Detail View: Deaf Studies, Culture, and History Archives: Translation as an educational tool

ds_0049_graybilltranslation_cap_01.mp4

ds_0049_graybilltranslation_cap_01.mp4

Translation as an educational tool

Graybill, Patrick

American Sign Language

Translating and interpreting

Interpreters for the deaf

American Sign Language literature

Deaf wit and humor

Patrick Graybill defines the terms translation (to translate meaning from one language to another language), transliteration (spoken message signed very similarly word for word in Signed English), and interpretation (listening to English and interpreting into ASL or watching a signed ASL presentation and rendering it into spoken English) as he begins his presentation. He believes that translation is a powerful educational tool which assist students in comprehending English using ASL, and promotes cultural understanding, appreciation and respect for both languages and cultures. There are challenges in translating cultural information, especially humor, and he gives examples.

National Technical Institute for the Deaf

Rochester Institute of Technology - RIT Libraries - RIT Archive Collections

Sculptures in the Air: An Accessible Online Video Repository of the American Sign Language (ASL) Poetry and Literature Collections

1987

2018

moving image

mp4

VHS

53 minutes

American Sign Language

English

RITDSA.0049

Sculptures in the Air: An Accessible Online Video Repository of the American Sign Language (ASL) Poetry and Literature Collections

ASL Lecture Series DVDs

2018-2019 CLIR Grant-ASL Poetry and Literature

https://albert.rit.edu/record=b3955821

https://archivesspace.rit.edu/repositories/2/resources/837

New York - Rochester

Henrietta Campus

RIT Libraries makes materials from its collections available for educational and research purposes pursuant to U.S. Copyright Law. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. It is your responsibility to obtain permission from the copyright holder to publish or reproduce images in print or electronic form.

CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 International

MY NAME IS, UM... MEG DAIS, AND I AND SUSAN FISHER AND KEITH COORDINATE THE LECTURE SERIES. IF YOU HAVE YOUR LOOP MONITORS... ARE THEY WORKING OK? MAN: I CAN GET A SOUND CHECK. ACTUALLY, THEY'RE WORKING OK, YES. MEG: UM, A FEW DETAILS BEFORE KEITH INTRODUCES PATRICK GRAYBILL, OUR LECTURER. FIRST, OUR DISCUSSION GROUP IS IN THE VISITORS CENTER. IT'S...IT STARTS AT 2:00, AND IT GOES UNTIL 3:00. UM, THE NEXT THING IS THERE'S A SIGN-UP SHEET... RIGHT HERE, AND I WANT PEOPLE TO WRITE YOUR NAMES AND ADDRESSES, AND IF YOU WANT NOTES, WRITE THAT, WRITE THAT ALSO. [WOMAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY] MEG: THAT'S FINE. THAT'S FINE. BUT I WANT ALL OF YOUR NAMES. THANKS. OH, ANOTHER QUESTION. [LAUGHTER] AND YOU CAN PAY FOR IT. [LAUGHTER] UM...OUR NOTE... OUR NOTE TAKER IS SAM... IS IT S-C-A-E-R-E-R? YEAH? OK. THANKS. UM, AND OUR INTERPRETERS ARE, FOR VOICING, UM, YOUR...YOUR SIGN NAME IS AARON? [LAUGHTER] AND FOR, UM, THE ASL INTERPRETING, IT'S AARON BRACE. ENGLISH? THE NEXT LECTURER IS TORI ARLER, AND THAT'S ON... I HAVE TO CHECK. FEBRUARY 16th. IT'S A TUESDAY. UM, WE HAVE MORE BROCHURES RIGHT HERE IF YOU NEED THEM. AND THAT'S ALL. I THINK THAT YOU KNOW THE PURPOSE FOR THE LECTURE SERIES, AND THAT'S TO INTRODUCE NEW IDEAS AND RESEARCH TO YOU FOR USING IN THE CLASSROOM AND IN YOUR OWN RESEARCH. AND I HOPE THAT YOU GET THAT KIND OF INFORMATION. ANYWAY, NOW IT'S TIME FOR KEITH TO INTRODUCE OUR LECTURER. THANK YOU. KEITH: THANK YOU. I'M SURE YOU'RE ALL FAMILIAR WITH PATRICK GRAYBILL'S SIGN NAME, WHICH IS "PEACHY" ON THE CHEST. I'VE KNOWN PATRICK ABOUT 7 YEARS, AND WHEN I READ HIS VIDA, CURRICULA VIDA, I WAS AMAZED. [LAUGHTER] ALSO, IT MEANS WE HAVE 3 AARONS HERE TODAY. HIS MIDDLE NAME IS AARON, SO IT'S REALLY INTERESTING. PATRICK WAS BORN, AND AS HIS MOTHER WAS CONSIDERING WHAT TO NAME HIM-- HE HAS TWO OLDER SISTERS. HIS OLDEST SISTER IS DEAF. AND THEY WERE CONSIDERING CALLING HIM PAT. THEY WERE THINKING FOR A MIDDLE NAME AND NAMED HIM AARON. THEN, LATER ON, PAT WAS TELLING ME A STORY ABOUT HIS MIDDLE NAME, AND I THOUGHT PERHAPS HE WAS JEWISH. IT WAS CONFUSING BECAUSE HE WAS SO INVOLVED IN THE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY. I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON. LATER I MET HIS MOTHER. AND WE CHECKED WITH HIS MOTHER TO FIND OUT WHY HIS MIDDLE NAME WAS AARON. I WAS TOLD NONE OF HIS BUSINESS. POSSIBLY FROM HIS FATHER. MAYBE SOMETHING RELATED WITH THE MAILMAN. I'M NOT REALLY SURE. PATRICK GREW UP IN KANSAS, ATTENDED THE KANSAS SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF, GRADUATING IN 1958, AND THEN WENT TO GALLAUDET COLLEGE, WHERE HE GOT HIS B.A. IN ENGLISH... IN 1963. HE RECEIVED HIS MASTER'S IN DEAF EDUCATION IN 1964 AND TRANSFERRED TO CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY. HE WAS ALSO AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN WASHINGTON, D.C., WHERE HE STUDIED. HE WENT TO ST. BERNARD'S SEMINARY, AND THEN HE'S BEEN HERE IN ROCHESTER, WHERE HE'S BEEN STUDYING THEOLOGY. HE ALSO WORKED AT THE KENDALL SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF IN WASHINGTON, D.C., AS AN INSTRUCTOR FROM 1964 TILL 1967 AND THEN PURSUED AN ACTING CAREER WITH THE NATIONAL THEATER OF THE DEAF FROM 1969 TO 1979, 10 YEARS. THAT'S WHERE HE REALLY PICKED UP HIS SIGNING EXPERTISE. THEN HE CAME HERE TO NTID IN 1979, HIRED AS AN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, AND HE'S BEEN WORKING HERE SINCE. PATRICK HAS MUCH EXPERIENCE AS AN ACTOR AND ALSO TRANSLATING PLAYS FROM ENGLISH INTO ASL. HE HAS EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN ASL IN DRAMA, AND HE'S AIDED WITH MANY TRANSLATIONS FOR THE PLAYS HERE AT NTID. HE ALSO TEACHES A COURSE IN TRANSLATION FROM ENGLISH TO ASL RELATED TO THEATER. TODAY HE'LL BE SPEAKING ON TRANSLATION INTO ASL. SO LET'S WELCOME PATRICK GRAYBILL. [APPLAUSE] THANK YOU, KEITH. HELLO, EVERYONE. I'M REALLY EXCITED TO BE HERE PRESENTING TODAY. I'M NOT SURE IF THIS INFORMATION WILL BE ENTIRELY NEW TO PEOPLE OR IF YOU'RE ALREADY FAMILIAR WITH IT. BUT I'D LIKE TO SHARE SOME OF THE INSIGHTS I'VE GAINED AS I WAS GROWING UP. LET ME OPEN BY PRESENTING AN OVERHEAD. [LAUGHTER] TRANSLATION. AS WE CONSIDER TRANSLATION, YOU KNOW THE KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN ADVERTISEMENTS TALK ABOUT "FINGER-LICKIN' GOOD." REALLY DELICIOUS. AND PEOPLE HAVE BOUGHT A LOT OF KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN. IT'S REALLY HELPED THEIR MARKETING. NOW, IF YOU TRY AND DO A TRANSLITERATION FROM THE ENGLISH INTO CHINESE CHARACTERS OR CHINESE LANGUAGE... IT DOESN'T REALLY WORK SUCCESSFULLY. [LAUGHTER] BECAUSE THE TRANSLATION, THE IDIOM COMES OUT IN CHINESE AS "EAT YOUR FINGERS OFF." NOT EXACTLY A DELIGHTFUL PROPOSITION. NOW, I WANT TO ADDRESS TODAY USING TRANSLATION AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL TO SEE HOW WE CAN USE TRANSLATION IN THE CLASSROOM TO AID STUDENTS IN COMPREHENDING ENGLISH AS ONE LANGUAGE THEY USE AND ASL AS ANOTHER LANGUAGE THEY USE, SO THEY'LL HAVE CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING AND APPRECIATION, EQUAL RESPECT FOR BOTH LANGUAGES. KEITH BRIEFLY DESCRIBED SOME OF THE EXPERIENCES I HAVE IN TRANSLATION. AS I WAS GROWING UP, I LEARNED ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE. I HAVE 48 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, AND I AM STILL LEARNING ENGLISH. SECONDLY, I HAVE 10 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AS AN ACTOR WITH NTD, THE NATIONAL THEATER OF THE DEAF, AND HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE THERE TRANSLATING PLAYS IN ASL. IT REALLY HELPED ME TO DEVELOP AN INTERNAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE TRANSLATION PROCESS. NOW, I KNOW THAT ONE CAN'T DO TRANSLATIONS 100% ACCURATELY, BUT WE WORKED ON TRANSLATIONS AND KEPT COMING UP WITH NEW IDEAS, NEW WAYS OF APPROACHING OUR TASK. SO THIS WILL PERHAPS SPARK SOME DISCUSSION. AND I DON'T THINK WE'LL HAVE FINAL SOLUTIONS HERE TODAY DURING THE PRESENTATION, BUT IT CAN SERVE AS THE BASIS FOR DISCUSSION. NOW, WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT IS USING TWO LANGUAGES, ASL AND ENGLISH. ASL USERS WHO SEE ENGLISH OFTEN HAVE A LOT OF MISUNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT THE LANGUAGE AND THE CULTURE, AND SIMILARLY, ENGLISH SPEAKERS HAVE A LOT OF MISUNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT ASL. GOOD TRANSLATIONS CAN HELP MEDIATE THIS PROBLEM. THERE'S A LOT OF WAYS WE CAN APPROACH USING TWO LANGUAGES AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL. THERE'S A LOT OF EDUCATIONAL TOOLS WE HAVE-- MEDIA SUCH AS OVERHEADS AND SLIDES, TRANSPARENCIES, CAPTIONING. ALL OF THESE CAN SERVE AS BRIDGES BETWEEN TWO LANGUAGES. BUT WHAT I WANT TO EMPHASIZE TODAY IS THAT TRANSLATION ITSELF CAN BE AN OUTSTANDING EDUCATIONAL TOOL TO USE IN THE CLASSROOM. BEFORE I PROCEED WITH THE LECTURE, I'D LIKE TO CLARIFY SOME TERMINOLOGY. FIRST, "TRANSLATION." SECONDLY, "TRANSLITERATION." TRANSLATE. AND THIRD, "INTERPRET." YOU KNOW THAT WE USE THE SIGN "INTERPRET," AND USUALLY WE'RE TALKING ABOUT LISTENING TO ENGLISH AND INTERPRETING INTO ASL OR WATCHING A SIGNED PRESENTATION IN ASL AND RENDERING THAT IN SPOKEN ENGLISH, WITH THE APPROPRIATE TIME LAG. AND WHEN WE TALK ABOUT TRANSLITERATE, I THINK IT'S SIMILAR TO THE PROCESS YOU SEE USED BY KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN. THERE MIGHT BE A SPOKEN MESSAGE, AND IT'S SIGNED VERY SIMILARLY, PRETTY MUCH WORD FOR WORD... IN SOME FORM OF SIGNED ENGLISH... SO THAT THERE'S A SOURCE MESSAGE AND IS TRANSLITERATED INTO ENGLISH, ALMOST A WORD FOR WORD CLAUSE IN ENGLISH WORD ORDER. NOW, TYPICALLY, THE WAY THOSE WORDS ARE USED, OFTEN "TRANSLATE" IS USED TO TRANSLATE FROM ONE WRITTEN LANGUAGE TO ANOTHER WRITTEN LANGUAGE. IT'S A WRITTEN PROCESS, AND THERE'S A LOT OF TIME AVAILABLE TO STUDY THE SOURCE LANGUAGE AS YOU'RE WORKING INTO YOUR TARGET LANGUAGE. CAN EVERYONE SEE THE OVERHEAD OK? WHEN WE TALK ABOUT TRANSLATION, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A BRIDGE BETWEEN TWO LANGUAGES. IT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER WHICH TWO LANGUAGES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT. IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE ENGLISH AND ASL. IT COULD BE ANY LANGUAGE USED IN THE WORLD. WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE SOURCE LANGUAGE, IT MIGHT BE WRITTEN MATERIAL, A NOVEL. IT COULD BE A PLAY. SO YOU HAVE THE SOURCE-LANGUAGE MESSAGE THAT THEN HAS TO BE DECODED INTO THE MEANING. YOU NEED TO PRESERVE THAT MEANING AND FIND WAYS TO EXPRESS IT ACCURATELY IN THE TARGET LANGUAGE. YOU HAVE TO CONSIDER THE PEOPLE WHO USE THAT TARGET LANGUAGE. PERHAPS YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A POEM OR A STORY OR A PLAY IN ENGLISH AS A SOURCE LANGUAGE. ONE CAN READ THAT, COMPREHEND THE MEANING, AND DETERMINE HOW TO APPROPRIATELY TRANSLATE IT INTO ASL, AND DEAF USERS OF ASL WILL COMPREHEND THE MESSAGE. WHAT'S IMPORTANT IS COMPREHENDING THE MEANING BEHIND THAT ENGLISH MESSAGE. IT WOULD BE VERY EASY FOR US TO LOOK AT THE SOURCE LANGUAGE AND THEN SIGN IT ALMOST WORD FOR WORD IN A TRANSLITERATION, GLOSSING, PICKING ONE SIGN FOR EACH ENGLISH WORD. WHEN THAT'S DONE, THE COMPREHENSION LEVEL OF THE ASL USERS WOULD NOT BE ADEQUATE. PERHAPS YOU'RE NOT USING APPROPRIATE GRAMMATICAL FEATURES, AS ONE DOES. LET ME GIVE YOU SOME EXAMPLES. [LAUGHTER] LET ME DEMONSTRATE THE FIRST SENTENCE. IT'S EASY FOR ME TO TRANSLITERATE THIS. [LAUGHTER] THE MEAT, FINGER-SPELLING "LOAF," DID NOT AGREE WITH HIM. PERHAPS ASL USERS WHO AREN'T SKILLED IN ENGLISH YET BUT WHO ARE STILL ACQUIRING ENGLISH LANGUAGE SKILLS WOULD BE CONFUSED BETWEEN A MEATLOAF THAT YOU EAT AND A PERSON WHO IS LAZY. ONE NEEDS TO TRANSMIT THE SPECIFIC MESSAGE. LET ME TRANSLATE THIS. IN THAT TRANSLATION, THE MEANING IS PRESERVED. IT TAKES SOME TIME TO EXPLAIN A GLOSS. WAIT A MINUTE. BEFORE I PROCEED WITH THAT, I'M CURIOUS--HOW MANY PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE WOULD LIKE ME TO TAKE TIME TO EXPLAIN MY SIGN CHOICES OR HOW I'M DOING THE SENTENCE IN ASL? DO I NEED TO ELABORATE ON THAT FOR ANYONE? THERE ARE A FEW PEOPLE. OK. GOOD. FOR FOLKS WHO ARE FLUENT IN ASL, PLEASE BEAR WITH US, BECAUSE I'D LIKE TO MAKE THIS CLEAR. WE CAN BORROW THE WORDS OF ENGLISH AND GLOSS THOSE INTO SIGNS. YOU KNOW THAT ASL HAS NO WRITTEN FORM ITSELF. SO...ONE THING I COULD DO IS BORROW THESE WORDS FROM ENGLISH. FIRST, I SIGNED THIS FOR "MEAT," FINGER-SPELLED "LOAF," AND USED THE CLASSIFIER TO SHOW THE MEATLOAF A SIZE AND SPACE SIGNIFIER. I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT LOAF, A LAZY PERSON WHO LIES AROUND AND DOES NOTHING, THE SIGN I JUST SIGNED. I'M TALKING ABOUT A SLAB OF MEAT. FOR HIM, I USED THE SIGN INDICATING A PERSON SET APPROPRIATELY IN SPACE AND SHOWED HIM EATING AND SWALLOWING THE MEAT, INDICATED THE STOMACH, AND TOGETHER, THE SIGN I MADE AN UPSET STOMACH. SO I USED APPROPRIATE GRAMMATICAL FEATURES OF ASL, WHICH REALLY HELPS OUR STUDENTS UNDERSTAND AND CLARIFIES THE MEANING BEHIND THAT WRITTEN SENTENCE. LET ME SHOW YOU THE SECOND SENTENCE. IT SHOULD BE PRETTY EASY. RIGHT. I WOULD SUGGEST THAT THE CHILDREN WERE ALL EYES, SIGNED THIS WAY AS THE CHILDREN WERE AMAZED. YOU MIGHT GLOSS THAT. AT THE CIRCUS, THE CHILDREN WERE JUST AMAZED OR FASCINATED. SURE, ANOTHER WAY TO SIGN IT IN ASL WOULD BE THIS, STILL PRESERVING THAT SAME MEANING OF FA... MEANING OF FASCINATION AND AWE. WHETHER ONE SIGNS "FASCINATION" OR "AWE" IN A VARIETY OF WAYS, IT PRESERVES THE MEANING OF THE SOURCE-LANGUAGE SENTENCE. ALL RIGHT. THIRD SAMPLE SENTENCE, THAT "ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS," IS NOT QUITE AS EASY. MANY OF OUR STUDENTS... MIGHT LEARN THE MEANING BEHIND THAT WRITTEN ENGLISH SENTENCE THROUGH A TRANSLATION PROCESS. LET ME TAKE SOME TIME TO EXPLAIN, SETTING UP ACTIONS AND WORDS. WE HAVE ACTIONS. WE HAVE WORDS. WHICH CARRIES MORE STRENGTH? THE ACTION DOES, APPROPRIATELY SETTING UP EACH CONCEPT IN SPACE AND THEN COMPARING AND CONTRASTING THOSE. SO IT'S EASY FOR US PERHAPS TO PRESENT A MEANING OF LANGUAGE, THE VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR, UH... BUT IT'S NOT EASY FOR US TO DO THAT, ALTHOUGH IT'S MUCH EASIER PERHAPS TO DO THAT THAN TO TRANSMIT APPROPRIATE CULTURAL INFORMATION. THE 3 THINGS WE NEED TO CONSIDER ARE THE MEANING, THE GRAMMAR OF EACH LANGUAGE, AND THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND OF THE LANGUAGE USERS. WHILE THE MEANING AND GRAMMAR CAN OFTEN BE PRESERVED EASILY, THERE'S A REAL CHALLENGE IN PRESENTING INFORMATION CULTURALLY APPROPRIATELY WITH EQUAL RESPECT AND STATUS FOR EACH CULTURE. IN OUR FOURTH SAMPLE SENTENCE, IT SAYS, "I'M SORRY THAT YOU MISSED THE BOAT." NOW, YOU COULD STRING TOGETHER TWO SIGNS GLOSSED, LIKE THE SIGN FOR "MISS" AND THE SIGN FOR "BOAT." BUT THE MEANING IS NOT PRESERVED. PERHAPS A SIGN CHOICE LIKE "TRAIN GONE," IF I CAN GLOSS IT THAT WAY, WHICH IS USED IN ASL, HAS THE SAME MEANING. IT'S SIMILARLY IDIOMATIC IN BOTH LANGUAGES. THAT WAY, THE COMPREHENSION OF THE MEANING IS PRESERVED, AND THE INFORMATION IS TRANSMITTED LINGUISTICALLY AND CULTURALLY ACCURATELY FOR ASL USERS. SO...WHAT IS THE TRANSLATOR RESPONSIBLE FOR? ONE NEEDS TO ANALYZE THE SOURCE LANGUAGE AND COME UP WITH A TRANSLATION THAT'S ACCURATE. SOMETIMES A TRANSLATION... SOMEONE DOING A TRANSLATION HAS DIFFICULTY UNDERSTANDING ACCURATELY THE CLARITY OF THE SOURCE-LANGUAGE MESSAGE. THERE'S A TENDENCY TO WATER DOWN THE INFORMATION, TO SPOON-FEED... THE SPEAKERS OR HEARERS IN THE TARGET-LANGUAGE MESSAGE. REALLY, IT'S THE TRANSLATOR'S RESPONSIBILITY TO PRESENT AN ACCURATE EQUIVALENT MESSAGE, AND THE PRESENTATION, WHETHER SIGNED OR SPOKEN, NEEDS TO BE CLEAR. YOU NEED TO CLEARLY PRESERVE THE MEANING WITH APPROPRIATE GRAMMAR. A THIRD CRITERIA OF A GOOD TRANSLATION IS IT NEEDS TO BE NATURAL. THE TRANSLATION INTO THE TARGET LANGUAGE MUST PRESERVE NATURAL LANGUAGE PRINCIPLES AND CHARACTERISTICS. I'VE BEEN THINKING FOR A LONG TIME HOW I MIGHT SHOW AN EXAMPLE OF SOMETHING THAT EVERYONE'S FAMILIAR WITH, THAT THEY'VE GROWN UP WITH, THAT THEY'RE ACCUSTOMED TO... AND ANALYZE THAT FOR THE MEANING. I THINK A SENTENCE MIGHT NOT BE ENOUGH. WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR WAS A PASSAGE, AN ENTIRE TEXT THAT WE COULD ANALYZE... PERHAPS A FORM OF DISCOURSE ANALYSIS. SO I'VE TRIED TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING WE'RE ALL FAMILIAR WITH, I'M SURE ALL OF US HAVE SEEN BEFORE. I'M SURE YOU'RE ALL FAMILIAR WITH THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. NOW, AS I THINK BACK AT HOW WE SIGN THAT GROWING UP IN SCHOOL... IT WAS ALMOST A WORD-FOR-WORD GLOSS. THIS WAY, LITERALLY "FOR WHICH IT STANDS." "INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL." THOSE WERE THE SIGN CHOICES WE'D SEE AS WE GREW UP IN SCHOOL. AND THEN IMAGINE, HEARING PEOPLE DID THE SAME THING IN SCHOOL, RECITED THIS OVER AND OVER AGAIN BY ROTE... SIMILARLY TO HOW DEAF PEOPLE SIGNED IT, PERHAPS NOT UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING, UH, ACCEPTING IT WITHOUT DISCUSSION AT ALL. BUT I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE A FUN EXERCISE PERHAPS TO TRY AND SIGN IT IN A WAY THAT REALLY SHOWS THE MEANING, WHAT IT REPRESENTS, TO LOOK AT THAT TRANSLATION PROCESS AND SEE IF IT MIGHT HELP STUDENTS UNDERSTAND THE MEANING AND THE FEELING BEHIND THE WORDS. I DON'T KNOW WHO FIRST CAME UP WITH THAT TRANSLATION, THE WORD-FOR-WORD GLOSS OF "I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG." I HAVE HERE A STATEMENT FROM THE COMMISSION ON THE EDUCATION OF THE DEAF FROM THEIR... ONE OF THEIR REPORTS I'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU. NOW, THIS IS WHY I SUPPORT THE IDEA SO STRONGLY OF USING TRANSLATION AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL TO HELP BOTH HEARING CHILDREN AND DEAF CHILDREN UNDERSTAND THEIR LANGUAGE AND THEIR CULTURE AND ALSO GAIN INSIGHTS INTO OTHER LANGUAGES AND OTHER CULTURES. I THINK PERHAPS SOME PEOPLE HERE HAVE SOME NEGATIVE BIASES TOWARDS ASL AS A LANGUAGE AND A CULTURE. PERHAPS SOME DEAF STUDENTS HAVE NEGATIVE BIASES TOWARDS ENGLISH AND THE MAINSTREAM CULTURE. THROUGH TRANSLATION PROCESS, IT'S EASY... IT'S AN EASY WAY TO TRY AND GAIN INFORMATION AND SHARE EXPERIENCES IN A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE AND CULTURE. I REALLY STRUGGLED WITH TRYING TO COME UP WITH AN ACCEPTABLE TRANSLATION. I LOOKED OVER THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE WRITTEN IN ENGLISH, AND CERTAINLY I HAVE A SIGN FOR EACH WORD, BUT THAT'S NOT SUFFICIENT. I COULD MAKE SOME APPROPRIATE GRAMMATICAL CHANGES, AS I MENTIONED BEFORE. AND THEN WE GET TO THE POINT OF CULTURE, THE CULTURE OF ASL USERS. GRAMMATICALLY, A DISCOURSE ALWAYS STARTS WITH THE TOPIC, THE SUBJECT OF WHAT THE TEXT WILL BE ABOUT. IT SEEMS THAT THE TOPIC IS THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE REPUBLIC... THE GOVERN... AND THE MEANING BEHIND A REPUBLIC IS REALLY OUR FORM OF GOVERNMENT. NOW, YOU COULD... GO ON AND TALK ABOUT HOW THIS IS MODIFIED. LET ME GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE. YOU MIGHT HAVE A RED CAR THAT I BOUGHT YESTERDAY. IN ASL, FIRST YOU SET UP THE TOPIC, THE CAR, AND THEN THAT IT WAS RED AND I BOUGHT IT YESTERDAY. THAT'S THE TYPICAL WORD ORDER IN THE ASL GRAMMAR. SO, FIRST WE HAVE THE TOPIC, THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES, OF OUR REPUBLIC, THE GOVERNMENT. AND THEN THE MODIFIERS, THAT IT'S REPRESENTED BY THIS FLAG AND THE CONCEPTS OF "ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE." AND FINALLY YOU'D GET TO THE SUBJECT, THAT "I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE, I'M IN SUPPORT AND FAVOR OF THIS." QUITE A CHANGE IN WORD ORDER AND PRESENTATIONS OF IDEAS, BUT IT ADDS GREAT CLARITY FOR A NATIVE USER OF ASL. NOW, I'M NOT SUGGESTING WE SHOULD SIGN IT THIS WAY IN THE CLASSROOM. I'M NOT SUGGESTING THAT AT ALL. BUT AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL, IT PRESERVES THE MEANING AND THE CULTURE. CERTAINLY, WE COULD LEAVE THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE IN ITS FROZEN FORM IN ENGLISH ON THE BLACKBOARD, AND IT'S PERFECTLY APPROPRIATE FOR DAILY USE. OUR STUDENTS CAN CERTAINLY SIGN THAT. BUT IN ASL, YOU'D HAVE THE TOPIC FIRST, THE FLAG AND THE REPUBLIC, AND THEN THE MODIFIERS... "ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL," AND FINALLY, "I SUPPORT THIS, I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO." [LAUGHTER] TOM HOLCOMBE IN THE AUDIENCE SAID, "I LIKE THAT TRANSLATION." I TOLD HIM THANKS. [LAUGHTER] GREAT. NOW, IT'S EASY FOR US TO SAY, "OH, GREAT. SWELL TRANSLATION." AND WE CAN TRANSLATE FROM ONE LANGUAGE TO ANOTHER. IT'S ALWAYS AN EASY PROCESS. IT CAN ALWAYS BE DONE. BUT THAT'S NOT TRUE. SOMETIMES IT'S LITERALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO TRANSLATE FROM ONE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE TO ANOTHER. LET ME ILLUSTRATE THIS WITH A JOKE I'VE USED IN MY TRANSLATION CLASSES. I DON'T WANT TO ENTER INTO A LOT OF DISCUSSION. FIRST, WHAT I'D LIKE TO DO IS PRESENT THIS ON THE OVERHEAD, AND WHEN I'M DONE, I'LL SIGN IT. [LAUGHTER] OK. I'M SINCERELY CURIOUS. HOW MANY PEOPLE HERE, PERHAPS DEAF PEOPLE, DON'T REALLY UNDERSTAND THIS JOKE? BELIEVE ME, YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONES. I'VE PUT IN A LOT OF STUDY ON WRITTEN ENGLISH, AND I CAN UNDERSTAND IT, BUT I DON'T REALLY FEEL THE HUMOR BEHIND IT. I THINK IT'S KIND OF INTERESTING. I'VE GOT AN INTELLECTUAL FASCINATION WITH THAT, WHY IT'S HUMOROUS IN ENGLISH, BUT FRANKLY, IT DOESN'T TICKLE MY FUNNY BONE. I'LL TRY AND TRANSLATE THIS INTO ASL. I DON'T KNOW IF IT WILL HELP OR NOT. THIS IS THE SIGN I'LL BE USING FOR "HOW," FROM ENGLISH CULTURE. IN ENGLISH, WE'D SAY, "HOW DO YOU LIKE THE EGG... HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR EGGS?" AND YOU MIGHT SAY SCRAMBLED OR POACHED OR FRIED. LET ME GO AHEAD AND PERFORM THIS JOKE NOW. [LAUGHTER] [CLAPS] [LAUGHTER] NOW, I WONDER, IS THAT MORE COMPREHENSIBLE? I'M WONDERING ABOUT THE LEVEL OF UNDERSTANDING. WELL, FINALLY UNDERSTAND IT MAYBE? HMM... UH, I THINK HEARING PEOPLE CERTAINLY UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT IT'S FROM HEARING CULTURE. YOU KNOW, THE "HOW," H-O-W. HOW DO YOU LIKE THE EGGS? AND THE SOUND IS THE SAME FROM THE INDIAN GREETING--"HOW." AND THAT RESPONSE, "FRIED," UH-UH, JUST DOESN'T WORK. LET ME EXPLAIN IT. NOW, WHEN I EXPLAIN IT THAT WAY... HE GREETED THE INDIAN AND SAID, "HO," AND IT SOUNDS LIKE "HOW," SO THE INDIAN ANSWERED, "FRIED. THAT'S HOW I LIKE MY EGGS." AFTER 17 YEARS, HE STILL REMEMBERED EXACTLY WHERE THEY LEFT OFF THE CONVERSATION. SO THE DEVIL COULDN'T TAKE HIS SOUL. NOW, UNDERSTAND IT? OK. GREAT. IS IT FUNNY? KIND OF CUTE, HUH? WELL, IT'S PRETTY GOOD. UH...OK. BUT STRANGE THING-- MANY DEAF STUDENTS IN MY CLASS HAVE THE EXACT SAME RESPONSES TO MY QUESTION. "WELL, YEAH, I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING NOW, BUT YOU'RE NOT FUNNY." WHEN I WAS WORKING ON THE TRANSLATION FOR THE PLAY, THE FOREIGNER FACED SOME SIMILAR DIFFICULTIES RELATED TO HUMOR. THE CLASS WOULD STUDY THE PLAY TO THE POINT WHERE THEY UNDERSTOOD THEIR REASONS BEHIND THE HUMOR. BUT AT THAT STAGE, ALL THE HUMOR WAS GONE. IT WAS AN INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITY AND NOT TRULY FUNNY. SO THERE IS HUMOR IN ENGLISH, IN THAT SPOKEN LANGUAGE, WITH THAT CULTURE THAT CAN'T BE TRANSLATED. AND, SURE, IF IT'S... YOU ATTEMPT TO TRANSLATE IT, PEOPLE CAN SMILE, PRETEND TO LAUGH POLITELY, BUT THE HUMOR ISN'T REALLY THERE. IT'S SIMILAR PERHAPS TO THE SIGN-LANGUAGE JOKE FROM DEAF CULTURE WHERE THE JOKE LINE... WHERE THE PUNCH LINE IS "PLEASE BUT." A MAN DRIVES UP TO SOME RAILROAD TRACKS, AND THE CROSSING GUARDS ARE DOWN ACROSS THE ROAD, AND HE WANTS TO... THE TRAIN GOES BY, BUT THE GUARDS DON'T GO UP AGAIN. SO HE WALKS OVER TO A MAN AT THE GATEHOUSE BECAUSE THE GATES DIDN'T OPEN AND WRITES ON THE SHEET OF PAPER "PLEASE BUT." AND THE GUY DOESN'T UNDERSTAND IT. NOW, IF YOU'RE A USER OF SIGN AND YOU SIGN "PLEASE BUT," IT MAKES PERFECT SENSE, AND YOU CAN EXPLAIN THAT PERHAPS TO A HEARING AUDIENCE. GO AHEAD. EXPLAIN THAT TO A NOVICE INTERPRETER SOMETIME OR EXPLAIN THAT TO AN INTERPRETER. AND THEY SAY, "OK. FINE WITH ME. FINE." AND THEN THEY COMPREHEND IT, BUT THE HUMOR IS GONE. WELL, THAT'S MY POINT. TRANSLATION AS A PROCESS CAN HELP STUDENTS UNDERSTAND THEIR CULTURE, INCLUDING HUMOR, VOCABULARY, LINGUISTIC FEATURES, GRAMMATICAL FEATURES. FOR HEARING PEOPLE WHO STUDY ASL, CERTAINLY THEY CAN UNDERSTAND THE VOCABULARY OF THE LANGUAGE, THE HUMOR IN ASL. EACH LANGUAGE HAS ITS OWN SET OF PUNS. AND THAT'S REALLY AN ENJOYABLE PROCESS WHERE YOU BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND MORE THAN ONE LANGUAGE. THAT'S AN IMPORTANT PART OF EDUCATION AND THE ENJOYMENT AND VITALITY OF LIFE. LAST YEAR, I DIRECTED A PLAY CALLED "THE FOREIGNER"... AND WORKED ON TRANSLATING THAT. THE PROCESS I USED WAS READING THE ENGLISH. AND FIRST...WELL, I COULDN'T WRITE INTO ASL. SO I'D HAVE TO BORROW SOME OF THE WORDS AND TERMINOLOGY FROM THE ENGLISH AND WRITE DOWN A GLOSS, ALMOST AN OUTLINE OF ENGLISH KEYWORDS. THEN, IN THE FIRST WEEK OF REHEARSAL, WE GOT TOGETHER WITH THE CAST, AND I TOOK TURNS SIGNING SOME OF THOSE, UH, GLOSSES THAT I HAD, SOME KEY SENTENCES. AND SO, WHAT WAS WORKING, AND WHAT WASN'T? AND SOME OF THE STUDENTS WHO GREW UP IN DEAF CULTURE HAD SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR ALTERNATE WAYS TO SIGN IT, AT LEAST ON HOW THEY UNDERSTOOD THE MEANING. SO WE WENT THROUGH A PROCESS OF WORKING ON A TRANSLATION. AND I LOOKED BACK, AND I SAW SOME OF THEM I REALLY LIKED, INCORPORATED THOSE SUGGESTIONS. BUT THEN WE DID PASSAGES THAT JUST SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE TO TRANSLATE. WE PUT A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT AND THOUGHT INTO IT. FINALLY, I HAD TO ELECT TO ELIMINATE SOME PASSAGES THAT JUST COULDN'T BE TRANSLATED. THEY COULD BE VOICED IN ENGLISH, BUT THEY COULDN'T BE TRANSLATED. IF WE TRIED TO GLOSS THOSE, THEY WOULDN'T BE HUMOROUS AT ALL FOR DEAF PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE OR FOR SIGNERS IN THE AUDIENCE. SO WE JUST HAD TO ELIMINATE THOSE. THE TROUBLE... THE PROBLEM WAS THEY COULDN'T BE TRANSLATED IN TERMS OF THE CULTURE. IF YOU LOOK AT THE SAMPLE HERE, THE FIRST SENTENCE, "HERE WE GO." THEN CHARLIE-- "HERE WE GO." IF YOU LOOK AT THE FIRST PASSAGE, WHERE FROGGY IS SPEAKING... THAT'S ENGLISH, SPOKEN ENGLISH FROM BRITAIN. NOW, HOW DO WE TRANSLATE THAT INTO ASL? SHOULD WE USE A SIGN LIKE THIS, "FROM NOW ON" OR "WHERE ARE WE GOING FROM HERE"? FOR ASL USERS, YOU KNOW WHY I'M USING THIS, WHY I WAVE MY HAND LIKE THAT. IT'S AN ATTENTION-GETTER. YOU KNOW, IN ASL, YOU CAN HOLLER A PERSON'S NAME. I'M SORRY. IN SPOKEN ENGLISH, YOU CAN HOLLER A PERSON'S NAME. SIGNERS DON'T TEND TO CALL PEOPLE BY NAME. IT'S A CHARACTERISTIC WAVE THAT WOULD BE USED TO GET SOMEONE'S ATTENTION. SO IT'S CULTURALLY EQUIVALENT. IT'S COMPLEMENTARY. THE CHOICE I USED WASN'T... WELL, "HERE WE GO FROM HERE." I USED WHAT? "WE'VE ARRIVED. WE'VE ARRIVED HERE." THE PART HERE, "HELLO, BETH," HEARING ACTORS COULD HOLLER, "HELLO, BETH OR BETTY," USING THE NAME SIGN, BUT IN DEAF CULTURE, YOU CERTAINLY CAN'T HOLLER TO GET SOMEONE'S ATTENTION LIKE THAT, SO WE HAD TO MAKE SOME MODIFICATIONS WHERE THEY COULD WALK TO THE DOOR, OPEN IT UP, AND WAVE HELLO. "HELLO, BETTY." OR "MISS BETTY." THE SPOKEN ENGLISH LINE WAS "BETTY, MY LOVE. "BETTY, MY LOVE. WHERE IS SHE?" AND FOR THE SPOKEN LINE "WHAT TIME DO YOU MAKE IT?" COULD BE TRANSLATED PRETTY CLOSELY. BRENDA. AARON HAD A QUESTION. AARON: I'M CURIOUS. AS I'M WATCHING THE WRITTEN ENGLISH YOU HAVE WRITTEN DOWN THERE... UH, THE SPELLING IS REALLY DIFFERENT. INSTEAD OF W-H-A-T, YOU HAVE W-O-T. BRITISH OR PERHAPS... I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S LOWER-CLASS OR WHAT, BUT HOW DID YOU SIGNIFY THAT OR TRANSLATE THAT? PATRICK: THE QUESTION WAS, IN THE WRITTEN SCRIPT, AS YOU READ THROUGH IT... YOU SEE A VERY BRITISH WAY OF SPEAKING-- W-O-T FOR "WHAT." AND "D'YER," D'-Y-E-R. SOMETIMES IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO PRESERVE THAT SORT OF THING GOING FROM ONE LANGUAGE TO ANOTHER. YOU CAN TRY IT IN THE WAY YOU SIGN. I COULD FORMALLY SIGN, "WHAT TIME IS IT NOW?" OR, HITTING A DIFFERENT REGISTER, "WHAT TIME IS IT? HEY, MAN, WHAT TIME?" SO YOU COULD DO IT PERHAPS WITH REGISTER. KEITH... KEITH WAS ASKING ME... PERHAPS THROUGH CLOTHING, DRESSING APPROPRIATELY, YOU COULD SHOW SOME OF THAT, SURE. THAT'S A DIRECTOR'S DECISION, ANY TIME YOU'RE DOING A PLAY AND THAT TECHNIQUE HELPS. WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO FOCUS ON NOW IS THE LANGUAGE CONSIDERATIONS, LANGUAGE AND CULTURE. UH, WE'RE... TIME IS REALLY SHORT. I'D LIKE TO SHOW YOU ONE MORE OVERHEAD. [LAUGHTER] I STRUGGLED TRYING TO TRANSLATE THAT INTO ASL. WE HAD A LOT OF DISCUSSION, PUT A LOT OF EFFORT INTO WORKING ON THE TRANSLATION PROCESS AND ULTIMATELY DECIDED IT WAS TOTALLY PART OF A SPOKEN-LANGUAGE HEARING CULTURE. WE HAD TO CUT THIS OUT OF THE PLAY. MY CURRENT FEELING IS, IF I WAS DIRECT... IF I WERE DIRECTING THIS PLAY AGAIN WITH A DIFFERENT CAST, MAYBE I COULD FIND A WAY TO DO IT, BUT MY DECISION, WHEN I WAS DIRECTING IT, WAS TO JUST CUT IT OUT AND DELETE IT. OR THEY'RE MAKING THAT COMPARISON ABOUT CALLING A TONGUE FLOPPY. IT'S JUST SUCH A PUN, SUCH A DOUBLE MEANING INVOLVED, THE DOUBLE ENTENDRE. IN DEAF CULTURE, A SIGNED LANGUAGE, YOU DON'T SPEAK WITH YOUR TONGUE. YOU COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR HANDS. I DON'T KNOW IF YOU COULD SIGN SOME WAY APPROPRIATELY AS "FLOPPY HAND" OR DO SOMETHING TO SIGNIFY THAT, BUT IT'S NOT EASY. IT'S CERTAINLY NOT EASY TO TRANSLATE APPROPRIATELY. BUT I HAVE TO EMPHASIZE IT'S A MARVELOUS TOOL FOR STUDYING LANGUAGE, AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL FOR STUDYING LANGUAGE AND CULTURE, TWO LANGUAGES AND TWO CULTURES IN A COMPLEMENTARY WAY WITH EQUAL RESPECT AND STATUS. THANK YOU. [APPLAUSE] NOW WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME FOR QUESTIONS. I'LL WARN YOU, I MIGHT NOT HAVE THE ANSWERS. BUT WE COULD GO AHEAD, START WITH SOME QUESTIONS. CAROL. CAROL: YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT COMPARISONS IN TRANSLATIONS WITH ENGLISH AND ASL. I'M REALLY ENJOYING WATCHING THE COMPARISONS. YOU TALKED ABOUT ENGLISH BEING A WRITTEN LANGUAGE. UH...I'M WONDERING HOW YOU CAN DO ALL THOSE TRANSFORMATIONS IN TERMS OF WORD ORDER, MAKING ALL THE GRAMMATICAL AND LINGUISTIC CHANGES YOU NEED TO MAKE. WHERE DO YOU GET THE TIME TO DO THAT? I MEAN, HOW WOULD I HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO MAKE ALL THOSE CHANGES AND PRESENT THEM TO A TEACHER? PATRICK: OK. SO YOU'RE SAYING THAT PERHAPS YOU'D WANT TO... YOUR FINAL PRODUCT, YOUR TARGET IS A WRITTEN ESSAY IN ENGLISH, AND PERHAPS YOU WANT TO START WITH A SOURCE LANGUAGE, CREATING IN ASL BECAUSE YOU KNOW YOUR OWN LANGUAGE. NOW, WE KNOW ASL DOESN'T HAVE A WRITTEN FORM. SO YOU'D HAVE TO PERHAPS BORROW SOME WORDS FROM ENGLISH, GET DOWN A ROUGH DRAFT. AND THEN YOU HAVE PERHAPS IN ASL GRAMMATICAL ORDER. THEN LOOK OVER WHAT YOU'VE WRITTEN, SEE WHEN YOU'RE SATISFIED WITH THE MEANING, WHAT YOU'VE COME UP WITH FROM THAT THOUGHT PROCESS, AND THEN GO THROUGH A PROCESS OF TRANSLATING IT INTO ENGLISH, WHICH IS YOUR SECOND LANGUAGE. PERHAPS THAT APPROACH WOULD WORK FOR YOU. IT'S CERTAINLY WORTH A TRY. BUT IT REALLY REQUIRES THAT THE PERSON KNOW TWO LANGUAGES. AND GARY MOWELL JUST SUGGESTED THAT PERHAPS YOU COULD SIGN YOUR ESSAY, VIDEOTAPE YOURSELF WHILE YOU'RE SIGNING IT, SEE IF YOU'RE SATISFIED WITH THAT PRESENTATION. IF NOT, MAKE SOME REVISIONS, VIDEOTAPE YOURSELF AGAIN, AND WHEN YOU'RE SATISFIED WITH THE PRODUCT IN THAT SOURCE LANGUAGE OF ASL, THEN GO THROUGH YOUR TRANSLATION. YES, FARLEY? FARLEY: LET ME STAND UP. I NOTICED YOU TALKING ABOUT CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION AND A METHOD OF CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION. I'VE NOTICED THAT DEAF TEACHERS TEND TO REALLY GIVE A LOT OF EXAMPLES, EMPHASIZE EXAMPLES, AND THEN FINALLY GET TO ENGLISH... AN ENGLISH PRESENTATION. I THINK THE HEARING TEACHERS I'VE OBSERVED OFTEN WILL GO AHEAD, GIVE A LECTURE, THEN GIVE EXAMPLES NEAR THE END. I'M WONDERING IF THAT'S AN IMPORTANT TECHNIQUE PERHAPS TO GIVE EXAMPLES FIRST AND THEN EXPLAIN THE MEANING. FOR EXAMPLE, IN YOUR PRESENTATION, FIRST YOU GAVE EXAMPLES OF TRANSLATION AND THEN WENT INTO SOME OF THE MORE THEORETICAL PARTS OF YOUR TALK. PATRICK: OK. I GUESS WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS YOU FEEL THAT DEAF TEACHERS OFTEN WILL START OUT INITIALLY BY PRESENTING SOME EXAMPLES AND THEN WILL SHOW THE ENGLISH, HOW THAT'S DONE IN ENGLISH, WHEREAS HEARING TEACHERS USE... WILL PRESENT THE ENGLISH SENTENCE OR ENGLISH DISCOURSE FIRST AND THEN USE SOME EXAMPLES TO EXPLAIN HOW THAT WORKS. IT MAY BE A CULTURAL DIFFERENCE. YES, PERHAPS IT IS, BUT I CAUTION YOU THAT I THINK IT'S EASY FOR US TO START WITH EXAMPLES AND PERHAPS MAKES IT EASIER FOR OUR STUDENTS TO LEARN AND COMPREHEND. ONE CAUTION IS WE NEED TO AVOID SPOON-FEEDING. PERHAPS WE COULD START WITH THE ENGLISH, SEE WHAT'S UNDERSTOOD FROM THE ENGLISH SOURCE LANGUAGE, AND THEN START TRANSLATING, AND AFTER WE GO THROUGH THAT PROCESS, PROVIDE MORE EXAMPLES THAT MIGHT AID IN COMPREHENSION. I THINK IF WE PROVIDE TOO MUCH FOR THE STUDENTS, THEY WON'T BE CHALLENGED, HAVE TO THINK ON THEIR OWN AND WORK ON THE PROBLEM INDEPENDENTLY. IS TRANSLATION THE SAME AS PRESENTING EXAMPLES TO YOU? OK. TO ME, TRANSLATION IS EQUIVALENT TO PRESENTING THE MEANING. THE QUESTION IS IS, TO ME, IS TRANSLATION EQUIVALENT TO GIVING EXAMPLES? NO. [LAUGHTER] I WANT TO FIND MY OVERHEAD WITH THE 4 SENTENCES ON IT. [LAUGHTER] I DIDN'T REALLY GIVE EXAMPLES. I SIGNED IT ONE WAY AND PRESENTED A TRANSLATION IN SIGN LANGUAGE, PRESERVING GRAMMATICAL FEATURES OF ASL, CHANGING WORD ORDER WHEN NECESSARY. SO I THINK TRANSLATION ISN'T EXACTLY EQUIVALENT TO GIVING A SERIES OF EXAMPLES. OK. YOU'RE ASKING WHAT TYPE OF EXAMPLES YOU MIGHT GIVE. I'M SURE YOU'VE PROBABLY HAD AN EXPERIENCE BEFORE OF EATING MEATLOAF OR VEGETABLES, AND THE NEXT DAY YOU HAD INDIGESTION. THAT MIGHT BE AN EXAMPLE OR EXPLANATION YOU COULD USE BUT THAT'S SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FROM THE STRAIGHT TRANSLATION OF THE SOURCE-LANGUAGE SENTENCE. OK. BARBARA, RAY HOLCOMBE. RAY: OK. WHEN THE STUDENTS HAVE A SCRIPT, DO YOU FEEL THAT THE STUDENTS SHOULD READ THROUGH THE SCRIPT FIRST AND THEN LOOK AT THE SENTENCES AND THE DIALOGUE, OR DO YOU PRESENT THE TRANSLATION FIRST, BEFORE THEY'RE EXPECTED TO UNDERSTAND THE WHOLE PLAY? PATRICK: OK. THE QUESTION IS, WHEN I HAND OUT A SCRIPT TO A CAST-- AND WE'RE FOCUSING ON A PLAY-- DO WE LOOK AT A SENTENCE LEVEL, TRANSLATING SENTENCE BY SENTENCE, OR DO WE REQUIRE THEM TO READ THROUGH THE WHOLE SCRIPT FIRST, DEVELOP A BASIC UNDERSTANDING, AND THEN GO BACK AND PERFORM THE TRANSLATION, PERHAPS AT A SENTENCE LEVEL? WE CAN SAY IT THIS WAY-- I THINK I'VE DONE IT INCORRECTLY OR INEFFICIENTLY IN THE PAST. I USED TO GO THROUGH SENTENCE BY SENTENCE, TRANSLATING EACH SENTENCE. THEN, AT THE END OF A PASSAGE, I'D REALIZE, "OH, WAIT A MINUTE. THAT'S NOT WHAT IT MEANS." I WOULD HAVE TO GO BACK AND START OVER. SO WHAT I DO NOW IS TAKE AN ENTIRE PASSAGE FIRST, UNDERSTAND THE IMPLICATIONS OF THAT PASSAGE, ANALYZE THE DISCOURSE AT THAT LEVEL, AT A PASSAGE LEVEL, THEN GO BACK AND START TRANSLATING AT A SENTENCE LEVEL. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU. [APPLAUSE] [INDISTINCT] HOLD ON ONE MOMENT. ONE MOMENT. I HAVE TWO ARTICLES THAT INCORPORATE BACKGROUND INFORMATION. ONE IS BY M.J. BIENVENU. THE OTHER ARTICLE IS WRITTEN BY AN INSTRUCTOR AT SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, DR. TOM THOR, WHO TALKS ABOUT GOOD TRANSLATIONS OR POOR TRANSLATIONS AND WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS. I HAVE 60 COPIES HERE WITH ME. I HOPE THAT WILL BE ENOUGH. IF IT'S INSUFFICIENT, YOU COULD PUT YOUR NAME DOWN ON THE SAME LIST AS WE USED FOR THE NOTES, AND I'LL GET YOU A COPY. [WOMAN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY] PLEASE REMEMBER TO TURN OFF YOUR LOOP MONITORS AND PUT THEM BACK ON THE CART IN THERE. SECONDLY, JUST A REMINDER, IF YOU WANT NOTES, PLEASE SIGN UP FOR THEM. YOU WILL GET THEM EVENTUALLY. AND THIRDLY, THE DISCUSSION SECTION IS IN THE VISITORS CENTER THERE. IT'S TEA AND COOKIES AND COFFEE. SO, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR A WONDERFUL LECTURE. [APPLAUSE]

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