Page 224 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

Cultural Sensitivity Shouldn’t End at Five O’Clock 209

me that he will never forget the interpreter who ruined his pre-
sentation by refusing to admit that her skills were inadequate.
She made many errors in translating the presenter’s ASL into spo-
ken English, which left the hearing audience with an inaccurate
impression of the Deaf presenter. At the other pole, a woman con-
fided to me that she fondly remembers how the interpreter’s com-
forting presence made waiting to see if her husband would re-
cover from emergency surgery so much easier to bear. These kinds
of issues are not always addressed in our code of ethics, yet who
can deny their significance?

Our Motivation
Two of the most common questions we are asked when we meet
a Deaf person for the first time are “Where did you learn sign
language?” and “Why did you become an interpreter?” Whatever
our answer, the information we offer may not be as important as
our underlying attitude. Was it out of respect or pity? One of the
possible invitations to launch into our story may be “MOTHER
FATHER DEAF?” which subtly anchors the role of interpreter to
the tradition that those who had Deaf parents are often led to an
almost inevitable calling. Nowadays, when most interpreters have
hearing parents but have made the conscious decision to learn
sign language and pursue careers as interpreters, we are in es-
sence being asked for our motivation. “We had a Deaf neighbor…,”
“My best friend in high school had Deaf parents…,” “There was
an interpreter in one of my college classes….” These are typical
ways in which one receives an initial exposure to sign language
today.
What about the following response: “I learned sign language
so I could interpret at church and help save deaf people’s souls”?
Prior to the establishment of interpreting as a profession, one
reason that hearing people learned sign language and became
involved in the Deaf community was for religious purposes. Al-
though there are Deaf people today who are strongly religious
and may not find anything objectionable in such an answer, to
many others it connotes a patronizing attitude, with Deaf people
seen as poor unfortunates who are in need of being saved by
those who can hear. (A more positive religious connection could
be “I learned sign language from a Deaf pastor named….”)
Another possible motivation might be “I learned SEE signs so
I could help show deaf children how to use English.” Currently,

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