Page 17 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

2 Reading Between the Signs

cultural differences. Cultural differences can be glaring enough to
bring a meeting to a halt or so subtle that participants in a conver-
sation do not even realize they are making erroneous judgments
about each other. Why and how does culture affect our work, and
what can we do when it seems to be at the core of communica-
tion difficulties? These are questions I hope to answer in this book.
How many of these situations have you encountered in your
work as an interpreter?
• The Deaf person makes a comment or asks a question that
would be acceptable at a Deaf gathering but would seem rude
to hearing people.
• The hearing person, in an effort to soften a critical remark,
speaks in an indirect manner that leaves the Deaf person un-
sure of the point being made.
• The hearing person asks the Deaf person a question for which
he or she anticipates a single-word answer (e.g., yes, no, a
number). In response, the Deaf person commences a lengthy
narrative, which to the hearing person does not seem to an-
swer the original question.
Too often, we sign language interpreters work alone, running
from one challenge to another, without the benefit of others with
whom to share our ideas, frustrations, and triumphs. Even if we
do have a partner and switch off to give our arms and brains a
break, rarely do we take the time to debrief each other after the
assignment, to discuss what worked and what didn’t. One reason
may be a reluctance to share details with our colleagues, not only
because our professional code of ethics requires us to preserve
the confidentiality of the parties involved but also because we
may be embarrassed to admit our uncertainties and errors. Yet
without this mutual sharing, we may fail to recognize crucial pat-
terns that would help us become better interpreters. Since we are
all dealing with the same two cultures, American Deaf culture and
mainstream American culture, it is inevitable that we encounter
the same cultural mismatches. We could greatly benefit, there-
fore, from sharing our firsthand knowledge as a step in helping us
anticipate conflicts and brainstorm strategies to deal with them.
If we rarely share our experiences with other sign language
interpreters, we almost never talk with professionals who work in
the area of cross-cultural communication. A few of us may be so
isolated that we do not even recognize that it is not only Deaf
culture that has quirks and idiosyncrasies. Every culture in the

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