Conveying medication prescriptions in American Sign Language: Use of emphasis in translations by interpreters and deaf physicians

Authors

  • Brenda Nicodemus Gallaudet University
  • Laurie Swabey St. Catherine University
  • Christopher Moreland The University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio

Keywords:

healthcare, prescriptions, interpreters, physicians, deaf, American Sign Language, repetition, modals, prosody, emphasis

Abstract

In this study we examine linguistic features produced by interpreters and deaf bilingual physicians when translating medication instructions from English into American Sign Language (ASL). In the U.S. healthcare system, signed language interpreters are frequently called upon to facilitate communication between deaf individuals who use ASL and their non-signing physicians. A small but growing number of deaf individuals are now pursuing medical training, creating a situation in which deaf patients can communicate in ASL with their healthcare providers. Numerous practical and perceptual barriers affect patients’ medication intake behaviors, including comprehension, memory of instructions, and language differences between physicians and patients. Research indicates that language concordance increases patients’ compliance to prescription treatment. It follows that direct communication in ASL between deaf patients and deaf physicians will positively impact treatment compliance of patients and may result in better recall of medical instructions. We examined the linguistic features used in English to ASL translations of two medication directions as produced by experienced ASL-English interpreters (n=3) and deaf bilingual physicians (n=3). Results showed the absence of a standard approach for translating medication directions into ASL; however, both groups incorporated the same linguistic devices to promote emphasis within the translation, including repetition, emphatic lexical signs, and prosodic markers, presumably to promote recall of key concepts by deaf patients. Lexical variability in the translations is discussed, as well as information gaps between the ASL and English versions of the medication instructions. The results hold implications for healthcare professionals, interpreters, and interpreter educators for building effective communication for deaf patients.

Author Biography

  • Brenda Nicodemus, Gallaudet University

    Brenda Nicodemus is currently Assistant Professor in the Department of Interpretation at Gallaudet University and the Director of Gallaudet’s Interpretation and Translation Research Center. She has worked professionally as an interpreter since 1989 and holds a PhD in Educational Linguistics from the University of New Mexico. She has worked as a Research Scientist at the Laboratory for Language and Cognitive Neuroscience at San Diego State University where she studied the cognitive processes of signed language interpreters. Her areas of research include translation asymmetry in bimodal bilinguals, healthcare interpreting, and the use of prosodic markers to indicate utterance boundaries. Brenda collaborated on the development of a new website that defines linguistic terminology in international sign language (www.signlinguistics.com). She has taught interpreting at various postsecondary institutions and has presented both nationally and internationally. Her publications include Prosodic Markers and Utterance Boundaries in American Sign Language Interpreting (Gallaudet University Press, 2009) and with co-editor, Laurie Swabey, Advances in Interpreting Research (Benjamins, 2011).

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Published

2014-04-02