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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons™

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Linguistics

University of North Florida

Journal

Articles 1 - 12 of 12

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Rendering Depiction: A Case Study Of An American Sign Language/English Interpreter, Mark Halley Nov 2020

Rendering Depiction: A Case Study Of An American Sign Language/English Interpreter, Mark Halley

Journal of Interpretation

In this study, the work of an American Sign Language/English interpreter was video-recorded and then analyzed to describe the interpreter’s rendering of American Sign Language depiction from American Sign Language into spoken English and from spoken English into American Sign Language. Results indicate that interpreters navigate the complex cognitive and linguistic task of rendering various types of American Sign Language depiction between both languages. The data also suggest that syntactic input may not be the only factor in an interpreter’s decision-making processes when rendering depiction; rather pragmatic considerations appear to be a major contributing factor. This study serves as a …

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Deaf Translators: What Are They Thinking?, Janis Cole Ms. Feb 2020

Deaf Translators: What Are They Thinking?, Janis Cole Ms.

Journal of Interpretation

The examination of work performed by Deaf translators in creating translations between written texts and signed languages is an emerging area of inquiry in Translation Studies. Deaf people have been performing ad hoc translations within their community for hundreds of years (Adam, Carty & Stone, 2011; Bartley & Stone, 2008). More recently, Deaf translators have begun to work as paid professionals, creating a new subfield of Translation Studies, one that, to date, is largely unexplored. Using qualitative data, this pilot study examines the thought processes of two Deaf individuals in the rendering of an academic text from written English into …

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University American Sign Language (Asl) Second Language Learners: Receptive And Expressive Asl Performance, Jennifer Beal Dr. Feb 2020

University American Sign Language (Asl) Second Language Learners: Receptive And Expressive Asl Performance, Jennifer Beal Dr.

Journal of Interpretation

American Sign Language (ASL) is used by estimates of up to 500,000 people (deaf and hearing) in the United States (Mitchell et al., 2006); however, the majority of users are typically hearing university students, frequently within university interpreting or deaf education preparation programs, who learn ASL as a second language (L2). It is unclear how these learners develop their skills as they progress through university training programs. The present study documents university learners’ receptive and expressive ASL skills, factors related to performance, and self-evaluation and strategy use at the end of their ASL IV course. Both assessments are readily available, …

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‘My Fellow Citizens’: Deaf Perspectives On Translating The Opening Line Of A Presidential Inaugural Address Into American Sign Language, Laurie Swabey, Brenda Nicodemus, Keith Cagle, Jimmy Beldon Aug 2016

‘My Fellow Citizens’: Deaf Perspectives On Translating The Opening Line Of A Presidential Inaugural Address Into American Sign Language, Laurie Swabey, Brenda Nicodemus, Keith Cagle, Jimmy Beldon

Journal of Interpretation

Translating from English into American Sign Language holds a number of challenges, particularly when the English source text is a formal, high profile, scripted speech. This study examined perspectives of Deaf bilinguals on translating President Obama’s 2009 inaugural address into American Sign Language. We conducted a microanalysis of translations of the opening line – ‘my fellow citizens’ – to investigate the product and processes employed by Deaf translators. Five Deaf ASL-English bilinguals who are ASL teachers or interpreters/translators were asked to translate the opening paragraph of the address and were interviewed about the processes they used to render their …

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Contextualized Recognition Of Fingerspelled Words, Campbell Mcdermid, Lynn Finton, Alexis Chasney Aug 2016

Contextualized Recognition Of Fingerspelled Words, Campbell Mcdermid, Lynn Finton, Alexis Chasney

Journal of Interpretation

Fingerspelling, an aspect of American Sign Language, is difficult for second language English-speaking adults to learn (Bahleda, 1998), yet mastery is required by professional ASL-English interpreters. This study compared novice and expert interpreters’ interpretation of fingerspelled words under the assumption that exposure to priming material in their L1, English, would enable the interpreters to recognize those terms when fingerspelled in their L2, ASL. In this study, participants (15 novices, 15 experts) were asked to interpret an ASL text with 25 “carefully” fingerspelled words embedded. Ten subjects were not given priming materials, ten a list of words in printed English that …

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Blurred Boundaries: Interpreters As Researchers In Cross-Cultural Settings, Jennifer S. Hensley Aug 2016

Blurred Boundaries: Interpreters As Researchers In Cross-Cultural Settings, Jennifer S. Hensley

Journal of Interpretation

This is a study of ambiguities and tensions that occur within the role of the bilingual/bicultural researcher in an ethnographic study. This manuscript presents an analysis of three instances from two interviews in a study on the acculturation of deaf students in deaf kindergarten classrooms in Japan and the US. This is an auto-ethnographic analysis of conflicts found in fluctuating between multiple roles: research assistant, interpreter, cultural mediator, and sociolinguistic consultant. In these examples my bicultural knowledge allowed me to identify “hidden” meanings overlooked by other members of the research team. However, my interpreter role at times made it awkward …

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Tracking The Development Of Critical Self-Reflective Practice Of A Novice Sign Language Interpreter: A Case Study, Kirri J. Dangerfield Ms, Jemina M. Napier Prof Aug 2016

Tracking The Development Of Critical Self-Reflective Practice Of A Novice Sign Language Interpreter: A Case Study, Kirri J. Dangerfield Ms, Jemina M. Napier Prof

Journal of Interpretation

The purpose of this case study was to track the progression of a novice interpreter’s use of self-reflective practice while interpreting a series of six University lecture segments, in a controlled environment over a period of three months. It became evident that the novice interpreter in this case study was able to articulate a variety of coping strategies used, and found improvements in her self-reflective practice skills. The results of this study support key suggestions in the literature: that interpreters need to be motivated to aim for expertise by improving their skills through self-reflective practices, via supported environments such as …

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Language Use At Rid Conferences: A Survey On Behaviors And Perceptions, Cassie Lang Feb 2015

Language Use At Rid Conferences: A Survey On Behaviors And Perceptions, Cassie Lang

Journal of Interpretation

This study examines the language and communication dynamics at national conferences of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID). RID conferences typically have thousands of attendees who vary in language background, type of linguistic experiences, and fluency. Data in this study were gathered through an online survey and, among other topics, included questions about behaviors, choices and perceptions of communication in structured and unstructured conference activities and language regulation at conferences. Findings indicate the majority of participants reported the perception that spoken English is used more prevalently than American Sign Language (ASL) at RID conferences. Further, 80% of respondents …

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Disfluent Pausing Effects On Listener Judgments Of An Asl-English Interpretation, Stephen Fitzmaurice, Kim A. Purdy Feb 2015

Disfluent Pausing Effects On Listener Judgments Of An Asl-English Interpretation, Stephen Fitzmaurice, Kim A. Purdy

Journal of Interpretation

Although not all spoken language pauses are purposeful or functional, there is general agreement on the function and appropriate length and placement of pauses in English. Failing to conform to this agreement constitutes a pausing disfluency. In an interpreted environment, pauses do not generally detract from the discourse event, nor do they negatively impact the participants’ perception of one another, as long as the interpreter maintains generally acceptable pausing parameters (Fors, 2011; Heldner & Edlund, 2010; Krivokapi, 2007). Listeners of any communication event invariably form opinions about the speaker’s personality and make judgments about their character and background, forming a …

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Evidence Of A "Hearing" Dialect Of Asl While Interpreting, Campbell Mcdermid Jul 2014

Evidence Of A "Hearing" Dialect Of Asl While Interpreting, Campbell Mcdermid

Journal of Interpretation

Little is know about the characteristics of fluent hearing signers and their ultimate attainment of ASL as a second language. To address this, a study was conducted with 12 ASL-English interpreters who were native English speakers to examine their use of ASL while interpreting. Each subject was asked to simultaneously interpret a short English narrative into ASL and a panel of three Deaf native signers assessed their fluency. Though the group included both novice and expert interpreters, the results revealed many similarities in their work. These included a reduction in pronouns between the English source and ASL target text, the …

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Phonological Parameters Of Indigenous And Asl Country Name-Signs, Carolyn J. Stephens May 2013

Phonological Parameters Of Indigenous And Asl Country Name-Signs, Carolyn J. Stephens

Journal of Interpretation

This investigation was guided by the following research questions: What are the American Sign Language (ASL) and indigenous signs for each country in the world? What phonological features do they exhibit? Are these features consistent with previous research on ASL? The research presented in this article is the result of a project that provides a comprehensive online compilation of country-name signs. A website was created to display both written descriptions and videos of the signs, and 180 countries with 314 total variations were identified, documented, recorded, coded and analyzed. A thorough literature review was conducted and an analysis of phonological …

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Participation Framework And Footing Shifts In An Interpreted Academic Meeting, Annie R. Marks May 2013

Participation Framework And Footing Shifts In An Interpreted Academic Meeting, Annie R. Marks

Journal of Interpretation

Students training to become sign language interpreters are often faced with the challenge of negotiating boundaries with the deaf and hearing consumers with whom they interact. Many interpreter-training programs have traditionally taught students that it is most appropriate to maintain “neutrality” in our interactions and in our interpretations. (Metzger, 1999). The objective of this study is to add to limited amount of research that examines footings in interpreted interaction. Metzger (1999) performed one of the only studies of participation framework and footings in American Sign Language-English interpreted encounters. This study is a replication of her initial work and aims to …

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