1) When preparing with Deaf and hearing people before an assignment, what should the interpreter do? Give examples.
2) You are about to interpret a presentation to an audience? If you only have one question you can ask the presenter, what should it be?
What do you want to achieve with your presentation ? (What do you want the audience to leave with?) I.e. the communication objective.
3) What are the five equivalencies as an interpreter you can try to achieve?
4) Equivalencies help interpreters to focus on what is most important when interpreting. For the following three assignments say what your equivalency priorities are, and briefly explain why.
Doctor appointment with a Deaf person:
Because the health outcomes are key, information (e.g. previous history, medication) is crucial, prosody helps the doctor assess the patient, and patient trust (or otherwise) the doctor. (Other answers can be justified)
Mental health assessment of a Deaf person:
Because the intended outcomes are key, then prosody and language structure help the mental health professional assess the mental state & any language disorder. Prosody also helps build rapport. (Other answers can be justified)
GADHOH meeting:
(Allegedly) this meets the needs of participants who use and understand English, and so want information and every detail of the SL. (Other answers can be justified)
5) Interpreting is a loss process (i.e. every time you interpret some information is lost)? Do you agree with this or not? Explain your answer. What are the implications of the for the interpreter?
Yes, because of the 5 equivalencies there is almost always more in the source language than can be simultaneously interpreted. So the interpreter must strategically prioritise what they choose and leave out.
6) When interpreting training / education interpreters have to be conscious of something the trainer / teacher is doing. What is this, and why does it matter?
The way the teacher is teaching people to learn. The different strategies teachers use to scaffold learning. E.g. asking questions, getting students to look things up, getting students to discuss with each other, etc.
7) What are collective nouns? Why can collective nouns be a challenge for interpreters? Give three examples of a collective noun in English, and how you may interpret it in GSL. Use GLOSS (i.e. write signs in capitals)
Nouns that describe groups of things. They can be a challenge because different languages have different collective nouns, and apparently similar words / signs (e.g. drugs / DRUG) can mean different things. This is called a false friend!)
Examples include:
Weapon - KNIFE, GUN, STICK, KNUCKLE-DUSTER, etc.
Hit - PUNCH, SLAP, PUSH, etc
Drugs (recreational) - WEED, COCAINE, INJECT, PILLS, etc.
Medicine - PILLS, LIQUID MEDICINE, CREAM, NOSE-SPRAY, INJECTION
The interpreter can list them all, if important, e.g. with medicines, or list 3 then anchor buoy.
8) What are meta-comments? Why and how should interpreters use them? Give three examples of ones you would use.
Meta-comments are comments the interpreter makes to help participants (Deaf & hearing) understand what is happening with the interpreting process, and to help them stay confident in the interpreter.
They should be short comments that the interpreter has practiced, so that the interpreter can say them when they need to without thinking about them / taking their attention away from the source language / adding to their cognitive load.
E.g. (English) they’ll be an interpretation in a minute, the interpreter misunderstood that and will now clarify.
___________hn
(GSL) KEEP-SIGNING
9) What is a deceptive interpretation? Why is it the most dangerous type of problem when interpreting?
When the interpretation appears to have been ok, but in fact has substantial important inaccuracies and/or omissions. This is because the participants don’t know of this problem, and so both think what they have said / signed has been correctly understood, when it hasn’t.
10) GSL is a visual language. What does this mean? How will you develop your visual GSL skills?
Do exercises to develop my:
Including practicing visualising / seeing things, events, concepts, announcements etc. And the exercises we did; animals, just face emotions / sport, 100 ways to sign I love you, handshape games, etc.
Practice signing with NO English, not lip pattern or sign order or sign choice!
Read & learn visual GSL and GSL linguistics handouts, and apply them watching GSL videos.
- Check the information you have is correct.
- Find out more about the assignment & relevant information.
- Check whether people have used interpreters before, and if not, explain as necessary.
- Check communication objectives (where appropriate).
- Assess preferred language style.
- Check seating / lighting etc.
2) You are about to interpret a presentation to an audience? If you only have one question you can ask the presenter, what should it be?
What do you want to achieve with your presentation ? (What do you want the audience to leave with?) I.e. the communication objective.
3) What are the five equivalencies as an interpreter you can try to achieve?
- Communication objective / goal.
- Information meaning.
- Cultural relevance.
- Prosody.
- Surface structure.
4) Equivalencies help interpreters to focus on what is most important when interpreting. For the following three assignments say what your equivalency priorities are, and briefly explain why.
Doctor appointment with a Deaf person:
- Communication objective / goal.
- Information meaning.
- Prosody.
Because the health outcomes are key, information (e.g. previous history, medication) is crucial, prosody helps the doctor assess the patient, and patient trust (or otherwise) the doctor. (Other answers can be justified)
Mental health assessment of a Deaf person:
- Communication objective / goal.
- Prosody.
- Surface structure.
Because the intended outcomes are key, then prosody and language structure help the mental health professional assess the mental state & any language disorder. Prosody also helps build rapport. (Other answers can be justified)
GADHOH meeting:
- Information meaning.
- Surface structure
- (Possibly - Communication objective / goal. as well)
(Allegedly) this meets the needs of participants who use and understand English, and so want information and every detail of the SL. (Other answers can be justified)
5) Interpreting is a loss process (i.e. every time you interpret some information is lost)? Do you agree with this or not? Explain your answer. What are the implications of the for the interpreter?
Yes, because of the 5 equivalencies there is almost always more in the source language than can be simultaneously interpreted. So the interpreter must strategically prioritise what they choose and leave out.
6) When interpreting training / education interpreters have to be conscious of something the trainer / teacher is doing. What is this, and why does it matter?
The way the teacher is teaching people to learn. The different strategies teachers use to scaffold learning. E.g. asking questions, getting students to look things up, getting students to discuss with each other, etc.
7) What are collective nouns? Why can collective nouns be a challenge for interpreters? Give three examples of a collective noun in English, and how you may interpret it in GSL. Use GLOSS (i.e. write signs in capitals)
Nouns that describe groups of things. They can be a challenge because different languages have different collective nouns, and apparently similar words / signs (e.g. drugs / DRUG) can mean different things. This is called a false friend!)
Examples include:
Weapon - KNIFE, GUN, STICK, KNUCKLE-DUSTER, etc.
Hit - PUNCH, SLAP, PUSH, etc
Drugs (recreational) - WEED, COCAINE, INJECT, PILLS, etc.
Medicine - PILLS, LIQUID MEDICINE, CREAM, NOSE-SPRAY, INJECTION
The interpreter can list them all, if important, e.g. with medicines, or list 3 then anchor buoy.
8) What are meta-comments? Why and how should interpreters use them? Give three examples of ones you would use.
Meta-comments are comments the interpreter makes to help participants (Deaf & hearing) understand what is happening with the interpreting process, and to help them stay confident in the interpreter.
They should be short comments that the interpreter has practiced, so that the interpreter can say them when they need to without thinking about them / taking their attention away from the source language / adding to their cognitive load.
E.g. (English) they’ll be an interpretation in a minute, the interpreter misunderstood that and will now clarify.
___________hn
(GSL) KEEP-SIGNING
9) What is a deceptive interpretation? Why is it the most dangerous type of problem when interpreting?
When the interpretation appears to have been ok, but in fact has substantial important inaccuracies and/or omissions. This is because the participants don’t know of this problem, and so both think what they have said / signed has been correctly understood, when it hasn’t.
10) GSL is a visual language. What does this mean? How will you develop your visual GSL skills?
- Because what something looks like, in reality or conceptually, really matters to how you sign it.
- You must be able to ‘see’ the concept to know how to sign it.
- That it includes lots of referents to how the world looks and feels.
- That it has a productive lexicon / morphology - i.e. signs can be modified using grammatical rules to mean many different things, which make sense often because of the visual referents / context.
- A lot of the grammar is visually motivated, e.g. directional verbs, classifiers, conceptual and topographical space.
- That the language draws on visual metaphor a lot, e.g. conceptual space & status.
Do exercises to develop my:
- Visual imagination.
- Visual creativity.
- Visual memory.
- Visual coherence.
- Visual receptive skills.
Including practicing visualising / seeing things, events, concepts, announcements etc. And the exercises we did; animals, just face emotions / sport, 100 ways to sign I love you, handshape games, etc.
Practice signing with NO English, not lip pattern or sign order or sign choice!
Read & learn visual GSL and GSL linguistics handouts, and apply them watching GSL videos.
Categories of interpretation analysis (developed by Dennise Cokely, not sure which source).
Dysfunctional interpretation
The interpretation makes no sense in the context, and the interpreted rendition contains so many miscues that the probability of the client understanding the target language message; or the possibility of recovery of the original source language message is unlikely.
Intrusive/ deferred interpretation
Interpretation performance deviates from expected target language norms and adheres to source language norms, where the form (and only the form) of the source language is conveyed. Accurate participant comprehension of, or ultimate recovery of, original source language message intent requires and depends upon the participant’s knowledge and understanding of the source language.
Deceptive interpretation
Interpretation performance conveys a plausible, and apparently accurate, message in the target language that makes sense in the context. However, the interpretation conveys a semantic message or intent other than that of the original source language.
Successful interpretation
Interpretation performance adheres to expected target language norms and accurately conveys the meaning and intent of the original source language message.
- Dysfunctional
- Deceptive
- Intrusive
- Successful
Dysfunctional interpretation
The interpretation makes no sense in the context, and the interpreted rendition contains so many miscues that the probability of the client understanding the target language message; or the possibility of recovery of the original source language message is unlikely.
Intrusive/ deferred interpretation
Interpretation performance deviates from expected target language norms and adheres to source language norms, where the form (and only the form) of the source language is conveyed. Accurate participant comprehension of, or ultimate recovery of, original source language message intent requires and depends upon the participant’s knowledge and understanding of the source language.
Deceptive interpretation
Interpretation performance conveys a plausible, and apparently accurate, message in the target language that makes sense in the context. However, the interpretation conveys a semantic message or intent other than that of the original source language.
Successful interpretation
Interpretation performance adheres to expected target language norms and accurately conveys the meaning and intent of the original source language message.
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