Deaf Culture Interpreting Project

Interpreting Project By Dylan Dick

How Interpreters can Cupport Deaf Culture

First, let's explore the roles of interpreters and how they can benefit the Deaf community. The following information comes from ‘Unspoken ASL, an article on interpreting’. There are many different kinds of interpreters but in this situation, we will look at interpreters for the Deaf community who “help in interpreting, translating, and transliterating members of the Deaf community” (Onabanjo, 2023). Typically done in American Sign Language (ASL) while incorporating tactical and visual communication.

Sign Language Interpreters allow communication between spoken language and signed languages. They are required to be certified by organizations like the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) and the National Association of the Deaf (NAD). The goal of an Interpreter is to limit the communication barriers faced by the deaf community, this includes in the workplace, legal services, education, medical, and much more. (Onabanjo, 2023).

Benefits of Deaf Interpreters

This video by the 'National Deaf Center' shares the main misconceptions and positive benefits that interpreters provide in a very simplified way. This video also touches on the difference between spoken English and ASL.

Interpreting is so vital to the Deaf community because it allows for equal access to information and services that would otherwise be neglected. Ensuring that interpreters are well-trained is very important, “ASL is a manual or visual language distinct from spoken English, with its own syntax and grammar” (Rosales, 2). Because of this, interpreters need to use combinations of hand shapes/movements as well as distinct body language and facial expressions. Northeastern University Linguist and strong Deaf Culture Ally, Harlan Lane “Whose interest in the deaf came about through his study of ASL. When he first saw people signing to one another, Lane recalls, he was stunned to realize that ‘Laungage could be expressed just as well by the hands and face as by the tongue and throat, even though the very definition of language we had learned as students was that it was something spoken and heard’” (Dolnick, 40). This is very important because, without the facial expressions and body movements, the interpreted message would lack accuracy. Similarly to how spoken language uses tone and pitch to relay a thought, the Deaf community uses visual methods.

‘You shouldn't talk because deaf people sound horrible when they talk.’

(Solomon, 106)

Another reason it's very important to ensure interpreters are trained and have good intentions is discussed in the Solomon reading. The article talks about a woman named Brittany who is Deaf but has been exposed to oral education. While Brittany was in college she decided she wanted to go back to speech therapy as she wanted to work in the theatre, film, and production field, so she wanted to be as comfortable in the hearing world as possible. She even says, “She wants to make it as easy for hearing people as she can” (Solomon, 106). Because of her lack of personal connection to the Deaf community, Brittany felt stuck between her Deaf friend's opinions and making her life ‘easier’. “Brittany has a lot of speech. The problem is, she is embarrassed to use it. She has an interpreter at college who said to her, ‘You shouldn't talk because deaf people sound horrible when they talk.’ So she's sending my husband emails saying ‘Does my voice sound horrible?’ This is an interpreter, her lifeline to communication” (Solomon, 106). Because of Brittany's negative experience with an interpreter, she felt distant from Deaf Culture and began to worry about what others would think. This is why it's so important for interpreters to support and uplift the Deaf community, to set their personal feelings aside, and complete their main goal of allowing communication between the Deaf community and the spoken world.

Spoken vs Signed Information

ASL isnt the visual version of Spoken English

ASL is fully visual with its own syntax and grammar, not just a 'translated' version of spoken english.

We have discussed many situations in class where the family of a Deaf person doesn't support the use of an interpreter. One situation that displays that narrative is Thomas’ mother in ‘For a Deaf Son’ when she states, “You have to be realistic. I don't want him to live in a world where he's going to need an interpreter all the time. I want to be able to give him that freedom to be able to travel and do what he wants to do, whenever he wants to do it, without that restriction” (For a Deaf Son, 1993). Thomas’ mother doesn't want him to rely on an interpreter because she feels it sets him back and limits what he's able to do. In my opinion, an interpreter can't limit a Deaf person's capabilities, but can only progress them. I say this because an interpreter's goal is to make a Deaf person's life easier and allow them access to equal opportunities, not take them away. The use of an interpreter won't help everyone and isn't necessary for everyone in the Deaf community, but using one doesn't take away your Deafness or take away any credibility. I think it's crucial to avoid the connotation that using accommodations as a Deaf person takes away your Deaf culture, what works for some may not work for others and that's okay but I think the option should always be provided.

This brings up the issue that just because a Deaf person may have some speech means they don't need an interpreter. For example, in ‘Through Deaf Eyes’ Kristen Harmon states “You asked me to speak so I can demonstrate how successful I was as an oral deaf person. But understand that speaking is only one way. And that if I speak the other person hears me. They assume that I don’t need any sort of interpreting or any kind of sign or anything like that. They assume that I can hear them. And that’s the problem with speaking. It’s a two-way communication. That’s why I don’t. I don’t want people to assume that I can hear them because I can’t. It’s much easier just to turn off my voice” (Through Deaf Eyes, 2007). It is so important to never assume the capabilities of a Deaf person or anyone in general, in this situation, Kristen avoids using speech altogether because when she does communicate orally it's assumed that because she can speak, she can also hear, which isn't the case. Interpreters are used to provide communication from spoken language to the Deaf community, she isn't any less Deaf because she has some oral communication skills, it doesn't make her hear any better.

INST Goals/Outcomes

'You will Articulate how your learning enables you to contribute to some aspect of the public good' After learning about interpreting and how it can be negatively and positively perceived in both the Deaf and hearing community, I believe I have gained a deeper understanding of how we can improve as a society. I've always believed that you have a right to your own opinion and to do what you feel is best for your own life, but after this project, I have a much better understanding of how the hearing world can better support those ideas. I feel we should continue to educate ourselves and others on the problems the Deaf community faces and work harder to provide them with trained and certified interpreters and avoid judgment on their decisions to do so. While working on this project I have found some areas in which I lack to fully support this idea and now that it's come to my attention I plan to correct this and continue to learn and educate others who may be uneducated.

Works Cited

Onabanjo, Rereloluwa. “The Role of Interpreters in the Deaf Community.” Unspoken Language Services, 18 Jan. 2023, www.unspokenasl.com/aslblogs/the-role-of-interpreters-in-the-deaf-community/. Rosales, John. “Body Language: The Role of the Education Interpreter .” National Education Association, 6 Jan. 2011. Through Deaf Eyes. “Through Deaf Eyes.” YouTube, 8 Apr. 2020, youtu.be/PL5d8kyZUQk?si=sQoIetL-9px5QV5F. Accessed 21 Oct. 2024. Described and Captioned Media Program. (2013, March 28). For a Deaf Son - full documentary - captioned [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCzl4kuWLw0 Solomon, A. (2013). Far from the tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity. Random House. Dolnick, E. (1993, September). Deafness as culture. The Atlantic.