(Note: both samples are on the same video. The
ASL to Enlgish interpretation is first.)
First interpretation of “Trips, computer games, and music”
Leila H.
From the EIPA Elementary Prep Materials
ASL to English
(11:11 minutes in length)
Date recorded: February 4, 2009
Consumers: Interviewer and elementary-aged girl
Context: Interview about the girl’s vacationing, favorite computer game, and musical preferences
Purpose: To demonstrate my skills when working from ASL to English in an elementary school setting
This was the first time that I had ever interpreted for a child her age. In the past I have worked primarily with teenagers or older adults. Interpreting for a child this young proved to be more difficult than I anticipated; I faced some new challenges. One demand I had never thought about before was how my voice should sound when speaking for a younger girl. Should I raise my voice, risking sounding condescending, or would it be more appropriate to just change my vocabulary choice? Although we have been studying ways of addressing this demand, putting it into action is a completely different skill altogether. However, for my first time, I think I did well. In order to improve this skill, I will listen to stories told by native English-speaking children, as well as the interpretations on the EIPA practice DVDs.
On the other hand, I feel there has been an overall improvement in my understanding of the function and purpose of interpretation. While keeping my consumers in mind at all times, I was able to render a message that stayed true to the speaker. In other words, I feel that communication happened. Also, this text was not as heavy in content as other videos I have interpreted, and I was able to retain all of the (comprehended) important details. (There were a few places where I was unsure of what she was trying to say, but I did the best I could with the restraints I faced; i.e. videotaped child instead of a live consumer.) Another aspect of my interpretation that I noticed an improvement with is my use, or lack thereof, of fillers and hedges. Instead of rushing to get the interpretation out to take up all those so-called “awkward silences,” I waited for full comprehension of the message before rendering. Overall, I can see a definite improvement in my work in comparison to previous work samples.
Further aspects to improve:
Receptive skills in ASL
(message comprehension)
Plan of action: watch VLogs of young ASL signers
Second Interpretation: 5th grade classroom
From the EIPA Elementary Prep Materials
English to ASL
(Approximately 8 minutes in length)
Date recorded: February 3, 2009
Consumers: teacher and students
Context: Teacher is going over math problems in class while students work in pairs
Purpose: To demonstrate my skills when working from English to ASL in an elementary school setting
I have recently been focusing on my work with transliterating. Transliterating is a new concept for me, and I have spent many hours practicing and building up my skills. In class we have kept one particular consumer in mind who tends to be more English-based, and have practiced our consumer-driven work on her. Becoming accustomed to the different demands in processing for transliterating has been a real challenge for me. The differences in both the processes and results of interpreting and transliterating are immense. In evaluating my work sample, I observed various positive and negative aspects of my work at this time. I have listed them below:
Aspects of observed improvement:
+ Use of space (ex: # + # = 25; moving from right to left)
+ Maintaining affect of speaker
+ English mouthing (working on transliteration)
+ Important details and points were retained
+ Role shifting (interaction between students and teacher)
Aspects to improve:
- Facial expressions did not consistently match the speaker’s affect
- Eye contact (where am I looking?)
- Biting/licking lips (never noticed this habit of mine before)
- Eye gaze to the videotaped source: better to keep eyes on “consumer(s)”
- Omission of some interactions