Page 63 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

48 Reading Between the Signs

versation by using proper names or gender-specific pronouns,
while in ASL there are several possibilities such as mentioning the
subject at the beginning of a conversation and then carrying it
along implicitly until it is changed, incorporating it into directional
verbs, or representing it by gender-neutral pronouns. What this
means is that if you miss the beginning of an ASL conversation,
you may be lost as to what person is being talked about and in
what tense. In English conversations, on the other hand, even if
you miss the beginning, there will be repeated clues along the
way to help you fill in the blanks.
Equally, if not more, important is the cultural level of context.
Hearing Americans, in general, come from a diverse set of back-
grounds, including differences in socioeconomic class, education,
and religion. Although Deaf Americans may be born into families
of equal diversity, their ensuing experiences of growing up deaf in
a hearing world, attending the same types of schools, and being
part of the same community result in a shared context that fos-
ters mutual understanding.

Introductions
Let’s see how this contrast between hearing and Deaf Americans
is played out in personal introductions. Hall says that in introduc-
tions a high-context culture focuses on questions regarding social
background and group membership, while a low-context culture
seeks out data that emphasize personal background. This is borne
out in Deaf and hearing introductions. When two Deaf people
meet, they ask each other what schools they attended, to whom
they are related, and which friends they have in common in order
to place each other in a known social context. In contrast, hearing
Americans ask each other what they do for a living, where they
live, what hobbies they enjoy, and so on to get an idea of their
personal identity.

Sharing Information
Another variant between high- and low-context cultures is how
information is managed in a society and how it is shared: which
topics are discussed, with whom, and in what situations. In a low-
context culture, information is shared with only a few people; it is
compartmentalized and its flow is restricted. In a high-context
culture, on the other hand, information flows rapidly and is freely

03 MINDESS PMKR 48 10/18/04, 11:22 AM