ASL presenters and Hearing Interpreters: Equivalent Pace? A Study of ASL Register Brice Boiles ABSTRACT This research compares the rate of sign production of Deaf presenters with that of hearing interpreters working simultaneously from spoken English to ASL. On average, the Deaf presenters exhibited a lower sign production rate than the hearing interpreters. This may have impacts on message equivalency with regards to register. DISCOURSE SAMPLES DISCUSSION With only one exception, all of the Deaf presenters analyzed during this research produced fewer signs-per- minute than did the hearing interpreters. Hearing Interpreters Deaf Presenters Topic: What to expect during a colonoscopy visit. Topic: during visit. to expect colonoscopy Possibly attributable to simultaneous interpretation process: Setting: Online audience Rate: -per-minute SI is inherently time-bound: It is necessarily affected by the rate of the spoken English source text. Further research needed to compare SI and CI processes Setting: Online audience Rate: 79 signs-per-minute INTRODUCTION Question: Do Deaf presenters and hearing interpreters produce ASL at an equivalent rate? Topic: Cardiovascular System Topic: Cardiovascular System Possibly attributable to discourse structure English and ASL discourse have different structure SI Interpreting utterance by utterance, not goal- by-goal (Gish, 1987). Setting: Online audience Setting: Online audience Rate: -per-minute “If this were a naturally occurring piece of discourse, would it be an appropriate one?” (Roy, 1987) Rate: 57 signs-per-minute Limitations Interpreters’ task: To produce an equivalent rendition of the source text in the target language. Equivalent Register Limited in scope Outlier skewing research If excluded the average rate for Deaf presenters would be 78 signs-per-minute Sociolinguistic variation Topic: Genetics Topic: Setting: Platform Setting: Platform Rate: signs-per- minute Sign speed and prosody are functions of register Rate: 96 signs-per-minute This research analyzes the interpretations of hearing interpreters as freestanding discourse, comparing them with the ASL discourse of Deaf presenters functioning in the same register CONCLUSION Topic: Deaf culture in Rochester, NY Topic: Diversity in higher education Hearing interpreters working simultaneously produce signs at a higher rate than Deaf Setting: Platform Setting: Platform Rate: signs-per- minute presenters in similar settings METHOD Rate: 80 signs-per-minute Data suggest a possible causal link between the simultaneous interpreting process and the difference in the rate of production. Three minutes of each sample are analyzed. Transcribe three minutes of the video into written English gloss. Count the total number of signs produced in the three-minute segment. Only discrete signs are counted. Compound signs, repetition, etc. are counted as a single production Divide the total number of signs produced by three to determine the average speed-per- minute RESULTS Future Research Compari presenters and hearing interpreters in similar settings Comparing SI & CI with Deaf presenters as control What effect does the rate of sign production have on comprehension Deaf Presenters Hearing Interpreters 79 77 57 78 86 108 80 119 Average Signs-per-minute: 88 96 140 120 Rate: Signs-per-minute 100 80 Deaf Presenters Hearing Interpreters 60 40 References Isham, W. (1985). The role of message analysis in interpretation. In Marina McIntire (ed.) Interpreting: the art of cross cultural mediation. Silver Spring, MD: RID Publications, p. 111-122. Lawrence S. (1998). The effect of sign language interpreters on audience perception of Deaf speakers credibility. In Joseph A. Alvarez (ed.) The Keys to Highly Effective Interpreter Training, Conference of Interpreter Trainers 14th National Conference Proceedings, p. 143- 163. Lucas, C., Bayley, R., & Valli, C. (2001). Sociolinguistic variation in american sign language. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press. 20 Platform Platform Totals www.PosterPresentations.com RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN © 2012