CASLI Cultural & Linguistic Mediation 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In a cross-cultural interpreting framework, 'code-switching' by a Deaf bilingual individual refers to:
- Alternating between signed and spoken modes depending on context and audience (Correct answer)
- Replacing ASL grammar with English word order throughout an interaction
- Using only fingerspelling when communicating with hearing people
- Switching between two hearing interpreters during a long assignment
Correct answer: Alternating between signed and spoken modes depending on context and audience
Code-switching is the natural shift between languages or modalities that bilingual users employ based on social context.
Question 2: An interpreter working with a Deaf immigrant who uses International Sign and a home sign system should first:
- Proceed using standard ASL and expect the client to adapt
- Request a team that includes a CDI with International Sign exposure (Correct answer)
- Ask the hearing professional to speak more slowly
- Use only fingerspelling to ensure precision
Correct answer: Request a team that includes a CDI with International Sign exposure
Language diversity among Deaf individuals requires flexible team composition to ensure genuine communication access.
Question 3: The CASLI performance assessment evaluates cultural mediation partly by examining whether an interpreter:
- Inserts personal cultural commentary to educate hearing participants
- Maintains equivalence in pragmatic force across source and target languages (Correct answer)
- Avoids all culturally specific content to stay neutral
- Limits interpretation to factual content only
Correct answer: Maintains equivalence in pragmatic force across source and target languages
CASLI evaluates pragmatic equivalence, meaning the impact and intent of a message must match across languages.
Question 4: When a hearing speaker uses a racist comment directed at a third party, the interpreter's primary obligation is to:
- Omit the offensive content to protect the Deaf client
- Render the comment accurately and address discomfort through proper channels later (Correct answer)
- Stop the interaction and report the speaker to authorities immediately
- Soften the language to reduce emotional impact
Correct answer: Render the comment accurately and address discomfort through proper channels later
Interpreters are ethically required to render all messages faithfully; post-interaction debriefing or reporting addresses personal distress.
Question 5: Visual vernacular (VV) in ASL is best described as:
- A system of manually coded English used in educational settings
- A highly visual storytelling technique using cinematic techniques within ASL (Correct answer)
- The use of assistive technology to project signs on a screen
- A dialect of ASL spoken primarily in the American South
Correct answer: A highly visual storytelling technique using cinematic techniques within ASL
Visual vernacular is an artistic ASL form that employs camera angles, zooms, and perspective shifts through the body.
Question 6: An interpreter assigned to a Deaf-Blind client using Pro-Tactile ASL (PT-ASL) must understand that PT-ASL:
- Is identical to tactile ASL but performed at a slower pace
- Includes a backchanneling system on the listener's body to convey environmental information (Correct answer)
- Requires the interpreter to speak aloud while signing
- Is only used in formal educational or medical settings
Correct answer: Includes a backchanneling system on the listener's body to convey environmental information
Pro-Tactile ASL adds a layer of environmental and emotional feedback conveyed through touch on the communication partner's body.
Question 7: Cultural humility in interpreting practice differs from cultural competence in that it:
- Requires mastery of all cultural norms before working with any Deaf community
- Emphasizes ongoing self-reflection and openness over achieving a fixed level of knowledge (Correct answer)
- Focuses solely on learning community-specific vocabulary and signs
- Is only relevant when working with Deaf individuals from non-Western countries
Correct answer: Emphasizes ongoing self-reflection and openness over achieving a fixed level of knowledge
Cultural humility is a lifelong process of self-examination and learning rather than a measurable endpoint.
CASLI Cultural & Linguistic Mediation 3
In a cross-cultural interpreting framework, 'code-switching' by a Deaf bilingual individual refers to: