as well as members of the local sign-language community. The Associated Press © BY CARL MANNING