International Perspectives on Sign Language Interpreting

Traveling the Path of Excellence in Interpreter Education: The Canadian Experience

Traveling the Path of Excellence in Interpreter Education: The Canadian Experience 248 K A R E N M A L C O L M A N D N I G E L H O W A R D CANADA IS physically the second largest country in the world, consisting of 10 provinces and 3 territories. There are two official spoken languages, English and French, although the majority of French speakers are concentrated in Quebec and New Brunswick, with some French speakers in Northern Ontario as well (see the Appendix for a map of Canada). The largest cities predominantly cluster close to the Canada–U.S. border where the climate is more moderate than in the northern part of the country. Despite Canada’s large size, its overall population is relatively small at close to 33 million. Of this number, it is difficult to know the number of deaf people, because there has been no fully credible census taken of deaf Canadians. The Canadian Association of the Deaf (CAD) estimates that there are 310,000 culturally deaf Canadians (that is, deaf people who use sign language and identify with the Deaf community) and 2.8 million hard of hearing people. Deaf people living in English-speaking parts of Canada use American Sign Language (ASL), with some regional variations, but these are easily intelligible to other ASL signers within Canada and the United States. Deaf people living in French-speaking areas use La Langue des Signes Québécoise (LSQ). The numbers suggested by CAD do not include a breakdown of ASL and LSQ users, but LSQ users constitute a smaller percentage of the overall population of signed language users within Canada. There is another segment of the Canadian deaf population and that is the Maritimes, which consists of four of Canada’s eastern-most provinces: Nova Scotia (NS), New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island. They use Maritime Sign Language (MSL), which is a unique combination of predominately ASL and British Sign Language (BSL). The number of MSL users is not available but is assumed to be much less than the numbers of LSQ and ASL users. INTERPRETERS IN CANADA ASL/English interpreters in Canada are represented by the Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada (AVLIC). AVLIC has 500 members who are working as interpreters, but it is difficult for them to estimate the actual total number of working interpreters. Many interpreters who work in schools with young deaf children and in smaller communities without a strong Deaf community have not had formal training as interpreters and do not choose to affiliate with the professional association. AVLIC continues to reach out to these interpreters, and also advocates for professional standards so that school districts hire individuals who have undergone training and are well qualified to meet the needs of deaf students and their hearing teachers and classmates. AVLIC offers a national certification exam for ASL/English interpreters , which consists of three parts. The first part is a written test of knowledge , which tests knowledge of the profession and application of the ethical code. Candidates must pass this before being eligible to take the second part, which is a series of workshops that prepare them for the process and the expectations of the interpretation test. Finally, they take the interpretation test, which involves interpreting two narratives, one from English into ASL, and the other from ASL into English, along with interpreting two interactive scenarios. The pass standard was set by professional interpreters, working in conjunction with representatives of the national deaf organizations in Canada. Currently there are approximately 45 certified members in Canada. The pass rate for the performance exam is just over 20%, and it is considered to measure a high standard of ability which is needed to meet the needs of the diverse deaf population across Canada, some of whom work in high profile professions such as educational administration, law, politics, and medicine, among others. It is even more difficult to estimate the number of LSQ/French interpreters in Canada. The provincial association in Quebec that represented this group has become dormant, and there is no easy route to determine the numbers currently working. The only training program for LSQ/French interpreters, in Montreal, estimates that 300 individuals have completed their training, but they do not know how many of those individuals are currently working as interpreters (S. Villeneuve, CANADA 249 250 KAREN MALCOLM AND...