Cover not available

Article published In: Unpacking Sign Language Interpreting: Special issue of the Journal on Translation and Interpreting Studies 17:3 (2022)
Edited by Hilde Haualand, Maartje De Meulder and Jemina Napier
[Translation and Interpreting Studies 17:3] 2022
► pp. 429–454

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required

Interpreters as agents of language planning

ORCiD logo with link | Victoria University of Wellington
ORCiD logo with link | Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Published online: 6 March 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.21041.mck
Abstract
Sign language interpreters onstage at public and political events have recently become more visible in the linguistic landscapes of many countries. Accessibility principles and policy measures have gained traction internationally, and Deaf communities have also recently achieved formal recognition of a national sign language in many countries, including in New Zealand and Norway. Resulting discourses of language planning and of access are now converging to position sign language interpreters as simultaneously agents of language planning (specifically, prestige and image planning) and as instruments of accessibility. This article interrogates the ideological context (motives, beliefs, practices) and perceived effects of increasing interpreter presence in public arenas in New Zealand and Norway, based on interview data from interpreters, interpreting service users and providers, and Deaf informants.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • SLI through a language policy and planning lens
  • Interpreting and sign language status in New Zealand and Norway
  • Method
  • Types of events interpreted
    • Selection of events to be interpreted
  • Deaf perspectives on impacts of public event interpreting
  • Motives for engaging SLIs
    • Accessibility
    • Tokenism
    • Language representation
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (45)
References
Adam, Robert, Christopher Stone, Steven D. Collins, and Melanie Metzger, eds. 2014. Deaf Interpreters at Work: International Insights. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ager, Dennis. 2005. “Image and prestige planning.” Current Issues in Language Planning 6(1): 1–43. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Albury, Nathan John. 2014. “Your language or ours? Inclusion and exclusion of non-indigenous majorities in Māori and Sámi language revitalization policy.” Current Issues in Language Planning 16(3): 315–334. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bell, Allan. 1984. “Language style as audience design.” Language in Society 13(2): 145–204. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Best, Brett A. 2016. “E-professionalism and signed language interpreters: Considering social media, online disclosure, and small world ethics.” Journal of Interpretation 25(1): Article 2.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berezkina, Maimu. 2018. “‘Language is a costly and complicating factor’: A diachronic study of language policy in the virtual public sector.” Language Policy 17(1): 55–75. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brunson, Jeremy L. 2008. “Your case will now be heard: Sign language interpreters as problematic accommodations in legal interactions.” Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 13(1): 77–91. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brunson, Jeremy. 2015. “A sociology of interpreting.” In Signed Language Interpretation and Translation Research, ed. by Brenda Nicodemus and Keith Cagle, 130–149. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Debevc, Matjaž, Danijela Milošević, and Ines Kožuh. 2015. “A comparison of comprehension processes in sign language interpreter videos with or without captions.” PLoS ONE 10(5): e0127577. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Bres, Julia. 2008. “Planning for tolerability in New Zealand, Wales and Catalonia.” Current Issues in Language Planning 9(4): 464–482. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Meulder, Maartje. 2017. “The influence of deaf people’s dual category status on sign language planning: The British Sign Language (Scotland) Act (2015).” Current Issues in Language Planning 18(2): 215–32. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Meulder, Maartje, and Joseph J. Murray. 2017. “Buttering their bread on both sides?” Language Problems & Language Planning 41(2): 136–58. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Meulder, Maartje, and Hilde Haualand. 2021. “Sign language interpreting services: A quick fix for inclusion?” Translation and Interpreting Studies 16(1): 19–40. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Meulder, Maartje, and Isabelle Heyerick. 2013. “(Deaf) interpreters on television: Challenging power and responsibility.” In Sign Language Research, Uses and Practices, ed. by Laurence Meurant et al., 111–136. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Meulder, Maartje, Joseph J. Murray, and Rachel McKee. 2019. “Epilogue. Claiming multiple positionalities: Lessons from the first two decades of sign language recognition.” In Legal Recognition of Sign Languages: Advocacy and Outcomes around the World, ed. by Maartje De Meulder, Joseph J. Murray, and Rachel McKee, 301–312. Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ellcessor, Elizabeth. 2015. “Is there a sign for that? Media, American Sign Language interpretation, and the paradox of visibility.” Perspectives. Studies in Translatology 23(4): 586–598. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Frishberg, Nancy. 1990. Interpreting: An Introduction. Silver Spring, MD: RID Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gras, Victòria. 2008. “Can signed language be planned? Implications for interpretation in Spain.” In Sign Bilingualism: Language Development, Interaction, and Maintenance in Sign Language Contact Situations, ed. by Carolina Plaza-Pust and Esperanza Morales-López, 165–193. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Grin, François. 2017. “Translation and language policy in the dynamics of multilingualism.” International Journal of the Sociology of Language 2017(243): 155–181. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haualand, Hilde, and Ingela Holmström. 2019. “When language recognition and language shaming go hand in hand – sign language ideologies in Sweden and Norway.” Deafness and Education International 21(2–3): 99–115. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Haualand, Hilde, and Anna-Lena Nilsson. (under review). Sign language interpreting: Education and professionalization in Norway. In International Perspectives on Interpreter Education, ed. by Jemina Napier, Stacey Webb, and Robert Adam. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.
Hodge, Gabrielle, and Della Goswell. 2021. “Deaf signing diversity and signed language translations.” Applied Linguistics Review. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hou, Lynn, and Octavian Robinson. 2020. “Sign languages as disaster entertainment.” Anthropology News. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hult, Francis M. 2018. “Language policy and planning and linguistic landscapes.” In The Oxford Handbook of Language Policy and Planning, ed. by James W. Tollefson and Miguel Pérez-Milans, 1–20. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kaufmann, Judith. 2012. “The darkened glass of bilingualism? Translation and interpreting in Welsh language planning” Translation Studies 5(3): 327–344. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Leeson, Lorraine. 2019. “Ophelia, Emma, and the beast from the east effortful engaging and the provision of sign language interpreting in emergencies.” Disaster Prevention and Management: An International Journal 29(2): 187–199. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lenihan, Aoife. 2018. “Language policy and new media: An age of convergence culture.” In The Oxford Handbook of Language Policy and Planning, ed. by James W. Tollefson and Miguel Pérez-Milans, 654–674. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
May, Stephen. 2001. “Uncommon languages: The challenges and possibilities of minority language rights.” Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 21(5): 366–385. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mellinger, Christopher D. 2020. “Positionality in public service interpreting research.” FITISPos International Journal 7(1): 92–109. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McKee, Rachel. 2011. “Action pending: Four years on from the NZSL Act 2006.” VUW Law Review 42(2): 277–97. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
McKee, Rachel, and Kirsten Smiler. 2017. “Family language policy for deaf children and the vitality of New Zealand Sign Language.” In Family Language Policies in a Multilingual World: Opportunities, Challenges, and Consequences, ed. by John Macalister and Seyed Hadi Mirvahedi, 30–55. London: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Office for Disability Issues. 2016. “New Zealand Disability Strategy 2016–2026.” [URL]
. 2018. “NZSL Strategy 2018–2023.”Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
QSR International. 2021. “NVivo.” [URL]
Reffell, Hayley, and Rachel McKee. 2009. “Motives and outcomes of New Zealand Sign Language legislation: A comparative study between New Zealand and Finland.” Current Issues in Language Planning 10(3): 272–292. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Remael, Aline. 2012. “Media accessibility.” In Handbook of Translation Studies, Vol. 3, ed. by Yves Gambier and Luc van Doorslaer, 95–101. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Russell, Debra. 2007. “Inclusion or the illusion of inclusion: A study of interpreters working with deaf students in inclusive education settings.” Critical Link 5: Interpreters in the Community Conference. Sydney, Australia.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schluter, Jessica, Philippa Seaton, and Wendy Chaboyer. 2008. “Critical incident technique: A user’s guide for nurse researchers.” Journal of Advanced Nursing 61(1): 107–14. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schmitt, Pierre. 2017. “Representations of sign language, deaf people, and interpreters in the arts and the media.” Sign Language Studies 18(1): 130–47. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spolsky, Bernard. 2011. “Language academies and other language management agencies.” Language Policy 10(4): 285–87. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Stortinget. 2021. Vedtak til lov om språk (språklova) [Decision on Language Act]. [URL]
Straniero Sergio, Francesco. 2003. “Norms and quality in media interpreting: The case of Formula One press conferences.” The Interpreters’ Newsletter 121: 135–74.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Vonen, Arnfinn Muruvik, and Paal Richard Peterson. 2019. “Sign language legislation in Norway.” In Legal Recognition of Sign Languages: Advocacy and Outcomes around the World, ed. by Maartje De Meulder, Joseph J. Murray, and Rachel McKee, 191–205. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
World Federation of the Deaf. 2019. “Complementary or diametrically opposed: Situating deaf communities within ‘disability’ vs ‘cultural and linguistic minority’ constructs: Position Paper.” Retrieved 5 February 2022 at: [URL]
Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

De Meulder, Maartje & Nienke Sijm
2024. “I feel a bit more of a conduit now”: Sign language interpreters coping and adapting during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. Interpreting and Society 4:1 ► pp. 3 ff. DOI logo
McKee, Rachel & Mireille Vale
2024. Recent lexical expansion in New Zealand Sign Language: context, scope and mechanisms. Current Issues in Language Planning 25:1 ► pp. 67 ff. DOI logo
Tamayo, Ana
2024. Multimodality on Screen and the Filmic Potential of Sign Languages. In The Palgrave Handbook of Multilingualism and Language Varieties on Screen, ► pp. 533 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 6 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue