In-Between

Handbook of Research on Medical Interpreting - Advances in Medical Diagnosis, Treatment, and Care ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-9308-9.ch008 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 188-208

Author(s):

Laurie Robbins Shaffer

Keyword(s):

American Sign Language ◽

Sign Language ◽

Exploratory Study ◽

Community Member ◽

Substantial Part ◽

American Sign ◽

Community Partner ◽

Depth Interviews

This chapter uses an exploratory study that examines the experiences of American Sign Language-English interpreters who provide all or a substantial part of their service in the healthcare context to discuss the notion of visibility. The visibility or invisibility of the interpreter is intertwined with discussion and research on role, conduct, and the tensions that exist between the framing of the interpreter as community member and the framing of the interpreter as professional. The exploratory study analyzes nine in-depth interviews to reveal the complexity that exists in-between. The in-between spaces are times when the interpreter is not actively engaged in interpreting and times when she is faced with the choice to remain visible or not. In these moments in-between, the construct of the interpreter as a conduit collides with that of interpreter as community partner. The findings reveal a complex set of challenges that have significant impact on interpreters' responses and actions.

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An Exploratory Study of ASL Demonstratives

Languages ◽

10.3390/languages4040080 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

pp. 80 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jill P. Morford ◽

Barbara Shaffer ◽

Naomi Shin ◽

Paul Twitchell ◽

Bettie T. Petersen

Keyword(s):

American Sign Language ◽

Sign Language ◽

Exploratory Study ◽

Preliminary Analysis ◽

Eye Gaze ◽

American Sign ◽

Completion Task ◽

Deaf Signers

American Sign Language (ASL) makes extensive use of pointing signs, but there has been only limited documentation of how pointing signs are used for demonstrative functions. We elicited demonstratives from four adult Deaf signers of ASL in a puzzle completion task. Our preliminary analysis of the demonstratives produced by these signers supports three important conclusions in need of further investigation. First, despite descriptions of four demonstrative signs in the literature, participants expressed demonstrative function 95% of the time through pointing signs. Second, proximal and distal demonstrative referents were not distinguished categorically on the basis of different demonstrative signs, nor on the basis of pointing handshape or trajectory. Third, non-manual features including eye gaze and facial markers were essential to assigning meaning to demonstratives. Our results identify new avenues for investigation of demonstratives in ASL.

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Comprehension benefits of visual-gestural iconicity and spatial referencing

Second language Research ◽

10.1177/02676583211037631 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 026765832110376

Author(s):

Emily Saunders ◽

David Quinto-Pozos

Keyword(s):

Language Learning ◽

American Sign Language ◽

Sign Language ◽

Exploratory Study ◽

American Sign ◽

Signed Languages ◽

Signed Language ◽

Spatial Referencing

Studies have shown that iconicity can provide a benefit to non-signers during the learning of single signs, but other aspects of signed messages that might also be beneficial have received less attention. In particular, do other features of signed languages help support comprehension of a message during the process of language learning? The following exploratory study investigates the comprehension of sentences in two signed and two spoken languages by non-signers and by American Sign Language (ASL) learners. The design allows for the examination of message comprehension, with a comparison of unknown spoken and signed languages. Details of the stimulus sentences are provided in order to contextualize features of the signing that might be providing benefits for comprehension. Included in this analysis are aspects of the sentences that are iconic and spatially deictic – some of which resemble common gestural forms of communication. The results indicate that iconicity and referential points in signed language likely assist with comprehension of sentences, even for non-signers and for a signed language that the ASL signers have not studied.

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