I am not currently teaching Introduction to Interpreting (ASL3310).
Please note: All information currently available on this site represents work and due dates relevant to a previous semester/course. Please check back during later semesters for updated information on this course. Thank you.Practice Professions
Dean & Pollard (2005) consider sign language intepreting to be practice professions, different than technical professions and where “judgement regarding situational and human interaction factors are central to doing effective work” (259). Although there are definite overlaps, practice professions should be considered separate from technical professions in that there is constant and imperative interaction with all participants in a sign language intepreting event.
Here are some learning outcomes of which we might want to be aware:
- What is a practice profession? Where is there precedence for this in other (similar) professions?
- Do other participants in a sign language interpreting event also consider interpreters as practice practitioners?
- What are some of the realities in signed language interpreting that deem it worthy of considering it as a practice profession?
- Historically, why are sign language interpreters not given the same respect and conisderation as other practice practitioners?
Readings/Discussions
Readings related to the Demand Control Schema for Interpreting Work (DC-S)
The Demand Control Schema for Interpreting Work (DC-S) Required
This is an abbreviated description of DC-S, explaining four categories of demands and the definition of ‘control.’
Consumers and Service Effectiveness in Interpreting Work: A Practice Profession Perspective Required
Read pp. 264–270, 273–274. Article by Dean & Pollard (2005) discusses the concept of SL interpreting as a practice profession and why overlooking outside factors on SL interpreters is potentially dangerous to the profession.
Application of Demand-Control Theory to Sign Language Interpreting: Implications for Stress and Interpreter Training
This seminal work in the DC-S theory framework introduces various types of demands—linguistic, environmental, interpersonal, and intrapersonal—and discusses their impacts on interpreter psychology.
Apprenticeship in SL Interpreting Required
Long needed yet sorely misunderstood, apprenticeships and supervision are the next frontier in the elevation of the field. Do you agree with Peterson and/or commenters here?
Handout (Martin)
Extra research provided by Martin (University of Wollongong) concerning the differences between professions and trades.