Sign language interpreter quality: the perspective of deaf sign language users in the Netherlands

Wit, Maya De; Sluis, Irma

doi:10.13137/1591-4127/10650

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…"Quality" in SLI can be a contested construct, 1 subject to different understanding and description by different stakeholders (e.g., consumers, employers, practitioners, researchers) based on the motives, needs and knowledge base they bring to specific interpreted interactions (De Wit & Sluis, 2014;McKee, 2008;Xiao & Yu, 2009). Such differences, however, seem to be more of degree than of kind.…”

Section: Quality Of Sign Language Interpretingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Informational fidelity refers to the degree of faithfulness of target language rendition, and usually subsumes such notions as accuracy and completeness (Bontempo & Hutchinson, 2011;Cokely, 1986;De Wit & Sluis, 2014;McKee, 2008;Russell & Malcolm, 2009;Strong & Rudser, 1985;Van Dijk et al, 2011;Wang et al, 2015). These notions can be further operationalized as the presence/absence of miscues (i.e., omissions, additions, substitutions, intrusions, and anomalies; see also Cokely, 1986;Wang et al, 2015).…”

Section: Quality Of Sign Language Interpretingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first relates to manual aspects of sign language, including clarity of signs/fingerspelling (e.g., hand shape, movement, placement, and orientation), appropriateness of vocabulary and register (e.g., specialized terminology, language style), and correctness of grammar and structure (e.g., grammaticality, use of space, classifiers, tenses, indexing) (see Bontempo & Hutchinson, 2011;Russell & Malcolm, 2009;Strong & Rudser, 1985;Wang et al, 2015). The second relates to non-manual aspects of sign language (i.e., non-manual markers/ signals), including mouthing, eye gazing, facial expressions, body shifting, and head tilting (Bontempo & Hutchinson, 2011;De Wit & Sluis, 2014;Russell & Malcolm, 2009;Wang et al, 2015). These non-manual markers/signals are important in sign language, as they are used to modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs, and also to convey grammatical information such as constructed dialogue and sentence types (e.g., wh-question).…”

Section: Quality Of Sign Language Interpretingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Provision of quality SLI services is, therefore, of paramount importance to ensure the welfare of deaf and hard of hearing citizens and, more broadly, social equality and accessibility. To achieve better SLI quality, researchers need to disambiguate the concept of "interpreting quality" (De Wit & Sluis, 2014;McKee, 2008), because only when a clear understanding of what constitutes quality interpreting is obtained can SLI quality be accurately defined and gauged. Trainers and educators also need to improve pedagogical practices in order to help more student interpreters meet increasingly stringent graduation requirements.…”

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confidence: 99%

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A comparative judgment approach to assessing Chinese Sign Language interpreting

Han

Xiao

2021

Language Testing

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The quality of sign language interpreting (SLI) is a gripping construct among practitioners, educators and researchers, calling for reliable and valid assessment. There has been a diverse array of methods in the extant literature to measure SLI quality, ranging from traditional error analysis to recent rubric scoring. In this study, we want to expand the terrain of SLI assessment, by exploring and evaluating a novel method, known as comparative judgment (CJ), to assess SLI quality. Briefly, CJ involves judges to compare two like objects/items and make a decision by choosing the one with higher quality. The binary outcomes from repeated comparisons by a group of judges are then modelled statistically to produce standardized estimates of perceived quality for each object/item. We recruited 12 expert judges to operationalize CJ via a computerized system to assess the quality of Chinese Sign Language interpreting produced by 36 trainee interpreters. Overall, our analysis of quantitative and qualitative data provided preliminary evidential support for the validity and utility of CJ in SLI assessment. We discussed these results in relation to previous SLI literature, and suggested future research to cast light on CJ’s usefulness in applied assessment contexts.

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Section: Quality Of Sign Language Interpretingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Quality Of Sign Language Interpretingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Quality Of Sign Language Interpretingmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

A comparative judgment approach to assessing Chinese Sign Language interpreting

Han

Xiao

2021

Language Testing

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Mediating identities

Napier¹,

Skinner²,

Young

et al. 2020

Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice

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Deaf people's lives are frequently predicated on working with interpreters. Identity becomes known and performed through the translated self in many interactions with hearing, non-signing people. Taking an interdisciplinary approach in combining interpreting studies, deaf studies, applied linguistics and social research, the 'Translating the Deaf Self ' project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK), sought to explore the experience of deaf people and other stakeholders of the lived experience of being translated. Drawing on discourses of identity, representation and trust, this paper gives an overview of the findings from two focus groups with sign language interpreters (n = 7) on their perspectives of the experiences of deaf signers being 'known' through interpreting. Social constructionism underpinned our approach to data analysis and the dominant theme of 'trust' was examined with reference to a framework for trustworthiness developed by Alan Jones and Samantha Sin. In particular, we focus on the issue of trust in relation to representation, relationships, ability and boundaries. The main findings demonstrate that sign language interpreters are acutely aware of the responsibility they have to represent deaf signers, especially at work, and thus represent their professional-and-deaf identities, and the important role of trust for deaf professionals to feel represented through interpreters.

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Sign language interpreter quality: the perspective of deaf sign language users in the Netherlands

Cited by 2 publications

References 15 publications

A comparative judgment approach to assessing Chinese Sign Language interpreting

A comparative judgment approach to assessing Chinese Sign Language interpreting

Mediating identities

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