Page 21 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

6 Reading Between the Signs

scribe. This book has a lot to say to other professionals who work
at the intersection of the Deaf and hearing worlds, such as teach-
ers, rehabilitation counselors, and telephone relay operators. Deaf
readers are certainly welcome as well and may enjoy an inside
look at how we interpreters approach our work.
Although readers from related fields such as intercultural stud-
ies or foreign language interpreting may find much of interest
here, they may need to avail themselves of a more basic introduc-
tion to Deaf culture, which can be found in books such as For
Hearing People Only by Matthew S. Moore and Linda Levitan (1992),
The Mask of Benevolence by Harlan Lane (1992), Deaf in America
by Carol Padden and Tom Humphries (1988), and Seeing Voices
by Oliver Sacks (1989). At the end of the book, I have also in-
cluded a glossary of terms and acronyms which may be unfamil-
iar to readers outside of the field of sign language interpretation.

Focus
The focus of this book will be primarily on the cultural aspects,
rather than the linguistic challenges, of our work as sign language
interpreters. Although it is never possible to disconnect language
and culture, I will discuss neither the complexities of dealing with
the passive voice in English nor what is the best way to translate
classifier signs found in ASL. This book concerns itself with the
differing worldviews and values found in Deaf and mainstream
American cultures and how these affect interpreted situations.
Every interpreting situation is unique, consisting of specific
people coming together in a specific setting for a specific pur-
pose. There are general patterns, however, that one encounters
repeatedly. When we study the cultural themes underlying cer-
tain behaviors, we begin to understand why this is so. Are these
cultural differences relatively minor variations that only flavor the
message with an alternate spice? Decidedly not. Research has
shown that even subtle differences in communicative style be-
tween speakers from two different cultural backgrounds can radi-
cally affect the participants’ perceptions of each other.
This is a largely unrecognized type of communicative
problem and most people, therefore, interpret the other
person’s way of speaking according to their own con-
ventions. This means that a person may draw totally
incorrect inferences about someone else. For example,

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