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Direction asymmetries in spoken and signed language interpreting
Brenda Nicodemus1, Karen Emmorey
1Department of Interpretation, Gallaudet University.
Bilingualism (Cambridge, England)
|July 9, 2013
Summary
Interpreters show different language direction preferences based on modality. Signed language interpreters prefer interpreting into their second language, unlike spoken language interpreters, due to modality-specific linguistic features.
Area of Science:
- Linguistics
- Sign Language Studies
- Interpreting Studies
Background:
- Spoken language interpreters typically prefer interpreting from their non-dominant (L2) into their native language (L1).
- Anecdotal evidence suggests signed language interpreters exhibit an opposite preference, favoring L1 (spoken) to L2 (signed) interpretation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate and confirm the directionality preferences of spoken (unimodal) and signed (bimodal) language interpreters.
- To explore factors influencing these preferences, differentiating between interpreter experience levels.
Main Methods:
- A large-scale survey study involving 1,359 unimodal and bimodal interpreters.
- Analysis of interpreter preferences for interpreting direction (L1 to L2 vs. L2 to L1).
- Comparison of preferences between novice and expert interpreters in both modalities.
Main Results:
- Confirmed a preference for L1 to L2 interpretation among signed language interpreters, stronger in novices.
- No significant difference in directionality preference was found between novice and expert spoken language interpreters.
- The observed differences were not attributable to language production-comprehension asymmetries or professional experience.
Conclusions:
- Modality and unique linguistic features of signed languages appear to drive bimodal interpreters' directionality preferences.
- Factors such as fingerspelling, transcoding, self-monitoring, and consumer variation may influence the L1 to L2 preference in signed language interpreting.
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