Deaf access by Deaf people - Deaf mediators, interpreters, and translators

• Applicant: Professor Christian Rathmann, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Applied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics ; General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 542656057

Sign language translation and interpreting (SLTI) is a multimodal endeavour with a growing body of research although with less attention on the occurrence and provision of translation into signed languages, and the (multimodal) interpretation between signed and written/spoken languages by deaf mediators, translators, and interpreters (DMIT) providing access to their respective communities. This research will contribute to this literature by focusing on the process and production of DMIT SLTI and its perception by deaf community audience members by undertaking a: i. representative review of the situation of DMIT in selected European countries, ii. cross-linguistic analysis of DMIT interpreting and translation in selected settings. This research will examine the impact of the different journeys and unique histories including the impact of different DMIT professionals within each country in three areas: 1. the translation of information by government, municipality, and non-government organizations from written to signed languages found on websites, new media, and other avenues to provide access to wider society, 2. interpreting on television broadcasts and via webcast to signed languages, and interpreting within conference settings. The research will describe the scope of DMIT work within each area. And then analyze the specific language features of the DMIT product, including the pausing and pacing, prosodic information structure, event structure, and the use of depiction. Simulated DMIT SLTI will be undertaken so that a more detailed analysis of the SLTI process can be explored and described including some comparison with nondeaf interpreters. This will allow for the systematic analysis of the SLTI of the same source language and a corpus to be created. The research will also explore the features of DMIT products within the three areas that facilitate comprehension by deaf audiences. This allows for a comparison between countries across all three areas with some focus on country-specific linguistic and cultural expectations. It should also identify factors that facilitate comprehension in all countries and contexts. The research findings will have several theoretical contributions in interpreting studies and studies of multimodality. Moreover, they will support knowledge transfer translating the findings into practice and to curriculum development in SLTI training programs in Europe.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: France, United Kingdom
• Cooperation Partners: Dr. Jérémie Segouat; Dr. Christopher Stone