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Language Proficiency and Directionality Preferences in ASL-English Interpreters
Poster Session A, Friday, September 12, 11:00 am - 12:30 pm, Field House
This poster is part of the Sandbox Series.
Matthew Dye1, Tadhg Hicken1; 1Rochester Institute of Technology
Simultaneous interpreting is a complex cognitive process that requires an individual to work between two languages, comprehending an utterance in one language while at the same time reproducing the meaning in another language. For American Sign Language (ASL)-English interpreters this involves two modalities - ASL in the visual-gestural modality and English in the oral-aural modality. There is evidence that these bimodal interpreters often prefer interpreting into their second language (L2) (Nicodemus & Emmorey, 2013; Nicodemus et al., 2023), whereas spoken language (unimodal) interpreters commonly report a clear preference for interpreting into their first language (L1). This discrepancy is of practical significance because there is debate about the effects of directionality on the quality of interpretation produced. The field of spoken language interpreting has long argued that equivalent interpretations can only be produced when working from an L2 into an L1. However, several studies have demonstrated that this is not always the case (Pavlović, 2007), especially when certain situational factors such as register and subject-matter are considered (Al-Salman & Al-Khanji, 2002). Understanding the nature of this preference is important because the field of bimodal interpreting regularly requires working in both directions. While previous studies have established this preference, we have little understanding of its cause. One hypothesis is that discrepancies in language proficiency between the L1 and L2 lead to decreased monitoring ability of output in the L2. However, language proficiency has rarely been assessed in a rigorous manner in studies of directionality preference. This research study aims to better understand the reason(s) for this directionality preference, including the impact of various situational variables, by identifying predictors of directionality preference in bimodal ASL-English interpreters. In particular, we hypothesize that language proficiency will be a key predictor and in this study we plan to use several standardized language proficiency measures in addition to survey questions that assess L1 and L2 acquisition histories, self-rated proficiency, language attitudes, and interpreting training and work contexts. In future studies we plan to use online measures of language proficiency that may reveal processing limits that govern directionality preference. Studying bimodal interpreting not only sheds new light on the human capacity for language, it also has practical implications for improving the quality of ASL-to-English interpreters.
Topic Areas: Signed Language and Gesture,