1. Powerless Language In Interpretations of ASL Does Gender Play a Role?
By Sara LaBella: INT 492, Spring 2016
POWERLESS LANGUAGE
Hedges
“I sort of think…” “it’s kind of like...”
Tag Questions
“…dont you think?” “...right?”
Intonational Emphasis
Talking in italics, emphasizing words like “so” and “very”
Intensifiers
“very” “really” “quite” “fairly”
Rising Intonation
Up-speak/rising intonation in declarative contexts
Hesitations
METHODOLOGY
Analysis of six interpreting samples (3 Female, 3 Male) from 5 video sources:
TedX Gallaudet (2 videos: 1F, 1M)
TedX ISLAY (2 videos: 1F, 1M)
Gallaudet Colloquium Series (1 video: ½ F, ½ M)
Coded for incidence of powerless features and mean usage
RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS
Female interpreters used powerless language more frequently than their male counterparts
Female and male interpreters used rising intonation more than any other powerless feature
Male interpreters used hesitations more than female interpreters
IMPLICATIONS/QUESTIONS
DATA & ANALYSIS
Mean Incidence of Powerless Language 35
• “umm…” “uhh...”
Having an awareness of the most common types of powerless features used by males and females allows interpreters and interpreter educators to target these features and develop strategies to replace them with more powerful forms
(Lakoff, 1975)
Total Incidence Male: 152 Female: 195 30
RESEARCH QUESTION 25
Do female interpreters use more powerless language in their ASL to English (voice) interpretations than male interpreters? 20
Are rising intonation and hesitation results of the simultaneous interpreting process? 15
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
REFERENCES 10
Females typically use more powerless language than males (Lakoff, 1975) 5
Interpreters are predominantly female
Powerless language is associated with less positive impression formation, less credibility, and less persuasiveness (Haleta, 1997; Holtsgraves and Lasky,1999)
Interpreters’ linguistic choices contribute to the way deaf consumers are perceived by others
Female Interpreters
Male Interpreters