interpreter’s
performance in live television interpreting:
quality,
visibility and exposure
Live
television interpreting has increased in recent years and is commonly
seen as one of the most difficult and stressing forms of
interpreting. However, both the actual difficulty and stress involved
highly depend on the physical and technical conditions the
interpreter has to face in every particular situation. The main goal
of the article is to examine the salient variables: visibility and
exposure since they will determine the quality standards achievable
in each particular case, and the quality of the interpreter’s
performance and awareness of all actors involved in the process shall
be raised with regard to their relevance.
Looking back in history
we trace the origins of television interpreting to the early 1990s.
Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation KBC was the first to have sign
language interpreters for various programs including – Joy
Bringers, Parliamentary Live Broadcasts, Kiswahili Kitukuzwe and
other UNDP sponsored talk shows such as Agenda Kenya which have been
shown on various networks. KTN at this time brought the program News
in Sign Language which had a news wrap up and a segment on learning
sign language. All these initiatives were earlier preparations for
things to come.
Two decades later a lot
has changed, Kenyan Sign Language has been entrenched in the
Constitution of Kenya, many Deaf Kenyans through social media and
travels are in contact with each other and with other Deaf citizens
across the globe. Earlier attempts by the Persons With Disabilities
Act 2003/5 never gave solution to the issues of inclusion and
integration. This Act is currently being amended and will soon be
tabled in parliament for a clearer more decisive actionable items.
With these changes a few things remain unchanged and we will visit
those late in this article. The push for access to news and
information within the Deaf community in Kenya has over the years
taken various forms and shapes.
KBC the national
broadcaster has been largely looked at as the pioneer to language
access for the marginalized and the unreached populations. The
vernacular stations or services have been loved and associated with
it. Sign language has been a frontier KBC has not shied away from. It
has continually brought the language to Kenyans albeit the slow and
uncoordinated effort to reach the Deaf in Kenya. With these
developments several precedence have been made by the newscasters
without consultations with the Deaf communities. The caption or small
box is one such issue, the second being the in-coordinate recruitment
of interpreters and lack of involvement of key sign language users or
professionals.
In February 2013 all
media stations in Kenya come together, to for the first time bring
all presidential aspirants on one platform and engage them in a
dialogue. Prior to this event, the Kenya National Association of the
Deaf – KNAD wrote several letters to the Ministry of Information,
the media houses and to the Media Council urging them to consider
honoring the provisions the Constitution of Kenya, the Persons with
Disabilities Act 2003/5 and the UN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities which Kenya ratified in 2005. The Ministry
of Information's permanent secretary then Dr. Bitange Ndemo agreed to
meet with the Deaf leaders from KNAD, though these meetings yielded
very little since the media house owners didn't have a legal
framework to force them into a binding agreement to offer
accessibility to the Deaf either by interpreters or captioning. This
lead the Deaf community holding a protest march early February 2013
just before the Presidential Debate. This protest marched to three
main buildings – the Ministry of Information, KTN and the Nation
Media offices. Prior to this the Nation Media Group were taken to
court by CRADLE challenging their refusal to make their programs
accessible to persons who are Deaf. The Nation Media Group has since
appealed the decision – it is still pending in court. It will be
interesting to see how this case unfolds.
As we talk about the
behind the scenes of what has been happening in the last couple of
months. We have had a rise and rise of demand for television stations
to appeal to audiences. The programming has seen several changes and
additions. Since I am no media analyst I will stick to my area of
expertise and talk about the sign language on television. Firstly, we
look at KBC and the parliamentary interpretations service. When it
began it had one 'Interpreter' signing for a whole day – Wednesday
thru Friday. The 'interpreter' then didn't think about his service,
quality or other customer service. The 'interpreter' due to
exhaustion would end up in a incoherent spur of gestures, unclear
signs and even often into explanations of what was going on rather
than interpreting.
KNAD collected comments,
recommendations and suggestions from the Deaf community in Kenya.
They then wrote letters of complaints to KBC, Parliament and Ministry
of Information. What followed was a series of meetings that lead to
having at least three or four interpreters working with clear terms of
reference and accountability. The situation there has been somewhat
better – not perfect but the engagement has been fruitful – many
Deaf Kenyans are able to enjoy access to parliamentary debates. The
not so perfect issues with KBC has been the question the principle on
which KBC believes that parliamentary proceedings are important to be
interpreted while other news items do not deserve the same service –
KNAD has been in discussions with KBC over this and maybe now that
KTN began news interpretation it might be the next in line.
UNDP's Agenda Kenya has
had a share of criticism on its use of interpreters. Their main
issues have been use of interpreters who do not know, do not care to
learn the sign language and the ability to use it in various
settings/fields. The issues here were mainly clarity and ethical
consideration on issues of dress, language and level of discourse.
When approached, they quickly rectified the situation by calling on
the Deaf to verify and help the interpreter become more clearer and
able to deliver interpretation that was of professional standard.
It would be disastrous
not to mention the issues surrounding the presidential debate
interpretation. Just after the protest by the Deaf on Nairobi streets
(
See more here) the Deaf and Interpreters who participated learnt
that there was a group of interpreters who had privately negotiated
to interpret the debate with the media houses, using personal
contacts they had secured the deal while not involving the prime
clients to be served the Deaf. However the debate went on, the media
houses never settled the issue not remunerated the interpreters that
replaced their counterparts. The Standard Media Group was the
custodian of the FORD Foundation fund for the presidential debate.
They gave several promises to KNAD and the interpreters up to date
there has not been a conclusion to the matter.
My two cents to
KTN and Standard Media Group
First and foremost the
initiative is commendable, it is a second time KTN has initiated an
inclusive approach to its news programming. Signed News in the 1990s
was a breath of fresh air for the Deaf community, in those days they
had to wait for
parliamentary debates and Joy Bringers on KBC to enjoy news in native
Kenyan Sign Language. The past week has been a welcome relief, with
news in Kenyan Sign Language at prime time; however there has been
several issues come up over the week. According
to both researchers and interpreters, interpreting for live TV
broadcasts is almost unanimously regarded as more stressful than
other forms of interpreting (Strolz 1997; Kurz 2002), the main reason
being that interpreting for a mass audience entails a much bigger
exposure in case of failure than the one felt in conventional
conference settings.
This article will mention
the issues and offer some steps to get us to the full accessibility
cliché.
Now to the issue of
KTN initiative, first the inner politics is that the interpreters
stole the idea from some Deaf young people who wanted to approach
the media houses including KTN. This is an ethical issue, it
reflects on the conduct of the individual and taints the
interpreters in and within the Deaf community. Interpreters are
neutral non biase professional who serve as facilitators of
communication between the hearing (speaking) and the Deaf.
Interpreters do not work for, on behalf of the Deaf community, they
work along side, with the Deaf – not helping or speaking for but
as professionals. Be that as it may, the initiative is a bold step
towards accessibility.
Selection and use of
interpreters – it is a myth that there are few interpreters,
qualified and ready to work on television. (
here is a list of 100)
There are interpreters all over Kenya, however they were trained,
qualified – the key is to use the Deaf Kenyans themselves to
validate, clarify and know who is best suited to interpret on
television. There exists standards and criteria to select and
eliminate those who can and can not offer the best services. The
basic criteria would be judging individuals against Code of Ethics –
this would eliminate at least half, then professional experience like
number of hours worked under similar experiences, borrowing from
other interpreters of Spanish or French and use those standards in
the absence of signed language standards. (
read how to work with interpreters)
The small box has
reduced considerably in one week it has moved from a 6X6 to a mere
2X3 inches. If yu were to sit and look at that small box for an hour,
your eyes will pain and you will be having a pounding headache. It
is not standard to have the box that small – the argument as it
has been over time even during the presidential debate was all for
aesthetic reasons – too crowded, distraction or unclean just the
graphics and producers not understanding the nature and
characteristics of signed languages and the usage.
Continuation from
the point above Signed Languages have a visual nature, it is often
misunderstood that the Deaf are fully satisfied by seeing the hands
only. The following are some features that make sign language
different from the other languages.
Facial Expression –
frowns, lifted eye brows, puffed cheeks or slight grin or smile
among other facial expressions are part of signed languages. They
complete the sentences or add meaning to expressions. With a
squeezed image on a caption or box all these attributes are lost. In
turn you have a block of a human figure moving their hands yet their
face is dark or hidden with lots and lots of meaningful expressions
that the viewer is denied.
Placement – the
upper torso of the human form is the story board of any sign
language user. It is the area where people, events and things are
placed for sequence and easy locating or moving as the story
unfolds. With a squeezed signing area it is difficult to place items
of news in a logical and sequential order.
Shoulder shifts –
these are movements to differentiate speakers especially when you
have multiple individuals talking or debating. Again with a squeezed
screen space it is impossible to enjoy the flexibility and dynamism
that signed languages have to offer.
Movement – similar
to placement, this feature of signed languages enable the users of
signed languages the opportunity to showcase a story line and
progression in a space that enable clarity.
Handforms and Shapes
– the foundation of all signed languages is the existence of forms
and shapes these carry meaning much like the words that we speak.
Proper lighting and color blend of background, clothes of the
interpreters enable the viewers users of signed languages see the
words and enjoy the news interpreted.
Worldwide there have
been researches done to ascertain the interpreter burn out rates.
These studies have shown that it is good to have interpreter change
over after a 20 minute duration. This change over gives the
interpreters. The human brain loses concentration after 15-20
minutes, this is true with interpreters too. The interpretation
process takes a lot in the mind and body of an interpreter as they
process, take in and give information relayed to them in a second or
third language. These breaks allow the interpreter to give their
best, allowing them to give a better more accurate, culturally and
linguistically correct interpretation of the information they are
receiving. Interpreters worldwide work in pairs and as teams this is
for the issues above and for health purposes.
Quality control and
assurance is a vital component. Most of the issues that come up
about interpreters are issues of quality that could be addressed by
training and capacity building. When a mechanism exists that offers
checks and balances it develops the interpreter and increases their
accuracy in service provision. A feedback platform would capture the
same, but more importantly a way to deal with the feedback so that
it is meaningful and beneficial first to the concerned interpreters
and then to the Deaf community via a selected representation that
has clear scope and engagement.
Continuous growth
and development of interpreters. If any professional stops learning,
they stop growing and they die professionally. Seek to engage
institutions that would build interpreters comprehension of English,
Kiswahili and their working language Kenyan Sign Language.
For greater
integration and inclusion, a program by the Deaf for the Deaf would
be a natural development as a follow up to the interpreted
newscasts. This will empower the Deaf community especially young
children learning sign language and also change the perception of
the general public who view the Deaf as objects of initiatives rather
than fellow human beings with gifts, skills and talents that can be
shared.
Deaf
consumers of interpreting services have become more informed and are
demanding higher quality interpreting services that meet their
individual needs. In considering the need for a new job profile,
“media translators/interpreters”, Kurz (1990: 173) suggests,
following Laine (1985: 212), that “the media require a new breed of
interpreter: a hybrid – someone who is a successful translator,
interpreter, and editor, all in one” and this profile should
include “flexibility, speed, a wide general knowledge and a
complete lack of fear or embarrassment”.
Word
to my Fellow Interpreters on Television Interpreting
There
are constant references to the problems faced by TV interpreters,
regardless of the label employed by the scholar in question
(problems,challenges, working conditions, drawbacks), and this
generates a lengthy list of elements that should be taken into
consideration by prospective interpreters before embarking themselves
upon such a venture; to the point that, according to Mack (2001:
130), the job of TV interpreters is “extremely risky and
stressful”. Firstly, those aspects where the interpreter may find
at least some (even if slight) room to manoeuvre, that is, where
different degrees of response will be seen depending on the
interpreter’s ability to cope with such conditions. This still
makes it possible to find professionals that are (again even if
slightly) more suitable for the job.
Amongst
these requirements we may find: maximum coordination when voicing or
matching speech with culturally relevant and linguistically accurate
signs; matching signing skills to those of TV professionals; meeting
high expectations on the part of the viewers, who see interpretation
as part of the product they are watching; having to cope with typical
TV time management, since things happen at a very high speed;
additional stress if failure, due to media exposure; interpreting
late at night or on short notice, therefore, not having time to
prepare the assignments; having to deal with a large number of
topics, a variety of formats and structures, numerous participants
and various viewpoints; not having time to get used to a particular
accent or speaking style; having to meet different and high
expectations from both the participants, the audience and the
employers. The more reason to choose your assignments carefully and
be ready to be criticized harshly at that.
Refrences
óscar
Jiménez Serrano Backstage conditions and interpreter’s performance
...University of Granada, Spain
Amato
A. (2002) “Interpreting legal discourse on TV: Clinton’s
deposition with the Grand Jury”, in G. Garzone / P. Mead / M.
Viezzi (eds) Perspectives on Interpreting, Bologna, CLUEB,
268-290.
Dal
Fovo E. (2011) “Simultaneous interpretation on television –
Coping with coherence. A corpus-based study on topical coherence in
simultaneous interpretation on television: the question/answer
group”. Second International Conference on Interpreting Quality,
Almuñécar, Granada (Spain), March 24-26 2011,
<http://ecis.ugr.es/granada_2011_abstracts.pdf>.
