Sign Languages Commons^™

Dissertation Abstracts, Dawn Marie Wessling, Laurie Reinhardt, Folami Ford, Agustina Marianacci, Mónica Del Carmen Santana García

International Journal of Interpreter Education

In this section, we feature abstracts of recently completed doctoral or master’s theses. If you have recently completed a master’s or PhD thesis in the field of interpreter or translator education and would like it to be included, please send an abstract of 200–300 words to citjournaleditor@gmail.com. We urge all academic supervisors to encourage their students to submit abstracts of their completed dissertations for inclusion in the next issue of the journal to help disseminate new research and to support the next generation of academic researchers.

Looking Forward: Covid-19 And Its Impact On Working Interpreters, Kelsey Mckibbin

Graduate Theses, Action Research Projects, and Professional Projects

This research is focused on the global outbreak of COVID-19 that hit the United States in March of 2020, and how the pandemic affected sign language interpreters. Many interpreters were suddenly forced to work in a virtual environment (not sharing the same physical space as their clients), some for the first time. This thesis seeks to examine how interpreters adapted to this sudden change and identify best practices for working remotely moving forward. The findings of this study will indicate how interpreters perceived this change to remote work, and how prepared they were for the transition.

From Interpreting Student To Deaf Interpreter: A Case Study Of Vocational Identity Development, Margie English, Brenda Nicodemus, Danielle I. J. Hunt, Stephan Kennedy, Mckenna Mcgough

Journal of Interpretation

Research indicates that the development of a vocational identity is critical to the process of adult maturation and for creating a sense of purpose in one’s life. Deaf individuals in the United States are increasingly interested in establishing a vocation in signed language interpreting, despite workplace obstacles experienced by other oppressed and marginalized populations. Career identity has been examined in several professions, but little is known about the factors underlying the vocational identity development of Deaf interpreters. To address this gap, the researchers adopted a case study approach to explore the experiences of two Deaf students during their first semester …

Finding Their Fit: An Exploratory Study Of Interpreters’ Perceptions Of Their Membership In The Deaf Community, Cami J. Miner

Journal of Interpretation

In the U.S., Deaf individuals who use a signed language as their preferred and dominant means of communication are considered a distinct linguistic and cultural group known as the Deaf community. Sign language interpreters, particularly non-native signers who are leaning ASL, are frequently encouraged to associate with the Deaf community as part of their language acquisition process. However, interpreters who are not deaf or native signers, especially students, often experience tension as they interact with the Deaf community. The literature is divided on whether hearing interpreters who learn ASL later in life, even those who are arguably bilingual and bicultural, …

Gendered Translations: Working From Asl Into English, Campbell Mcdermid, Brianna Bricker, Andrea Shealy, Abigail Copen

Journal of Interpretation

American Sign Language (ASL) is a visual-spatial language that differs from spoken language, such as English. One way is in the use and characteristics of pronouns (Meier, 1990). Pronouns in ASL, for example, are created by pointing to objects or locations in space (written in English here as POINT), and do not have a gender assigned to them as they do in English (he, she, him, her). So, where it is not specified in ASL, interpreters must decide how to interpret pronouns into English. Limited research has been done on this topic (Quinto-Pozos et al., 2015), and so a study …

Shared Trauma: Implications For Signed Language Interpreters, Shelby Champlin

Graduate Theses, Action Research Projects, and Professional Projects

The concept and implications of shared trauma have been widely debated and discussed within the field of psychology, but these studies do not adequately attend to the experiences of signed language interpreters. This thesis addresses the potential outcomes and impacts of shared trauma on interpreters and consumers with special attention to assignment content that specifically relates to said trauma. Qualitative research was conducted through interviews with interpreters selected at random from participants in the initial survey. Interview data was categorized into pre-, during, and post-assignment information and several patterns were found. Within the pre-assignment interview data, interpreters discussed the decision …

Interpreters And Aphasia, Emily Mota

Graduate Theses, Action Research Projects, and Professional Projects

American Sign Language (ASL)-English interpreters facilitate language and mediate culture between hearing people who speak English and people who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH) and use ASL. Some navigate additional and unique challenges from the atypical language of D/HH people who live with an acquired communication disorder called Aphasia. These interpreters learn to partner with healthcare workers diagnosing and treating these people, and work to establish guidelines for their own scope of practice. This study explores this through the lens of Dean and Pollard’s (2013) demand control schema. Interviewing four interpreters uncovered realistic and immediately applicable tools for …

The Black Perspective: A Need For Representation And Inclusion In Asl/English Interpreter Training Programs, Jordyn Beal

Graduate Theses, Action Research Projects, and Professional Projects

American Sign Language/English interpreting is a profession growing in recognition in the United States and internationally. As its popularity increases, its diverse groups, specifically interpreters who identify as Black or African American, should follow. As a result, the diversity of its practitioners should imply that more interpreters of diverse backgrounds, under the influence of interpreter educators, are acquiring knowledge under keen leadership that positively impacts their acquisition of knowledge and their social and professional identity.

Interpreters acquire language, cultural information, and knowledge through varying degree levels of Interpreter Training Programs (ITPs) across the United States. However, this paper hypothesizes that …

Transition Shock: Do Words Impact My Work?, Stephanie L. Bessinger

Graduate Theses, Action Research Projects, and Professional Projects

In this action research, I looked at the interpersonal and intrapersonal aspects of the Demand Control Schema (DC-S) (Dean & Pollard, 2013) and how these aspects can play a role in my work as an interpreter, focusing on transition shock and colleague interactions. When interacting with coworkers, I have experienced comments that have scared me from taking the next steps in my career. These interactions can, at times, bring up unsettling feelings and in turn impact my work throughout the day. The goal of the research is to give a better understanding to myself about how we talk about our …

Exploring Tactile Art-Making With Deafblind Students And Their Families: An Opportunity For Creative Play, Alice Rodgers

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

The impact of a deafblind diagnosis on an individual’s mental health and the well-being of the family involved can be profound. However, current research and available literature for the mental health treatment and therapy practices of deafblind persons and their families is limited (Kyzar et al., 2016; “WFDB Global Report 2018,” n.d.). This thesis used the Leeds Family Psychology and Therapy Service principles (Leeds FPTS) and the Expressive Therapies Continuum with established deafblind teaching strategies to facilitate an original arts-based community project entitled: “Things We Like.” This project provided an opportunity for deafblind students (ages three to 22) and their …

Experiences Of Interpreters And Deaf Consumers In Mental Health Support Groups, Jordana Avital

Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies and Communication Equity Thesis or Action Research Project

There is currently a need for further research in the interpreting field for working in support group settings for mental health and addiction recovery. This gap in the research leaves many unanswered questions of how best to provide services to deaf consumers in these settings. By gathering information on the experiences of both interpreters and deaf consumers who have been in support groups, this research will identify issues that may need to be addressed in order to improve the interpretation process. This research will be the groundwork for future research to identify effective training and skill development that is needed …

An Exploration Of Perspectives: An Institutional Ethnography Of The Interpreting Policy At St. Catherine University, Josephine E. Heyl

Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies and Communication Equity Thesis or Action Research Project

Research of higher education has found that disabled faculty and students are often categorized by their disability, while other aspects of their identity are forgotten, misunderstood, and invalidated. When considering policy making in higher education, these individuals are infrequently invited to conversations of policy making and systemic decision making. With a feminist theoretical framework, this study examines the interpreting policy at St. Catherine University through the lens of stakeholder experience and perspective. Data was collected from participants through a survey and virtual interviews. Knowledge was found as an underlying connection between the five narrative themes: familiarity with interpreting policy, discrepancies …

Captions For Covid? Hearing Accessibility In Virtual "Zoom" Theatre, Gianna Schuetz

Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic shut the doors of theatres across the United States and the rest of the world. Live theatre came to a sudden halt as gatherings of people served as significant health risks. As live theatre performances became nearly obsolete, many theatre organizations were forced to creatively adapt to move their programming to a virtual format. Presenting theatre in a virtual format brings many challenges; however, it also brings opportunities for increased accessibility and access, particularly for individuals who are hard of hearing.

The following thesis explores hearing accessibility measures taken by theatre companies as they ventured into virtual …

Timing Comparisons Across American Sign Language And English, Jillian Bartlett

Thinking Matters Symposium

American Sign Language (ASL) and spoken English differ in modalities, but prosody can be found in both. Previous studies show that the Closure Positive Shift (CPS) (an established component of an Event-Related Potential [ERP]) occurs in response to acoustic stimuli indicative of prosodic phrasing (Pannekamp et al., 2005; Steinhauer et al., 1999). Prosodic processing in relation to these two modalities was studied using EEG. Sixteen Deaf ASL speakers and 34 hearing English speakers participated in the study by watching video or listening to audio recordings of stimuli while a portable electroencephalogram, or EEG (a device that detects abnormalities in brain …

Coda, John C. Lyden

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of CODA (2021), directed by Siân Heder.

Forward: Teanga, 11(Special Issue 11), Pp. Iii-Xiii, Irene Murtagh, Lorraine Leeson

Articles

Welcome to this special issue of TEANGA, which presents a selection of papers on the linguistics and applied linguistics of Irish Sign Language. This publication is timely, coming in the academic year that celebrates the nineteenth anniversary of the establishment of the Centre for Deaf Studies at Trinity College Dublin (est. 2001), and the year in which when Irish Sign Language Act (2017) is due to formally commence

Sign Language And Language Development: A Meta-Analysis, Yasmin Sanchez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study takes a look at baby signing and its effect on caregiver responsiveness, considering how vital caregiver responsiveness is when it comes to language development. A meta-analytic review that quantitatively combines data was conducted to estimate the effect size between baby signs and caregiver responsiveness. There were no restrictions on geography or culture in which studies were conducted. However, the time period of publication was limited from 2009 to 2020 in an attempt to examine the most recent research possible. The following search terms were used: baby signing, gestures, caregiver responsiveness, caregiver interactions, and caregiver. For a study to …

Exploring Accessibility And Social Inclusion For Children With Hearing Impairments In Residential Camps Through The Occupational Therapy Lens, Tiffany Coles

Student Capstone Projects

Children are encouraged to engage in various play, leisure, and social participation activities to enhance the development of life skills, independence, and social skills. A common leisure and social participation activity for children aged 6 to 18-years-old is to attend residential camp. Residential camps provide children a structured opportunity to engage in leisure activities while learning to become independent and self-confident when socializing and making new friends. Attending camp can be a fun and engaging environment to help accelerate growth in key developmental outcomes, such as positive identity, social skills, physical skills, positive values, and spirituality.

Within the residential camp …

Mindfulness And Interpreter Cognitive Load, Cindy Chambers

Graduate Theses, Action Research Projects, and Professional Projects

As a signed language interpreter, I must be able to connect with all parts of my brain during interpreting, but much energy is used trying to prevent negative self-talk and managing mental distractors, taking up vital brain space needed to focus on the incoming and outgoing messages. This project will research the effects of mindfulness on cognitive load as a signed language interpreter. I recorded the effectiveness of mindfulness for managing cognitive load by using surveys. The research tracked whether the situation was made more manageable if mindfulness practice was incorporated. Qualitative data was used to investigate my ability to …

American Sign Language Interpreting For D/Deaf Individuals With Disabilities: A Qualitative Study And Practical Guide, Emily Mason

Senior Honors Theses

American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting for d/Deaf individuals with disabilities (DWD) is a complex task, and one which lacks an adequate research-base to inform best practices. Using the foundation of existing literature on closely related topics such as the field of ASL interpreting, educational interpreting, education of DWD individuals, and research about specific disabilities occurring with d/Deafness, I compiled a literature review and created a theoretical conceptual framework concerning this topic. In further investigation of this subject, I also conducted a qualitative study through online questionnaires sent out by email to ASL interpreters located through snowball sampling. The data collected …