The Routledge Handbook of Sign Language Translation and Interpreting

Christopher Stone, Robert Adam, Ronice Müller de Quadros, Christian Rathmann, Christopher Stone, Robert Adam, Ronice Müller de Quadros, Christian Rathmann

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN:
  9780367895273
• eBook ISBN:
  9781000598339
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Linguistics
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

This Handbook provides the first comprehensive overview of sign language translation and interpretation from around the globe and looks ahead to future directions of research.

Divided into eight parts, the book covers foundational skills, the working context of both the sign language translator and interpreter, their education, the sociological context, work settings, diverse service users, and a regional review of developments. The chapters are authored by a range of contributors, both deaf and hearing, from the Global North and South, diverse in ethnicity, language background, and academic discipline. Topics include the history of the profession, the provision of translation and interpreting in different domains and to different populations, the politics of provision, and the state of play of sign language translation and interpreting professions across the globe.

Edited and authored by established and new voices in the field, this is the essential guide for advanced students and researchers of translation and interpretation studies and sign language.

Part 1Cognitive processes and theoretical foundations

1Multimodal-multilingual interpretingSigned–spoken interactions

Rafael Treviño, Ricardo Ortiz and David Quinto-Pozos

DOI: 10.4324/9781003019664-3

Introduction

Interpreters often use information from multiple modalities when they work.¹ Spoken language interpreters sometimes scan written text for the organisational structure of the message and terminology choices during their work, among other things. Signed–spoken language interpreters do the same, but they also find themselves navigating signed and spoken language modalities. In some cases, interpreters’ work requires them to attend to two languages in one modality and a third in a different modality. In addition to navigating languages, interpreters use environmental cues and cultural knowledge, which can support, or possibly hinder, the interpretation process. These are but a few of the various ways that multimodal-multilingual interpreters work.

The following anecdote might help to envision interpreting of this nature. An interpreter is requested for a community meeting in southern California, near the US–Mexico border. The interpreter is fluent in American Sign Language (ASL), English and Spanish. The interpreter has also learned some Mexican Sign Language (LSM, lengua de señas mexicana), which many signers along the border use. The meeting is intended to inform the community about social services available to them. During the meeting, the presenter speaks primarily in Spanish, but she also shifts to English, especially when she feels that she does not know a Spanish term for a concept. In addition, the presenter uses visual aids for her presentation, which includes text, graphs, and tables in English, and pamphlets that she shares with the attendees. The trilingual (ASL–English–Spanish) interpreter works mainly from spoken Spanish as the source language into signed ASL as the target language, but spoken and written English comprise part of the linguistic environment. The deaf ASL signer asks the interpreter to translate a key passage from the pamphlet, and the interpreter engages in a short segment of sight translation from English to ASL.

While this multimodal-multilingual example is hypothetical, it easily represents a typical interpreting assignment for some interpreters. There is a growing need in the United States for interpreters with this variety of multilingual skills (Quinto-Pozos et al., 2010). The envisioned scenario could easily have included LSM, which would not have been uncommon in this part of the United States (Ramsey & Peña, 2010).

In the context of sign language interpreting, we use the term ‘multimodal-multilingual’ to refer to at least two modalities (e.g. signed, spoken, written, tactile) and at least three languages. Most multimodal-multilingual studies, albeit still few in number, have primarily investigated the use of one signed language and two spoken languages (Wit, 2010), and most are concerned with interpretation, not translation. In this chapter we have a similar focus, although we also highlight written-language examples that comprise a portion of the interpretation experience of multimodal-multilingual interpreters.

This chapter outlines the research and writings concerning two primary aspects of multimodal-multilingual interpreting: the linguistic and cultural competencies of the interpreters and a discussion of interactive profiles that characterize the work. We concentrate on the characteristics of multimodal-multilingual interpreting that differentiate it from bimodal–bilingual interpreting (i.e. one spoken language and one signed language) and unimodal–multilingual interpreting (i.e. three or more spoken languages). Much of the discussion is based on research conducted in the context of ASL, English, and Spanish; wherever possible, however, we refer to other language combinations that have been researched and documented in the literature.

Overview

Multimodal-multilingual interpreters

This first section focusses on the interpreters who do multimodal-multilingual work. One fundamental question about the interpreters concerns their command of the various languages within their repertoire. Specifically, how do varying competencies across their languages influence the work that they do? The question is not simply about fluency, but also how and where their fluency was acquired and the cultural influences on their language use. Additionally, there are questions about whether a multimodal-multilingual interpreter’s languages can help to facilitate their work, or whether knowledge of multiple languages and diverse experiences of language acquisition might hinder language processing and interpreting.

In a focus group study designed to identify the skills and competencies that differentiate trilingual (ASL–English–Spanish) interpreters from bilingual (ASL–English) interpreters, Casanova de Canales and Treviño (2014a) identified several issues related to language proficiency in each of the interpreters’ languages. Regarding proficiency in ASL, hearing trilingual interpreters in the United States are like their bilingual peers: some have deaf parents or family members, some learn ASL in the community and most learn ASL in academic programs. Regarding their spoken languages, however, trilingual interpreters’ linguistic profile is more complex. The difference is not simply that trilingual interpreters have two spoken languages while bimodal–bilingual interpreters have one. In other words, the experiences of ASL–English interpreters in acquiring English are not the same as for trilingual interpreters in acquiring their languages. Grosjean (1989), for instance, cautions that bilinguals are not two monolinguals in one; rather, bilinguals possess a linguistic profile that is all their own. By extension, trilingual interpreters are not two bilingual interpreters (e.g. an ASL–English interpreter and a Spanish–English interpreter) in one. The interplay between modalities and languages creates a unique profile that merits closer attention.

One aspect of the profile of multimodal-multilingual interpreters is their varied proficiency across their languages. ASL–English–Spanish interpreters in the United States, for instance, report an imbalance among their languages, and the kinds of experiences with each of the languages can vary widely (Casanova de Canales & Treviño, 2014a; Treviño & Cancel, 2012). Many of the ASL–English–Spanish interpreters in the mainland United States are heritage speakers of Spanish and educated in English. Without more formal instruction in Spanish, these interpreters may only have access to informal registers of Spanish. The use of informal registers of Spanish may be apt for settings such as video relay service (VRS), where many calls are between family members and friends, but not ideal for settings such as a conference or formal presentation. Conversely, native speakers of Spanish or English who learn the other language in formal contexts only, such as language courses through a university, may have proficiency in a formal variety of the language, but not informal or dialectical varieties. In the case of Puerto Rico, where Spanish is the majority language and English co-exists as a minority language, sign language interpreters may only be comfortable with English in certain contexts. The exceptions are those who can acquire a wider range of English proficiency by either receiving more instruction or more exposure by living in places where English is the dominant language.

Another aspect of the profile of multimodal-multilingual interpreters is the acquisition of their languages. As stated earlier, like bilingual interpreters, many trilingual interpreters learn ASL in formal education settings, while others have deaf family members or friends who use ASL, and some learn ASL in community settings. While this is true, these experiences are not the same. For example, Jackson and Kaplan (1999) note that language learners employ certain strategies in acquiring a second language, but these strategies may change in the acquisition of a third or fourth language. In addition, some multimodal-multilingual interpreters are simultaneous bilinguals, having acquired two of their languages at a young age (e.g. ASL and English or Spanish and English), before later acquiring a third language. Cenoz (2003) notes that bilinguals who acquire a third language show some advantages in acquisition over monolinguals who acquire a second language.

The linguistic and cultural experiences of one of the authors of this chapter (Ortiz) could serve as an example of a multilingual interpreter’s linguistic background and its effect on interpretation work. In Puerto Rico, Spanish is the dominant spoken language, although English is variably used in a myriad of settings (e.g. education, aspects of government, among others). Further, the variety of ASL used on the island of Puerto Rico is different from mainland US ASL.² Differences include signs that are unique to Puerto Rico (i.e. not generally used outside of the island) and the inclusion of Spanish mouthing patterns. Sign language use in Puerto Rico also seems to vary regionally and generationally on the island. Ortiz learned to sign in Puerto Rico, but later moved to the mainland US and worked as a trilingual (ASL–English–Spanish) interpreter. He feels that his lexical access for ASL signs is influenced by having learned ASL in Puerto Rico, surrounded by Spanish. That is, when he hears Spanish on the mainland, he quickly accesses signs from the Puerto Rican variety of ASL, which unfortunately creates some interference for efficient access to mainland ASL signs. Ortiz feels that such experiences have decreased over the years, likely influenced by increased language fluency and additional interpretation experience, but that they still occur when he is tired or working under cognitively demanding situations. Such experiences might be qualitatively different from those of a bilingual (ASL–English) interpreter.

Trilingual (ASL–English–Spanish) interpreters raised in ASL households may also be unique in their own way. ASL–English interpreters with deaf parents or family members typically grow up with a bimodal–bilingual experience. ASL–English–Spanish interpreters with deaf parents or family members, however, often navigate more than two languages (and cultures) throughout their lives. For example, Rodriguez Fraticelli (1993) reports that hearing children of deaf parents in Puerto Rico will often be exposed to Puerto Rican Sign Language (LSPR) and Spanish at home. In school, however, they will learn to read and write not only in Spanish, but also in English. The diverse linguistic experiences of these interpreters with deaf parents or family members likely play a role in their formation as interpreters.

One might also consider differences between bimodal–bilingual and multimodal-multilingual interpreters in terms of the types of community-based cultural experiences of which they take part. For example, ASL–English–Spanish users might find themselves in community settings influenced strongly by cultural practices of the Hispanosphere.³ It is not uncommon to have people gather for events such as a quinceañera (a celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday) or a jaripeo (a bull-riding event). The ASL learner attending such events would be exposed to cultural references, words, and idiomatic uses of language in ASL that might be absent—or notably different—from those found in community events in the English-speaking community. In some multilingual–multicultural areas in the United States, novice interpreters exposed to sign language in the community may learn a variety of ASL influenced by another signed language or even a different sign language. In San Diego, for instance, Ramsey and Peña (2010) report that there are interpreters who regularly traverse the border between Mexico and the United States; such interpreters are typically exposed to four languages: ASL, LSM, Spanish, and English. In short, there are notable differences in the linguistic formation between bimodal–bilingual and multimodal-multilingual interpreters, which affects how interpreters from each group engage in the interpretation process, especially within such diverse communities.

In addition to competency in spoken and signed languages, the role of literacy ski...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of contributors
• Introduction
• Part 1 Cognitive processes and theoretical foundations
• Part 2 Sign language translation
• Part 3 Sign language interpreting
• Part 4 Sign language translation and interpreting education
• Part 5 The politics of translation, interpreting, and service delivery
• Part 6 Public service settings
• Part 7 Diverse linguistic-cultural deaf communities
• Part 8 Current status of interpreting and translation
• Index