Sign Languages Commons^™

From Gestuno Interpreting To International Sign Interpreting: Improved Accessibility?, Anna-Lena Nilsson

Journal of Interpretation

In order to shape the future of our profession, I believe it is necessary for us to also take a critical look at both past and present practices. With that goal in mind, this commentary presents a case study of the sign language interpreting services provided at the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) Congresses held between 1983 and 2019.

During the 1980s and 1990s we witnessed both the professionalization of signed language interpreting at international conferences, and improved accessibility for official delegates of various National Associations of the Deaf (NADs) as well as for other participants. Increasing numbers of …

Cross-Linguistic Metaphor Priming In Asl-English Bilinguals: Effects Of The Double Mapping Constraint, Franziska Schaller, Brittany Lee, Zed Sevcikova Sehyr, Lucinda O'Grady Farnady, Karen Emmorey

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

Meir’s (2010) Double Mapping Constraint (DMC) states the use of iconic signs in metaphors is restricted to signs that preserve the structural correspondence between the articulators and the concrete source domain and between the concrete and metaphorical domains. We investigated ASL signers’ comprehension of English metaphors whose translations complied with the DMC (Communication collapsed during the meeting) or violated the DMC (The acid ate the metal). Metaphors were preceded by the ASL translation of the English verb, an unrelated sign, or a still video. Participants made sensibility judgments. Response times (RTs) were faster for DMC-Compliant sentences …

Forced Transitions: Learning Asl In A Virtual Environment, Kara Gournaris

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Engagement with native language models is essential for second language acquisition. Social distancing mandates made this interaction nearly impossible for students learning American Sign Language (ASL), at a small rural university in western Oregon. COVID-19 brought with it many challenges, not the least of which was a hurried transition from face-to-face to online learning. The author found that some courses degraded in content and instruction when shifting to an online platform. Without access to community events where native language models were present, ASL students had less opportunities for incidental learning, legitimate peripheral participation, and connection within Deaf communities of practice.

A Lexical Frequency Analysis Of Irish Sign Language, Robert G. Smith, Markus Hofmann

Articles

Word frequency has a significant impact on language acquisition and fluency. It is often a point of reference for the teaching and assessing of a language and indeed, as a control for psycholinguistic studies. This paper presents the results of the first objective frequency analysis of lexical tokens from the Signs of Ireland corpus. We investigate the frequency of fully lexical, partly lexical and non-lexical signs in Irish Sign Language as they are presented in the corpus. We confirm the accuracy of the lexical gloss frequency data with a supplementary corpus subset that is tagged for grammatical class and additional …

A Qualitative Study Of American Sign Language Interpreting For Deaf Individuals With Disabilities, Emily A. Mason

Montview Journal of Research & Scholarship

There are complexities involved in American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting for the unique population of Deaf individuals with disabilities (DWD), particularly in educational settings, that must be considered. Based on the foundation of existing literature regarding the field of ASL interpreting, educational interpreting, and strategies of working with DWD individuals, the researcher created a theoretical conceptual framework that combined the frameworks of ASL Interpreting and Special Education. The current primary research is aimed at addressing another portion of the gap, that is, research regarding practical experiences in working with this population. This study was conducted through questionnaires sent out through …

Sasl Journal, Volume 3, Number 1

Society for American Sign Language Journal

No abstract provided.

An Acoustic Study Of The Monophthongs Of Ulu Terengganu Malay Dialect, Nuwawi Siti Nadiah

Student Works (2020-2029)

Amongst sub-dialects spoken in the region of Terengganu, the dialect of Ulu Terengganu Malay is the most incomprehensible variety that varies greatly in the aspects of pronunciation and lexical as compared to the standard Terengganu dialect. However, the uniqueness of the language is insufficiently addressed by academic scholars, especially acoustic features of the dialect. Through an acoustic analysis method, this research attempted to investigate the quality of monophthongs produced by the Ulu Terengganu Malay speakers. The data was collected from a group of male and female Ulu Terengganu Malay speakers. A word list and pictures were used as instruments in …

Our Work As Interpreters In These Unprecedented Times, Ineke Crezee, George Major

International Journal of Interpreter Education

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

International Journal of Interpreter Education

No abstract provided.

Going Through The Motions: Participation In Interpreter-Mediated Meeting Interaction Under A Deaf And A Hearing Chairperson, Rosie Henley, Rachel Mckee

International Journal of Interpreter Education

In multiparty meetings involving deaf and hearing participants, sign language interpreters are tasked to render talk ‘accessible’ to all by mediating differences across languages, modalities, interactional norms, and cultural statuses (Roy, 1989, 1993; Mindess, 1999; Van Herreweghe, 2002). Although this context of work is relatively common for interpreters, their practices and the interactional outcomes for participants are under-researched. This case study compares chairing and meeting practices under a deaf chairperson and a hearing chairperson, respectively. The impact of chairing on interpretability and deaf participation are discussed. An interactional sociolinguistics framework informs analysis of meeting data and retrospective participant interviews. Analysis …

Toward Standard Interpreter Education Program Admission Criteria, Marc Holmes

International Journal of Interpreter Education

In the United States,signed language interpreter education programs (IEPs) must strike a balance between attracting a sufficient number of students and admitting only high-quality applicants who possess foundational language skills,can graduate in a timely manner and acquire professional credentials expediently. The Commission on Collegiate Interpreter Education (2014) asserts that all students entering U.S. IEPs should have strong language skills in both American Sign Language(ASL)and English before beginning to acquire interpreting skills. One way to measure a student’s readiness to enter a program of instruction is through the use of admission criteria. I examined online documents and surveyed52 baccalaureate-granting IEPs in …

An Achilles’ Heel? Helping Interpreting Students Gain Greater Awareness Of Literal And Idiomatic English, Ineke Crezee, Lynn E. Grant

International Journal of Interpreter Education

This research paper reports on a study involving the use of literal and non-literal or idiomatic language in a multilingual interpreter classroom. Previous research has shown that interpreters are not always able to identify and correctly interpret idiomatic language. This study first examined student interpreters’ perceptions of the importance of idiomatic language, then followed by assessing their ability to identify phrases that were literal, idiomatic or both. Lastly it looked at student interpreters’ ability to correctly identify and explain idioms in short phrases and dialogues. Findings showed that, after this exercise, students' awareness of the difference between literal and non-literal …

Spoken Language Interpreters Andsigned Language Interpreters: Towards Cross-Fertilization, Daniel Gile, Jemina M. Napier

International Journal of Interpreter Education

This commentary aims to give an overview of developments in the related fields of spoken and signed language interpreting, with consideration given to professionalization, standards, education and training, and research. We base our discussion on our observations of the changing nature of the sister professions over the years, as the two related fields become more closely aligned. We propose that spoken and signed language interpreters can work more closely together to promote more cross-fertilization in interpreting studies.

Making It Work: Applying Aiic Professional Standards To Conference Signedlanguage Interpreters, Maya De Wit

International Journal of Interpreter Education

Conference interpreters, signed and spoken, work in a wide range of high-level settings, from international summits with (non)governmental bodies to politically-oriented networking events. Considering that such settings require advanced expertise of the interpreters, it is surprising that there is still a lack of awareness among clients and interpreters of the fundamental professional standards of conference signed language interpreters. This article discusses the need to educate and raise awareness among signed language interpreters and their clients regarding the rights to demand, respectively, good working conditions and linguistic access.

Book Review: The Next Generation Of Research In Interpreter Education: Pursuing Evidence-Based Practice, Francesca Maria Frittella

International Journal of Interpreter Education

No abstract provided.

Dissertation Abstracts, Robert Andrew Skinner, Thu Thi Quy Do, Kierstin Muroski

International Journal of Interpreter Education

No abstract provided.

Vision And Sensor-Based Signer-Independent Framework For Arabic Sign Language Recognition, Al-Shamayleh Ahmad Sami Abd Alkareem

Student Works (2020-2029)

Hearing and speech-impairment disability is widespread throughout the world. At present, 15 million people have this disability in the Arab world, and about 86% of them come from low- and middle-income countries. Meanwhile, sign language (SL) can be classified into standard Arabic sign language (ArSL) and local Arabic sign language (LArSL). ArSL is the formal standard and is the more acceptable SL in the Arab world; it is also considered as the medium of instructions for schools and universities as well as television news, shows and programmes. With the absence of usable ArSL recognition (ArSLR) platforms, hearing- and speech-impaired people …

The Filipino Sign Language Act In The Philippines: Policy Analysis, Angela Rogers

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

Passed in 2018, the Filipino Sign Language Act provides full access for Deaf Filipinos in the Philippines and fully recognizes the Filipino Sign Language as a national sign language for the Deaf. This benefits analysis identifies objectives concerning all areas of public life--such as medicine, education, civic and government affairs, employment, television news access, and other media access--and compares this broad law to the narrowly focused preceding policy, Republic Act no. 10905. The law contains an implementation timeline and requires reporting; yet, evidence shows some implementations but no reporting. To explore these findings, interviews were conducted with two Filipinos at …

Vaccine Literacy Among Deaf Adult American Sign Language Users Of Hearing Parents, Casey Lee Peck

Undergraduate University Honors Capstones

Background: Communication barriers, the lack of proficiency in English, and poor communication with medical providers affect some Deaf people negatively in terms of health literacy. One contemporary controversial health literacy issue affecting Deaf people concerns vaccines. According to the literature, parents with higher health literacy are less likely to vaccinate their children as opposed to those parents with low health literacy (Veldwijk, van der Heide, Rademakers, Schuit, de Wit, Uiters & Lambooij 2015). Studies have shown that the majority of the deaf population have relatively low health literacy; however, vaccine literacy in the deaf population has not been investigated. Research …

I Saw The Signs: The Role Of American Sign Language In Preventing Violence Against Deaf Youth, Tolu Ojuola

Senior Honors Theses

The American Deaf community, comprised of approximately 500,000 people, has developed into a sociolinguistic, cultural community with American Sign Language (ASL) at its center. ASL is the autonomous language of Deaf individuals in America complete with its own grammar, orthography, syntax, and morphology. ASL is capable of conveying complex emotions and abstract ideas. However, most deaf children remain unable to express their innermost feelings because they live in homes with hearing parents who do not speak their language. For many deaf children, this is their first experience with isolation, but it is one they will grow familiar with as they …