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Article published In: Interpreting
Vol. 20:1 (2018) ► pp.102–131

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How sign language interpreters use multimodal actions to coordinate turn-taking in group work between deaf and hearing upper secondary school students

 | Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Published online: 26 April 2018
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https://doi.org/10.1075/intp.00004.ber
Abstract
This study examines interpreted group work situations involving deaf and hearing senior high school students, using Norwegian Sign Language and spoken Norwegian. The research question is: how does the sign language interpreter explicitly coordinate turn-taking in group work dialogues among deaf and hearing students? Video recordings of authentic learning situations constitute the basis for analysis of how a sign language interpreter uses multimodal actions to convey information that is used by the deaf and hearing students in establishing a shared focus of attention and thus coordinating their turn-taking. Five types of actions were recurrently identified: construction of visual gestures; timing of the interpreter’s input; use of gaze to negotiate for the deaf students’ speaking turns; left-right shifts in body position to convey information about which of the hearing students is speaking; and backward-forward shifts in body position to negotiate for shared attention. The analysis draws mainly on concepts developed by Goffman (Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. London: Penguin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, (1981). Forms of talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), Goodwin ( (1994). Professional vision. American Anthropologist 96 (3), 606–633. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, (2000). Action and embodiment within situated human interaction. Journal of Pragmatics 321, 1489–1522. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, (2007). Participation, stance and affect in the organization of activities. Discourse & Society 18 (1), 53–73. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) and (1998). Interpreting as interaction. New York: Longman.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar. The discussion examines implications for the educational interpreter’s role set ( (2010). Reconfiguring self/identity/status/role: The case of professional role performance in healthcare encounters. Journal of Applied Linguistics and Professional Practice 7 (1), 75–95. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, (2011). Role hybridity in professional practice. In S. Sarangi, V. Polese & G. Caliendo (Eds.), Genre(s) on the move: Hybridisation and discourse change in specialised communication. Napoli: Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, 271–296.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), and the dual responsibility s/he fulfils by not only interpreting the students’ utterances, but also explicitly coordinating their interaction.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Earlier research
  • Turn-taking and establishing shared attention
  • Role set and shifts of footing
  • Multimodal interaction analysis
  • Analysis
    • Excerpt 1: Gestures
    • Excerpt 2: Timing of the interpreter’s input
    • Excerpt 3: Use of gaze
    • Excerpt 4: Left-right shifts in body position to give information about who is speaking
    • Excerpt 5: Backward-forward shifts of body position to negotiate for attention
  • Discussion
  • References
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