Second Draft (Project 1)

American Sign Language has been around for over two hundred years, and has been used commonly among Deaf and Hard of Hearing people for centuries. Only recently has the language, and the culture, started to make its way into the lives of the “hearing world.” After taking my first year of ASL in high school, I fell in love with the language and the culture, and wanted to help bridge the gap between the two worlds. I wanted to become an interpreter. While not all ASL interpreters are deaf or Hard of Hearing themselves, many are welcomed with open arms into the community. They can be viewed as a smaller community, within the larger deaf community, that help to make the “hearing world” more accessible and easier to connect with. Negative views towards the deaf community have decreased significantly, however, there are still some hearing people that view deaf people as incapable and unintelligent. There are also a lot of people that simply don’t understand deaf people and their culture. Through interpreting, I want to be able to educate the “hearing world” more on deaf culture, establish a general understanding between the two worlds, and make life easier, and more accessible for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. However, the first step to succeed with what I would like to accomplish is to become an interpreter. The process of becoming an interpreter for American Sign Language is one that requires lots hard work and dedication. It is no easy task, and there is even more than just the language that one needs to know if they would like to actually be successful in pursuing it as a career. Through my research, I would like to uncover how one is able to become a successful American Sign Language interpreter.

Over the years the Deaf community has formed a unique culture that highly values collectivism and interconnectedness. While these values are still important in the “hearing world”, society is starting to gravitate towards becoming more individualistic. In (Reference source), it describes how the Deaf community “[perceives] themselves as a close-knit and interconnected group”, and how they “greatly enjoy being in the company of other Deaf people and actively seek ways to do this.” During a gathering, it is easy for a simple goodbye to become an hour long process, or more, because of how much they value being connected with the people in their community. This is one of the main difference when comparing the two worlds, and it is important to understand as a hearing individual interested in American Sign Language interpreting. Since Deaf people can’t hear at all, or have extreme difficulties hearing, “the source of connection between Deaf individuals becomes a study of the eyes, not the ears.” (cite) Ways of being able to distinguish people in the hearing world are by their voice, the sound of their name, and their appearance. For deaf people, the only way for them to distinguish one another is through appearances. Even their names are communicated to one another visually through ASL. This makes one’s physical appearance very important because it is the “landscape for all signed communication.” (cite) When both learning the skills to become an interpreter, and after becoming an interpreter, it is important to fully immerse yourself into the Deaf community to learn about the culture. An interpreter does more than just translate. They are constantly engaging with the community, and if they don’t have at least a basic understanding of it, they will have difficulties in being successful.

The process of learning American Sign Language, practicing the skills, and preparing for the tests is a long and time consuming process. Just like learning any other language, it can take years to become fluent and be able to translate back and forth from one language to the other. Although not all certifications require someone to have educational training and experience, it is an important step to take to ensure one has the proper knowledge and skill to succeed. More colleges are starting to offer specific ASL interpreting programs and majors for people that are wanting to pursue it as a career. The programs teach the students about the language, Deaf culture, interpreting ethics, and the process of interpreting to help prepare them for whatever certification they are working towards. One commonly offered interpreting certification that is approved by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, is the National Interpreter Certification (NIC). It consists of two tests, one being the NIC Knowledge Exam and the second one being the NIC Interview and Performance Exam. The NIC exam consists of 150 multiple choice questions assessing participants on their knowledge of how to properly use the different parameters of ASL, how to accurately translate from English to ASL and vice versa, as well as their awareness of the culture, ethics, and understanding of the profession as a whole. If they successfully complete the knowledge exam, then they are eligible to take the interview and performance exam. While the knowledge exam isn’t at all easy, the NIC Interview and Performance Exam is the most rigorous consisting of, in total, 14 different vignettes. The term vignette is used by the NIC to mean “a short problem that contains a real world problem or interpreting activity.” (cite) The fourteen different activities include seven “video-based” vignettes, two ethical “interview” vignettes, and five interpreting “performance” vignettes. All of the tests are testing one’s ability to successfully use their knowledge from the written test in real life situations. Once one passes the NIC performance exam, they are able to receive their licenses and officially become a certified ASL interpreter.

After receiving an interpreting license, it can be daunting to try and figure out what to do and where to go from there. There are many different options for new certified interpreters to get started, it just all depends on what will fit best with their preferences. The two most common paths that are taken are either through an interpreting agency, or becoming a freelance interpreter. Working for an interpreting agency is more of a straightforward approach. Both deaf people and entities providing interpreting services can request for an interpreter and the agency will find whomever they think will do the job the best, or they will simply put the request up for any interpreter willing to take it. For people that are just starting out their career, this can be a good opportunity to start because the agency will do the dirty work for you and find you the assignments. Your only job it to continue to practice and improve your skill, and be ready for a variety of different assignments. When one is a self-employed interpreter, it can be more difficult to get started. You are the one that has to get your name out into the community and try and find the opportunities. Especially as someone who is new to the interpreting community, it can be hard because not many people are aware that you are now certified. Choosing to go the self-employment route can be more of a challenge, but it can be appealing for the fact that one is able to operate on their own time, and are their own boss. Trying to decide which route can be tricky, however, you aren’t stuck with whatever way you initially choose. It is a flexible career that allows one to change their positions to what is more successful for them.

On top of having to know about the language and Deaf culture, successful interpreters also need to know certain skills to be able to accurately translate what is being said. In the book Topics in Signed Language Interpreting, Terry Janzen discussed three resources an interpreter should use to help them to depend on more than just their intuitive knowledge. She states that a “skilled interpreter cannot only depend on intuitive knowledge…, but must know the structure consciously… so that she can best understand what words and constructions represent within a given source text, and make informed choices about words and constructions that carry the same message in the target text.” (cite) The three resources she talks about are “meaning, linguistic form, and the interpreters strategies.” Meaning is one of the most important parts when interpreting because when interpreting for someone who is deaf, you want to get their point across in the way they intend for it to come across. American Sign Language is a language that has multiple meanings for some of the same signs, or multiple signs for the same meaning, so the interpreter has to be good at finding out which meaning was intended. The linguistic form goes hand in hand with meaning because typically certain grammatical constructions are signed in a specific way to show one’s meaning. Lastly, the interpreters strategies ties the other two resources together. It is up to the interpreter on what they feel they need to focus on, and what things they need to be looking out for to successfully translate what the deaf person is trying to say. It takes great skill and lots practice to be able to successfully utilize these three resources, and using them is successfully will help increase the chances of one being successful as an interpreter.