Sign Languages Commons^™

Editorial Intersecting Interpreting Modalities, Jemina M. Napier

International Journal of Interpreter Education

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

International Journal of Interpreter Education

No abstract provided.

Autopoiesis: Scaffolding The Reflective Practitioner Toward Employability, Sarah Bown

International Journal of Interpreter Education

Sign language interpreters confront a diversity of complex situations in their everyday work. To be able to consider and appropriately respond to such situations, interpreters need robust cognitive reflective frameworks to support them. Since 1993, the University of Wolverhampton’s BA (honors) Interpreting British Sign Language/English course has delivered undergraduate training to aspiring sign language interpreters. The end product has been high levels of “appropriate” graduate employability success, in part due to the strong correlation between what employers regard as essential and desirable in an employee, and the attributes demonstrated by the reflective practitioners created by the program. In this article, …

Teaching Globish? The Need For An Elf Pedagogy In Interpreter Training, Michaela Albi-Mikasa

International Journal of Interpreter Education

Research on the global spread of English as a lingua franca (ELF) has made headway since the 1990s. In this effort, language teaching and pedagogy have been one of the major areas of research, concentrating on how to make nonnative English learners more effective participants in ELF interactions without taking the native speaker as a benchmark. However, this research has not considered settings of mediated communication. Even in the field of interpreting studies, it is only recently that the implications of ELF on the interpreters’ activity and profession have become an object of research. Findings that the “ELF condition” adversely …

Should Interpreters Be Trained And Tested In Telephone And Video-Link Interpreting? Responses From Practitioners And Examiners, Jim Hlavac

International Journal of Interpreter Education

This article focuses on the use of telephone and video-link technology in interpreting, presenting data from current research as well as from surveys conducted with practicing interpreters and examiners. The surveys asked interpreters to report on their own experiences using such technologies and asked examiners for their impressions of the technologies’ suitability as components of training and testing for certification. Technological advances in the means of audio and audiovisual communication are now being trialed in interpreted interactions, but most research reveals that increased use of technology accompanies rather than forms a part of the interlingual transfer. Responses from two groups …

Vocabulary Games For The Beginner Interpreter Classroom, Fatima Cornwall

International Journal of Interpreter Education

According to the (American) National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators (NAJIT) and many experts in the field of court and legal interpretation, every court interpreter should strive for an ample and extensive vocabulary in his or her working languages. Although some more traditional vocabulary activities such as fill-in-the-blank exercises, crosswords, and word searches may aid prospective and practicing court interpreters reach this goal, there are some new approaches to language teaching that make this daunting task more entertaining and engaging. In this article, the author shares five vocabulary development games for any beginner spoken-language court interpretation classroom.

Streetleverage.Com: A Social Web For Interpreter Educators, Deb Russell

International Journal of Interpreter Education

This Open Forum article features an interview conducted with Brandon Arthur, curator of StreetLeverage.com. In this interview, he describes the creation of StreetLeverage.com and the ways in which it is impacting educators, students, and practitioners. He explores the ways in which social media is shaping our field and how educators can embrace this new form of publishing in order to provide students with rich, meaningful material to bridge theory and practice. Finally, the article expands on the role of live events that build on dialogue as a mechanism for mobilizing interpreters and bringing changes to the profession.

Classifier Constructions As Procedural Signs In American Sign Language, Stephen Perry Jones Ii

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I will be analyzing what has typically, in sign language literature, been termed classifiers and classifier constructions. I will be approaching them from the pragmatic perspective by applying Relevance Theory to explain their usage as representations that manipulate and modify their referents. The data comes from texts signed by native users of American Sign Language and are from academic lectures, interviews, narrative, and course curriculum. I have found that Relevance Theory adequately describes why and when classifiers constructions are used and that they function as a procedural referring expression.

Sensual Cultures: Exploring Sensory Orientation, Lauren Sonnenstrahl Benedict

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

We use our senses every day, consciously or unconsciously, based on our cultural needs and preferences. These sensory orientations shape and are shaped by what a given culture defines as acceptable. For this reason, different sensory orientations result in different strengths and areas of emphasis and de-emphasis. Becoming aware of different sensory orientations and their associated cultures allows us to realize what we are missing in our own sensory orientations that inform our cultural habits. Familiarity with various sensory orientations may cultivate greater cultural acceptance as well. To analyze and illustrate such differences, an educational app for iPads was created …

The Paradox Of Amnesia: Tondelli's Un Weekend Postmoderno, Stefano Giannini

Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics - All Scholarship

Tondelli opens his Un weekend postmoderno. Cronache dagli anni Ottanta declaring an intention opposite to the display of amnesia. In the long table of contents of his book, he writes down everything, in an excruciating streaming of details, so that the table of content becomes an exhaustive index of names and ideas. Yet, hidden within the hundreds of analytical snapshots, one of its many characters mentions the importance of dissimulation. Dissimulation, according to Tondelli, hides what is known, to protect the dissimulator and to mask the truth. Also, amnesia is a voluntary practice that can be enacted in order to …

Participatory Methods In Sociolinguistic Sign Language Survey: A Case Study In El Salvador, Julia Ciupek-Reed

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes a three-week sociolinguistic survey of El Salvador's Deaf community that was carried out in June and July 2009. The survey utilized various traditional tools that have been used in previous sign language surveys, as well as some new tools derived from participatory research methodology. Results from the various tools were analyzed to form conclusions about the language community and its goals for language development. El Salvador's Deaf community uses Salvadoran Sign Language (LESSA) most commonly, but various subgroups also use American Sign Language (ASL), and Costa Rican Sign Language (LESCO), as well as switching between language varieties …

Lexicalization And De-Lexicalization Processes In Sign Languages: Comparing Depicting Constructions And Viewpoint Gestures, Kearsy Cormier, David Quinto-Pozos, Zed Sehyr, Adam Schembri

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

In this paper, we compare so-called “classifier” constructions in signed languages (which we refer to as “depicting constructions”) with comparable iconic gestures produced by non-signers. We show clear correspondences between entity constructions and observer viewpoint gestures on the one hand, and handling constructions and character viewpoint gestures on the other. Such correspondences help account for both lexicalisation and de-lexicalisation processes in signed languages and how these processes are influenced by viewpoint. Understanding these processes is crucial when coding and annotating natural sign language data.

Signed Language Academic Papers, Risa Shaw, Mary Thumann

International Journal of Interpreter Education

Signed language academic papers are a new possibility that recent developments in technologies for recording, editing, presenting, and reviewing visual materials have made practical in an academic setting. This article presents guidelines the authors developed for papers specifically in American Sign Language (ASL)interpreting courses; however, signed language academic papers can be effectively used in signed language classes of all levels in any country.

The authors offer rationales for assigning signed language academic papers to bilingual students and suggest style and practical guidelines analogous to guidelines of the American Psychological Association (APA). Recommended guidelines address practical and academic considerations. The recommendations …

Editorial Community Interpreting Research: A Critical Discussionof Training And Assessment, Jemina M. Napier

International Journal of Interpreter Education

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

International Journal of Interpreter Education

No abstract provided.

Assessment And Evaluationin Labs For Public Service Interpreting Training, Carmen Valero Garcés, Denis Socarrás-Estrada

International Journal of Interpreter Education

This study reports on the development and application of two bilingual interpreting tests given to master’s students during three academic years (2009–2012) at the University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain. Its main objective is to compare trainees’ test performance at two different points in time. The study analyzes the degree of accuracy and the speed of response, considering the variables of mother tongue, gender, age, and undergraduate education. Our customized tests drew upon two aptitude tests developed by Pöchhacker (2009) and Russo (2009) and combine oral-aural exercises with tasks requiring listening skills, expressional fluency, and public-service-setting terminology. The tests are administered …

Community Interpreter Training In Spoken Languages In Sweden, Kristina Gustafsson, Eva Norström, Ingrid Fioretos

International Journal of Interpreter Education

The aim of this article is to analyze the community interpreter training program in Sweden and, based on the results of two research projects, describe structural conditions and shortcomings. The authors discuss Sweden’s laws and regulations, the changing demand for interpreting service in society, the open access ideology within adult education associations, and the limitation of economic resources for fulfilling the demand for trained interpreters. Interpreter training in Sweden is built on public-service needs in the areas of social insurance, the labor market, health care, and court interpreting. It is focused on factual knowledge and terminology and devotes little time …

A Study Of Interpreting Accreditation Testing Formatsin Australia, Sedat Mulayim

International Journal of Interpreter Education

Advanced and affordable video conferencing technology has led to an increase in remote interpreting services via video, which has become a significant alternative to telephone and face-to-face interpreting. In keeping with this development, training providers are now incorporating video conference interpreting in their training. Video and audio resources are also increasingly being used as e-learning resources in online learning tools such as Blackboard and other university student learning portals. This has implications for the testing of interpreting skills, and the RMIT University Translating and Interpreting Program in Melbourne, Australia has started phasing in video assessment in examination and accreditation tests. …

A Case For Training Signed Language Interpreters For Legal Specialization, Len Roberson, Debra Russell, Risa Shaw

International Journal of Interpreter Education

Interpreting in legal settings has become a specialized area of practice that requires specific training and ongoing professional development. This study examined the training and professional development needs of ASL–English interpreters in North America. The 1,995 participants in an online survey included interpreters who provide services in legal settings and those who do not. The data suggest that interpreters desire certificate programs that are delivered in multiple formats, including face-to-face intensive experiences, online distance learning, and regional and local mentoring experiences. The training content areas participants wanted most include specialized interactions; legal discourse across a range of settings including police, …

Book Review: Strategies For Interpreter Education And Practice In The Health Care Setting, Debra Russell

International Journal of Interpreter Education

No abstract provided.