Interpreting for the Latino Community: Current Practices and Recommendations

2. Interpreting for the Latino Community: Current Practices and Recommendations a project of the

3. Our Presenters Kristie Casanova de Canales Rafael Treviño

4. What is a trilingual interpreter? For the purpose of this presentation, a Trilingual Interpreter is a professional interpreter whose working languages are ASL, spoken English, and spoken Spanish.

5. But is that all? Deaf consumers of trilingual interpreting services may be • fluent ASL users or • immigrants learning ASL as a second (or third) language • Spanish is spoken in over 20 countries, most having distinct regional varieties • Trilingual interpreters’clients may come from an endless combination of cultures

6. Where does trilingual interpreting happen? • VRS • Educational (K-12) • Conference • Mental health • Vocational rehabilitation • Religious • Legal • VRI • Healthcare • Interpreting abroad 2010 WRIEC survey and 2010-2011 NCIEC focus group study show where trilingual interpreting happens

7. Focus Group Project: Overview • 83 participants • 17 focus groups and one interview • Practitioners, consumers, and hiring entities • Largest qualitative study on trilingual interpreting to date.

8. Focus Group Project: Overview • Goal to identify skills and competencies for successful trilingual interpreting • Results seemed to belong to two categories: fundamental skills and competencies, and exemplary skills and competencies

9. Focus Group Project: Overview Stakeholder groups • Practitioners (14, with three sets of questions) • Deaf and hard of hearing consumers (16) • Spanish-speaking hearing consumers (12) • English-speaking hearing consumers (5) • Hiring entities (8)

10. Focus Group Project: Overview Methods • Telefocus groups • In-person groups • Deaf and hard of hearing groups: Washington, DC, Los Angeles, and New York • Spanish-speaking consumer group in Los Angeles

11. Focus Group Project: Practitioners • Years of experience 2-5 years: 19 (45%) 6-10 years: 10 (24%) 11-15 years: 4 (10%) More than 15 years: 9 (21%) • Gender Female: 29 (69%) Male: 13 (31%) • Education High School diploma: 3 (7%) Certificate or Diploma: 5 (12%) Associate's degree: 10 (24%) Bachelor's degree: 15 (36%) Master's degree: 9 (21%)

12. Focus Group Project: Practitioners Age 18-29 years: 8 (19%) 30-39 years: 18 (43%) 40-49 years: 14 (33%) 50-59 years: 2 (5%) Background Mexican: 10 (24%) Puerto Rican: 7 (17%) White Non-Hispanic: 6 (14%) Nicaraguan-Mexican: 4 (10%) Colombian: 4 (10%) Multi-ethnic: 3 (7%) Cuban: 2 (5%) Tex-Mex: 2 (5%) American: 2 (5%) Latino: 1 (2%) African-American/Black: 1 (2%)

13. Focus Group Project: D/HH Consumers • Gender • Almost evenly split • Age • Wide range, with 40-49 years old the most common answer. • Background • Education • Ranged from HS diploma to PhD, Masters most common.

14. Focus Group Project: Spanish-speaking Hearing Consumers Age • Wide range, with 40-49 years old the most common answer Gender • Overwhelmingly female (83%) Background • Two homogenous groups, quite different from each other Education • Quite different profile for the two groups.

15. Focus Group Project: English-speaking Hearing Consumers Age • 80% of participants were between 18 and 39 years old. Gender • Entirely female Background • 60% European American Education • All participants had either a Bachelors or Masters degree.

16. Focus Group Project: Hiring Entities Areas served • The U.S. • Puerto Rico • Mexico • Costa Rica • Nicaragua • Guatemala Types of interpreting services provided • VRS • VRI • Interpreting services abroad • Healthcare • Educational • Vocational rehabilitation • Conference • Legal

17. Focus Group Project: Findings Fundamental skills and competencies • Linguistic competency: Client language assessment skills and Spanish literacy • Cultural competence • Interpreting skills: Consecutive interpreting, simultaneous interpreting, and sight translation • Turn-taking management skills • Professionalism

18. Focus Group Project: Findings Exemplary skills and competencies • English-Spanish interpreting skills • English-Spanish translation skills • Advanced linguistic competency: varieties of Spanish and accents • Knowledge about Latin American Deaf people • Knowledge about Latin America • Knowledge about U.S. legislation

19. Implications for Interpreters In light of these competencies and skills, interpreters wishing to work in trilingual settings have a challenging road ahead: • Be vocal. • Be proactive. • Be multi-disciplinary. • Be connected.

20. Implications for Interpreter Educators Interpreter educators can help in several ways: • Be a talent scout. • Be collaborative. • Be creative. • Be an academic advisor. • Be diverse.

21. Implications for Hiring Entities Hiring entities have a critical role: • Be supportive of training. • Be thorough. • Be collaborative.

22. Implications for Everyone Everyone connected to the Latino Deaf community has a stake in trilingual interpreting: • Be informed. • Be involved. • In short, “Be the change you wish to see.” – Mahatma Gandhi

23. After the Webinar • Program evaluation • Request CEUs; CEU questions to: Alberto Sifuentes at a.sifuentes@neu.edu • Contact us

24. Please Feel Free to Contact Us Kristie Casanova de Canales atyourfingertipsinterpreting@yahoo.com Rafael Treviño Rafael.trevino@me.com National Interpreter Education Center Cathy Cogen, Director c.cogen@neu.edu Dennis Cokely, PI & Director Northeastern Univ. ASL Program d.cokely@neu.edu Trudy Schafer, Project Coordinator g.schafer@neu.edu Lillian Garcia Peterkin Communication & Outreach Coordinator l.garcia@neu.edu

25. NCIEC Regional Centers CATIE Center(MN, WI, MI, MO, OH, IN, IL, NE, KS, IA)
minerva.stkate.edu/offices/academic/interpreting.nsf Gallaudet University Regional Interpreter Education Center (GURIEC)(AL, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, MD, MS, NC, PA, SC, TN, VA, WV)
www.gallaudet.edu/guriec.html MARIE Center(AR, CO, LA, MT, NM, ND, OK, SD, TX, UT, WY)
www.unco.edu/marie/index.html Regional Interpreter Education Center at Northeastern University (NURIEC)(CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PR, RI, USVI, VT)
www.northeastern.edu/riec/ Western Region Interpreter Education Center (WRIEC)(AK, AZ, CA, NMI, Guam, ID, HI, NV, OR, WA)
www.wou.edu/education/sped/wriec/ National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers interpretereducation.org

26. Thank You Jessie Zhu Instructional Designer, NCRTM Michelle Robinson Captioner, NCRTM Dennis Cokely Moderator, NIEC Interpreters This Webinar was a collaborative effort of the National Clearinghouse of Rehabilitation Training Materials <ncrtm.org> and the National Interpreter Education Center <northeastern.edu/niec>. CEUs sponsorship: NURIEC

27. Thank You Aju Cherian, Lillian Garcia Peterkin, Crystal Eusebio, Trudy Schafer, Dennis Cokely, & Cathy Cogen We acknowledge the work of National Interpreter Education Center staff in making this webinar possible.

28. Thank You Upcoming Webinar October 1, 2012 – 3:30-4:30 Eastern The Importance of Deaf Self-Advocacy: New Second Edition Overview Margie English EnglishWit Solutions, LLC Thank you for joining us today. Please join us for upcoming NIEC/NCRTM Webinars. Email: niec@neu.edu for more information

29. Funded by a U.S. Department of Education Rehabilitation Services Administration grant, CFDA H160B000002 www.northeastern.edu/niec Email: niec@neu.edu Affiliated with the National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers www.interpretereducation.org