History of Sign Language Interpreting

History Of Sign Language Interpreting

Vanessa Cossette

Antelope Valley College

History of Sign Language Interpreting

        In the ancient days, sign language interpreters were friends, family members, and colleagues with the hearing ability. These interpreters did not have any formal training. However, they had some qualifications including some sign language, the willingness to step in, and the knowledge of English. Most of these interpreters were children who were conscripted into the role of interpretation from an early age. Many interpreters in the present days started to play the role as unofficial interpreters. Deaf people and interpreters have always had an intimate relationship since the beginning of history. In the past and some cases today, interpreters have been present during various events such as burials of a loved one and birth of a child by a deaf mother. Today, interpreters interact a lot with deaf people even after the work assignment. The history of sign language interpreting involves several activities that have significantly enhanced the interpreting profession.

The American Sign Language (ASL) was first recognized in the 1960s as a bona fide language. The first linguistic study of the ASL was published by a linguist known as William Stokoe in the year 1960. Sign language interpreters in the United States formed a national professional organization in the year 1964 known as the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID). During this time, interpreter certification standards were established by the RID and codes of ethics for the practitioners put into place (Dean & Pollard 2011). Interpreter trainer programs (ITP) were then established in the early 1970s. These programs took a duration of six to seven weeks. The programs had a primary focus on the settings in which the interpreters worked such as medical, religious, courtroom, and telephone. Additionally, the programs had a linguistic component of vocabulary building.

Discussions concerning physical, mental, and emotional processes were limited since there was limited availability of scholarly materials. The programs were not equipped well enough to support knowledge, ability, and skills that enabled the effective performance of the interpreters (Premaratne, 2014). However, it was better to have the programs than having no programs at all. Moreover, this was just a start. In the 1970s, there was still a low understanding of the complexity of interpretation task. The interpreters, therefore, recognized the need for further development of the profession, seeking support from the established organizations, and acquiring more knowledge through conferences, workshops, and mentoring relationships. As at today, the ITPs run for two to four years, and award certificates and degrees upon completion. In America, there are several programs at postgraduate levels throughout the country.

            The American society labels the deaf and hard to hear as disable. This causes stigma that places the deaf and hard to hear in the inferior role in the American society. Moreover, the individuals working with the deaf and hard of hearing people are most of the time thought to be helpers or charitable when providing the services. As at the past decade, this was the case with many sign language interpreters throughout the globe. However, in the recent years, the sign language interpreters are required to possess certain credentials to perform the interpreting tasks. Today, it is common for a professional perform the interpretation task rather than in the past where the clergy, family members, and friends commonly provided the interpretation services.

There are various events that have helped in shaping the profession of interpretation. These include interpreter associations, American Sign Language research, interpreting related graphics, education, information and resources on deafness, disability advocacy associations, and state laws and regulations among others. These events have significantly enhanced the profession in various ways. Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf has played significant roles in the shaping of this profession. This includes maintaining a registry of sign language interpreters so as to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the interpretation system (Dean & Pollard 2011. The organization has played a key role in ensuring quality for the interpreters and translators. The organization encourages the growth of interpreting profession, ensures equal opportunities and access for all individuals, and educates the public on the vital roles of interpreters and translators.

           Interpreter associations include the national alliance of black interpreters that gives support to sign language interpreters of the African community. The international association of conference interpreters represents all the interpreters of the professional conference from all languages. American Sign Language research includes research papers and publications that regard the ASL linguistics. These research publications contain information that can be used to enhance the interpreting profession. The interpreting graphics involve videos that show how the words in ASL are signed. Information and resource of deafness have a mission of providing every deaf or hard of hearing individual with equal access to learning and communication by using supportive collateral materials and captioning information. Education, on the other hand, plays a major role in creating awareness among all people. This is made possible by various courses offered at different educational institutes concerning the deaf and hard of hearing. The students are taught how to treat the deaf and hard of hearing as their equals rather than as disabled people. During these courses, the students learn interpreting skills and can enhance their interpreting careers. The state laws and regulations contain the rights and guidelines on how to interact with the deaf and hard of hearing. All these events work to enhance the profession of interpretation.