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Taiwan Sign Language Interpreting: Towards Professional Equality

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Taiwan Sign Language Interpreting: Towards Professional Equality Taiwan Sign Language Interpreting: towards Professional Equality Riccardo Moratto National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation. GITI Supervisor: Professor Jung-hsing Chang This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation GITI National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) December 2012 i ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents ……………………………………………………………….. III List of Tables, Figures and Appendices ………………………………………… VII Abstract …………………………………………………………………………. VIII Abstract in Chinese ……………………………………………………………... 8X Statement of Candidate …………………………………………………………. XIII Acknowledgments ………………………………………………………………. XIV 14 Chapter One Introduction 1.1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………. 1 1.2 Research Hypothesis ………………………………………………………... 5 1.3 Background and Rationale for the Study……………………………………. 6 1.4 General Method ……………………………………………………………... 8 1.5 The Anticipated Contribution of the Study …………………………………. 9 1.6 Organization of the Thesis ………………………………………………….. 10 Chapter Two Taiwan Sign Language 2.1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………. 16 2.2 A Diachronic Analysis of Taiwan Sign Language (TSL): A Historical Excursus of TSL …………………………………………………………………. 18 2.3 Diatopic and diachronic variation …………………………………………... 22 2.4 A Historical Journey Towards Dignity ……………………………………… 29 2.4.1 Language “Evolution”: from Hands to Mouth …………………………. 29 2.5 Cued Speech ………………………………………………………………… 35 2.6 Manually Coded Language …………………………………………………. 38 2.7 Lip Reading …………………………………………………………………. 41 iii 2.8 Oralism ……………………………………………………………………… 44 2.9 Signed Chinese Vs. Natural Sign Language ………………………………... 45 2.10 Concluding remarks ……………………………………………………….. 49 Chapter Three TSL Interpreting 3.1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………. 51 3.2 TSL Interpreting History ……………………………………………………. 51 3.3 Status quo of TSL interpreters ……………………………………………… 59 3.4 Professional volunteers ……………………………………………………... 61 3.5 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………….. 63 Chapter Four Challenging areas in TSL Interpreting 4.1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………. 65 4.2 The Importance of Metaphors and Figurative Speech ……………………… 67 4.3 Diachronic Literature Review ………………………………………………. 70 4.4 Iconicity in Sign Languages ………………………………………………… 77 4.5 Metaphors in Sign Languages ………………………………………………. 79 4.6 Examples from TSL ………………………………………………………… 81 4.7 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………….. 94 Chapter Five Experiments 5.1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………. 96 5.1.1 Sign languages are real languages: neurolinguistics evidence ………. 100 5.1.2 A review of neurolinguistics research in simultaneous interpreting … 1 14 5.2 Qualitative and quantitative experiments …………………………………… 1 29 5.2.1 Qualitative pilot study: quality assessment ………………………….. 129 5.2.2 Quantitative pilot study ……………………………………………… 139 5.2.2.1 Participants……………………………………………………. 139 iv 5.2.2.2 Materials ……………………………………………………… 139 5.2.2.3 Tasks ………………………………………………………….. 140 5.2.2.4 Results ………………………………………………………... 141 5.2.2.5 Discussion …………………………………… 144 5.3 Concluding remarks ………………………………………………………… 146 Chapter Six Assessment and Evaluation in TSL Interpreting 6.1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………. 151 6.2 Assessment and Evaluation Literature Review ……………………………... 156 6.3 The Issue of Interpreting Quality …………………………………………… 1 5 8 6.4 Taiwan Sign Language Interpreting Assessment and Evaluation (TSLI), with an Emphasis on the Naturality Issue ………………………………………. 165 6.4.1 EIPA …………………………………………………………………... 166 6.4.2 TSLIAE ……………………………………………………………….. 175 6.4.3 The Issue of “Naturality”: Natural Sign Language (NSL) vs. Manual Sign Language (MSL) …………………………………………………………... 185 6.5 Tentative New TSLIAE (nTSLIAE) Model ………………………………… 190 6.6 Conclusion and limitations of this chapter ………………………………….. 194 Chapter Seven Conclusion 7.1 A Review of the Chapters …………………………………………………… 19 9 7.2 Concluding Remarks and Future Research ……………………………......... 2 0 3 7.3 Limitations of the Study …………………………………………………….. 2 0 5 References ………………………………………………………………………. 2 0 7 Appendix I ………………………………………………………………………. 2 41 v Appendix II ……………………………………………………………………... 2 51 Appendix III …………………………………………………………………….. 268 vi LIST OF TABLES, FIGURES AND APPENDICES Table Number 1 ……………………………………………………………….. 2 Table Number 2 ……………………………………………………………….. 72 Table Number 3 ……………………………………………………………….. 1 4 3 Table Number 4 ……………………………………………………………..… 1 6 8 Table Number 5………………………………………………………………... 175 Table Number 6 ……………………………………………………………..… 177 Table Number 7 ………………………………………………………….……. 178 Table Number 8 …………………………………………………………..…… 180 Table Number 9 ……………………………………………………………….. 181 Table Number 10 ………………………………………………………….…... 182 Table Number 11 ……………………………………………………………… 183 Table Number 12 ……………………………………………………………… 191 Figure Number 1…………………………………………………………….…. 34 Figure Number 2…………………………………………………………….…. 36 Figure Number 3……………………………………………………………….. 98 Figure Number 4…………………………………………………………..…… 1 04 Figure Number 5……………………………………………………………….. 105 Figure Number 6………………………………………………………..……… 106 Figure Number 7………………………………………………………….……. 110 Figure Number 8………………………………………………………..……… 122 Figure Number 9……………………………………………………………….. 164 Appendix I ……………………………………………………………….……... 241 Appendix II …………………………………………………………………...… 251 Appendix III …………………………………………………………………..… 268 vii ABSTRACT This thesis was originally motivated from discussions with fellow Taiwan Sign Language (TSL) interpreters, from insights into some government documents regulating the profession of sign language interpreters in Taiwan and from my interest as a conference interpreter to explore other fields of the same profession, which are yet to be explored from an academic point of view. According to the TSL professional interpreters interviewed in the process of writing this thesis, their professional status seems to be treated differently from fellow oral interpreters. First of all, they are not paid by working day but rather by the hour and their retribution is considerably much lower than oral interpreters, for various reasons. This is due to budget issues but also to a deep-rooted attitude towards sign language interpreting, which had never before been explored in any publication in Taiwan. This study attempts at investigating general issues concerning the profession of sign language interpreters and focuses on some challenging areas, furthermore it provides a scientifically-based academic structure to recognize the equal professional status of sign interpreters and oral interpreters, not only in theoria but also de facto. The hypothesis underlying one of the chapters of the study, namely chapter six, is that if TSL is indeed a language and if the neurobiological efforts required to carry out the interpreting task, both oral and signed, are the same, then there is no reason for the two modally different categories of interpreters to be treated unequally. In the thesis, there is a complete literature review of the most representative neurobiological studies aimed at proving that sign languages are natural languages at all effects. Furthermore, chapter five is dedicated to an experiment aimed at proving viii the intrinsic difficulty of sign language interpreting and the fact that the efforts underlying the modally different sign interpreting tasks are by no means inferior. The thesis is divided into seven chapters. Each chapter is divided into different paragraphs and some paragraphs are further divided into subparagraphs. The data gathered from this research, both in terms of literature review and in terms of experiments and interviews, will contribute to enhancing interpreters’ knowledge about their own profession and their professional figure. This study is also the first dissertation ever on Taiwan Sign Language (TSL) interpreting-related issues. There have been theses and publications on TSL, per se, but never on TSL interpreting. This is also one of the main contributions in a Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation (GITI). We also hope that this study will spur the government and the ad hoc institutional bodies to recognize the fact that sign language interpreters should have the same rights as oral language interpreters, for instance the co-presence on stage of two colleagues shifting every twenty to thirty minutes, which is the ideal situation, yet not always the case for sign language interpreters. The results of the study have implications for sign language interpreting field in regard to research, pedagogy and practice insofar as they raise the awareness of one’s own professional figure, with all the rights attached. This seems to be a crucial deontological factor in interpreting-related rights discussions. Key words: Taiwan sign language (TSL), interpreter, professional status, equality, assessment. ix 摘要 本文的撰寫動機來自於與臺灣手語傳譯人員之討論，亦來自於本人身爲口譯員對 翻譯學的高度興趣，進而以本身對於翻譯的專業認知來探討翻譯學的相關領域： 翻譯學有很多不同的類別，手語翻譯學為其中一種。據筆者所知，目前臺灣學術 界尚未出版任何與手語翻譯學有關之論文。 從筆者撰寫論文的過程當中所訪談過的專業手語傳譯人員得知，他們與口譯 翻譯人員的待遇並非相同。首先，手語傳譯人員的薪資不是以工作日而是以工時 來計算；再者，手語傳譯人員的薪資比口譯人員低的很多。這可能牽涉到經費的 問題，然而，台灣長久以來將手語傳譯者視為次等翻譯人員的這個情況則尚未在 任何文獻裡面被討論過。 本研究從不同方面來探討手語翻譯員所遇到的問題，並著重在幾個具有挑戰 性的領域。除此之外，本文提供以科學方法為根基的學術研究結構來分析並舉例 說明，手語翻譯員該享有口譯翻譯人員所享有的尊重以及專業上的平等對待--- 理論上與實際上都應如此。本論文第五章中的假設指出，若台灣手語是一種自然 的語言，以及神經語言學認為不同的語言系統之間的翻譯行為所需要用到的腦部 理解組織與解構的生物機能是相同的，則口譯與手譯的專業翻譯行為不應有差別 的待遇。 筆者試圖於本論文中囊括最具有代表性的神經語言學研究來證明手語確實是 自然的語言，並且在第五章中提出假設，試圖用神經語言學的實驗來證明，從事 手譯翻譯的過程所運用到的腦部解構與重組機能並非低於一般口譯的行爲。 本研究所蒐集的資料及數據，無論是在文獻綜述方面或是訪談方面都有助於 提高手譯員對自己的專業形象。此外，本研究也是第一篇關於臺灣手語翻譯學相 關研究的論文，其在台灣師大翻譯研究所亦可視爲主要貢獻之一。作者也希望政
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