SESA – Fall ’01 Reference Shelf – Sign Language Interpreting

By Patrick Pillai, education specialist, SESA

Interpreting services are critical for the educational success of children who communicate via the medium of sign. A deaf or hard of hearing child who relies on the visual medium for processing information is lost without the expertise of a competent sign language interpreter. The role of the interpreter, in rural Alaska, is expanded to substitute for the absence of deaf peers and a deaf community. The result is usually the creation of a sub-community of two: the interpreter and the student. Continue Reading

SESA – Fall ’01 Reference Shelf – Sign Language Interpreting

By Sue Bahleda, coordinator, Interpreting Services and ASL Program, UAA

Becoming a sign language interpreter sounds easy. After all, most people already know English pretty well, so you just need to learn signs to match up with the English words, right? And there are lots of dictionaries that show you how to match them up, right?

Wrong! Being a sign language interpreter requires four things: fluency in English, fluency in sign language, knowledge of the subject matter, and an understanding of the interpreting process.

Fluency in English is an interesting place to start. Most people have a regular, working vocabulary which they use in their everyday environments. They also generally have an extended vocabulary of words they can read and understand, but generally don’t use in their own speech. When you are an interpreter, you must be able to understand vocabulary that may not be part of your normal conversation: medical terminology, vocabulary used by religious settings that are different from yours, math concepts from geometry to physics, the body parts of a frog, Shakespeare, car parts, artists of the Baroque, tax form B296-R, the list is endless. Continue Reading

SESA – Fall ’01 Reference Shelf – Sign Language Interpreting

By Carolynn J. Whitcher, interpreter coordinator, Alaska State School for Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Deaf and Hard of Hearing children, ages 3-21, attend many schools across Alaska. Some have direct access to educational content and a shared language community. They are in classrooms with teachers and peers who can communicate directly using sign language. Others are in classrooms where they benefit from assistive technologies, which enable them to communicate directly with their teachers and peers.

The focus here is issues affecting those Deaf and Hard of Hearing students who attend classes where they participate in interpreted education. The intent of interpreted education is for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students to receive the same educational opportunities as their hearing peers. The fact is, we do not know exactly what these students are receiving through interpreted education. In the Spring 2001 issue of “Odyssey,” Thomas Kluwin and David Stewart wrote an article in which they stated that “there was a lack of a clear definition of what good interpreting should be” and “that there is no empirical evidence on how well deaf students understand their interpreter.” They also identified the following issues that need to be addressed by future research: Continue Reading

SESA – Fall ’01 Reference Shelf – Sign Language Interpreting

By Thomas N. Kluwin and David A. Stewart

Several years ago, Thomas Kluwin and David Stewart investigated a number of issues that have been a part of the dialogue in the field of interpreting (Stewart and Kluwin, 1996). After an extensive literature review, they identified several issues and suggested some parameters around which interpreting may be evaluated. For more information, the authors suggest that interested readers see Schein, 1990; Schein, Mallory, and Greaves, 1991; Stedt, 1992; Seal, 1998; and Stewart, Schein, and Cartwright, 1998.

In 1996, we found that the research in the area of educational interpreting, limited but available, called for an urgent movement to improve the professionalism of educational interpreters. Several issues stood out, including:
• the confusion of job descriptions and expectations for educational interpreters,
• the existence of substandard performances,
• the lack of interpreting certification,
• the unavailability of opportunities for improving interpreters’ skills, and
• the existence of poor pay and working conditions for educational interpreters. Continue Reading

SESA – Fall ’01 Reference Shelf – Sign Language Interpreting

By Brenda Schick

Children are not miniature adults. From the time they are born until they reach adulthood, children proceed through many stages of profound developmental changes. Education recognizes this in the way that states handle certification for teaching. Elementary and secondary school teachers pass separate tests and receive different certifications. This makes sense. Not many people would believe that just because a person teaches a college-level class, he or she would automatically be able to teach a first-grade class.

But many times this is the belief held in the world of interpreting. While we don’t really know much about how interpreting for children is different, we know that we should expect differences. And we should expect different differences as children develop throughout the school years.
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SESA – Fall ’01 Reference Shelf – Sign Language Interpreting

Communication, the most common and most complex kind of human behavior, has many definitions. It is the process by which we understand others and in turn try to be understood by them. It is the exchange of ideas, messages and information between a sender and a receiver. In some situations, this act is complicated or made impossible by such obstacles as distance, physical limitations or language differences. Thus, for deaf, hard of hearing and deaf-blind people, communication is a central issue. Communication difficulties between deaf, hard of hearing or deaf-blind individuals and hearing individuals may be eased through the use of an interpreter who serves as a communication link. Continue Reading

SESA – FALL ’01 REFERENCE SHELF – SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETING

By Robin Price, president, AKRID

In Alaska we have a severe shortage of qualified interpreters. Many people take an American Sign Language class, and then begin to interpret without adequate training. Communicating in sign language and interpreting ARE NOT THE SAME THING. It is imperative for everyone who wants to interpret for the deaf and other consumers of interpreting services to understand the difference.

Sign language interpreters must simultaneously render a spoken message into the visual language of signs. They must also be able to comprehend signs of the deaf consumer and speak the message accurately in appropriate English. In order to do this task successfully, an interpreter must understand the cultures in which they work and apply that knowledge to promote effective cross-cultural communications. A sign language interpreter is a trained professional bound by a code of ethics, which includes strict confidentiality. The interpreter is there to facilitate communication only, and can neither add nor delete any information at any time. Continue Reading

SESA – FALL ’01 REFERENCE SHELF – SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETING

The Region X Interpreter Education Center (IEC) is a federally funded grant that provides continuing education activities to interpreters in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. The IEC co-sponsors workshops on the process of interpreting, interpreting skills development, transliterating skills development, working with Deaf-Blind consumers, history of interpreting, ethics and decision making, Deaf culture, classifiers, and many more. Workshops have also been offered specifically for interpreter educators and for Deaf interpreters.

SPOTLIGHT
The IEC produces the Spotlight newsletter two times a year and distributes it to over 2100 interpreters, interpreter educators, and other interested parties. The Spotlight includes information about upcoming workshops and conferences, as well as information that is pertinent to people in the region. Past issues of the Spotlight have included information about the state RID chapters, recent recipients of RID certification, the lending library, and special workshops and events. Continue Reading