Signed Language Interpreting

Signed language interpreting continues to evolve as a field of research

Auteur

Lorraine Leeson, Svenja Wurm, Myriam Vermeerbergen

Texte du rabat

Signed language interpreting continues to evolve as a field of research

Résumé
Signed language interpreting continues to evolve as a field of research. Stages of professionalization, opportunities for education and the availability of research vary tremendously among different parts of the world. Overall there is continuing hunger for empirically founded, theoretically sound accounts of signed language interpreting to inform practice, pedagogy and the development of the profession.This volume provides new insights into current aspects of preparation, practice and performance of signed language interpreting, drawing together contributions from three continents. Contributors single out specific aspects of relevance to the signed language interpreting profession. These include preparation of interpreters through training, crucial for the development of the profession, with emphasis on sound educational programmes that cover the needs of service users and the wide-ranging skills expected from practitioners. Resources, such as terminology databases, are vital tools for interpreters to prepare successfully for events. Practice oriented, empirical investigations of strategies of interpreters are paramount not only to increase theoretical understanding of interpreter performance, but to provide reference points for practitioners and students. Alongside tackling linguistic and pragmatic challenges, interpreters also face the challenge of dealing with broader issues, such as handling occupational stress, an aspect which has so far received little attention in the field. At the same time, fine-grained assessment mechanisms ensure the sustainability of quality of performance. These and other issues are covered by the eighteen contributors to this volume, ensuring that the collection will be essential reading for academics, students and practitioners.

Contenu

Preface

Graham Turner

Hey Presto! Preparation, Practice and Performance in the World of Signed Language Interpreting and Translating

Lorraine Leeson, Svenja Wurm and Myriam Vermeerbergen

This paper introduces the volume by reflecting on the current state of research and training in the field of signed language interpreting and translating. While the discipline has been successful in maintaining a relevant relationship with the practice and profession, noticeable, for example, in the growing number of practisearchers and a traditional focus on vocationally-oriented training, there is still a need for producing rigorous empirical and theory driven research more consistently. Outlining the importance of adequate, research-informed training of interpreters, the authors argue that research should produce outcomes that (1) feed directly into teaching by describing the skills and strategies that interpreters need to develop, (2) provide technical tools to be used by interpreters or trainees, and/or (3) expand our understanding of interpreting practices, the role of the interpreter and the interpreting context. Setting the scene for the subsequent papers of the volume, this introductory chapter thus argues for a sustainable research basis that will eventually close the research-training-practice cycle.

Becoming the Ears, Eyes, Voice and Hands of Someone Else: Educating Generalist Interpreters in a Three-year Programme

Sonja Erlenkamp, Guri Amundsen, Sigrid S. Berge, Trine Grande, Odd Morten Mjøen, and Eli Raanes

This paper provides a brief introduction to various aspects of the educational model used in the interpreter education programme in Trondheim, Norway. The choice and development of the model is based on the need to integrate several different forms of communication used by three groups - deaf, deafened, and deafblind people - in a three-year bachelor programme. In answer to this challenge, the educational team chose to combine and further develop a socio-cultural model of language and communication with cognitive linguistic theories. The advantage of this model is that the basic understanding of communication and the analytic strategies used in the model are independent of the particular communication form and can thus be used as tools for the interpreter student's training for all of the communication forms they need to acquire. Furthermore, the approach to each communication form needs to be consistent with the programme's perspective on the interpreter's role and function in the profession. Thus the programme has been designed as a holistic approach, where the various aspects of interpreting between different communication forms are understood through the same socio-cultural communication model. In this paper, the key concepts of this educational model will be presented and the advantages and challenges will be discussed.

The Prolibras Test as an Assessment of Brazilian Sign Language Interpreters Proficiency: A Critique

Maria Cristina Pires Pereira and Cátia de Azevedo Fronza

This paper focuses on the issue of testing language or translating and interpreting proficiency among Brazilian Sign Language interpreters, and specifically on the recently introduced Prolibras test, which is a standardized tool of assessment. The main purpose is to explore whether a single test of translation and interpreting proficiency is valid for both Brazilian Sign Language interpreters and teachers of Brazilian Sign Language (Libras). The authors also ask whether there is consistency (both theoretical and in practical terms) between the proficiencies assessed and their effective application. A number of features of Prolibras are analyzed and compared to the Sign Language Proficiency Interview, SLPI, (Caccamise and Newell 2007, 2011) applied in the United States, a typical language proficiency assessment. The results provide evidence that the Prolibras professional certification process demonstrates some features of a language test, but for several reasons (which are outlined in the article) it should not be considered a valid assessment of interpreting proficiency.

Types of Errors in the Learning of Spanish Sign Language as a Second Language: The Effect of Age and Experience

Isabel R. Rodriguez Ortiz

Previous studies have shown that people who learn a signed language earlier in life make fewer errors when trying to understand a signed message than people who are exposed to a signed language later. Typically, native signer errors are most frequently semantic in nature, while late signer errors tend to be phonological in nature. Semantic errors positively correlate with recall of a signed message, while phonological errors have a negative correlation. With a sample of 35 hearing persons who have a good command of Spanish Sign Language, this study sets out to explore whether hearing late signers behave similarly to deafened adults who learn a signed language as an L2 with respect to the type of errors they make during comprehension tasks. The paper also examines whether comprehension correlates with specific errors for hearing late learners of a signed language and if length of time using a signed language has any effect.

Being There: Role Shift in English to Auslan Interpreting

Della Goswell

This paper investigates the use of 'role shift' by interpreters working from spoken English into Australian Sign Language (Auslan). Role shift is a high-order linguistic skill which students typically find difficult to master. The study looks at possible source text (ST) motivations for its use by four skilled signed language interpreters in an English to Auslan interpreting task, with a view to later pedagogical application. Auslan target texts (TT) rendered by the interpreters were mapped against the English ST using ELAN annotation software. Salient features of the role shift generated by the par…