Page 81 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

66 Reading Between the Signs

7. “describe, then do,” which uses role shift to describe the
manner in which an action was done (Smith 1996, 220).
In her article “Features of Discourse in an American Sign Lan-
guage Lecture,” Cynthia Roy discusses several characteristics of
ASL that relate to rhetorical style. One feature of ASL is the use of
reported speech. Instead of reporting a dialogue between two
people in the third person (i.e., he said…then she said…), the
speaker/signer constructs a first-person dialogue by assuming the
roles of the people involved to make it more dramatic and inter-
esting (Roy 1989). There are of course many more elements of
rhetorical style in ASL that take advantage of its being a visual
language.

What Persuades Deaf People?
Whom do Deaf people rely on as authorities? “Truths learned from
personal experience take precedence over objective evidence….
Deaf people…are unimpressed by abstract findings published in
books or taught in universities unless they have personal experi-
ence consistent with it” (Smith 1996, 232). Interpreting a typical
medical appointment, we sometimes run across a certain behav-
ior that can illuminate this point. In discussion with the doctor
about their medical condition, Deaf people will often relate sto-
ries about their friends. If the Deaf patient is suffering from some
type of heart ailment, for example, he or she might tell the doctor
about another Deaf person who had a similar condition and then
go on to describe in detail what type of medication the friend
took and with what results. Lacking the understanding that in Deaf
culture the peer group serves as the trusted authority, the hearing
doctor will usually dismiss this seeming digression and try to get
back to the point without ever answering the patient’s implicit
question regarding an alternative medication. If a hearing patient,
however, were to bring up the same concern about a new blood
pressure medication but cite a magazine article or a television
news report as the source of the information, it is likely that the
doctor would respond to that patient’s concerns directly.

Guilty or Innocent?
Another aspect of reasoning which is subject to cultural variation
is the assignment of guilt or innocence. In Black and White Styles
in Conflict, Thomas Kochman contrasts the ways whites and blacks
handle accusations and assert their innocence. Whites, if they hear

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