CASLI Educational Interpreting 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A hearing student in class repeatedly directs questions to the interpreter instead of the Deaf student. The best interpreter response is to:
- Answer the hearing student's questions directly to model inclusivity
- Gesture toward the Deaf student and interpret any response the Deaf student wishes to give (Correct answer)
- Ignore the hearing student and continue interpreting the lesson
- Ask the teacher to address the class about proper communication etiquette
Correct answer: Gesture toward the Deaf student and interpret any response the Deaf student wishes to give
Redirecting communication toward the Deaf student reinforces that the Deaf student is a full participant, and the interpreter is not a spokesperson.
Question 2: Educational interpreters who work extended hours without breaks risk:
- Losing their RID certification for non-compliance with break schedules
- Repetitive stress injuries and cognitive fatigue that reduce interpreting accuracy (Correct answer)
- Violating IDEA provisions related to educational support staff hours
- Being reclassified as educational aides rather than professional interpreters
Correct answer: Repetitive stress injuries and cognitive fatigue that reduce interpreting accuracy
Repetitive motions combined with cognitive load during extended interpreting sessions significantly increases risk of repetitive stress injuries and accuracy errors.
Question 3: Which of the following best describes the concept of 'dynamic equivalence' as applied to educational interpreting?
- Using identical handshapes in both ASL and English to represent the same concepts
- Producing an equivalent meaning and communicative effect in ASL rather than a word-for-word rendering (Correct answer)
- Ensuring the Deaf student and hearing peers receive the same number of words per minute
- Matching the teacher's tone of voice with equivalent facial expression intensity
Correct answer: Producing an equivalent meaning and communicative effect in ASL rather than a word-for-word rendering
Dynamic equivalence focuses on conveying the same meaning and effect in the target language as the source, rather than literal word-for-word correspondence.
Question 4: A Deaf student who is also an English language learner (ELL) needs support in both ASL and written English. The educational interpreter's primary role is to:
- Provide ASL interpreting and also tutor English literacy during breaks
- Interpret in ASL and coordinate with the ELL specialist for English literacy support (Correct answer)
- Serve as the student's primary language model for both ASL and English simultaneously
- Focus solely on English transliteration to support English literacy development
Correct answer: Interpret in ASL and coordinate with the ELL specialist for English literacy support
The interpreter provides ASL access while other qualified specialists address English literacy, maintaining appropriate role boundaries within the educational team.
Question 5: When interpreting a teacher's sarcastic remark to the class, the educational interpreter should:
- Omit the sarcasm to avoid confusing the Deaf student
- Convey the sarcastic intent using appropriate ASL prosodic features and facial expressions (Correct answer)
- Interpret the literal words only and add a parenthetical sign for 'sarcasm'
- Ask the teacher to rephrase the comment more literally before interpreting
Correct answer: Convey the sarcastic intent using appropriate ASL prosodic features and facial expressions
Conveying the pragmatic and tonal intent of a message, including sarcasm, is part of complete and accurate interpretation.
Question 6: A school asks the educational interpreter to lead a lesson on Deaf culture while the regular teacher is absent. The interpreter should:
- Agree because Deaf culture is within their area of expertise as an interpreter
- Decline and explain that teaching exceeds the interpreter's professional role (Correct answer)
- Lead the lesson only if no qualified substitute is available
- Accept with the condition that a teacher reviews the content afterward
Correct answer: Decline and explain that teaching exceeds the interpreter's professional role
Teaching is not within the interpreter's professional scope; accepting the role would blur role boundaries and may violate professional ethics standards.
Question 7: The CASLI Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA) is primarily designed to evaluate:
- A candidate's knowledge of Deaf history and ASL linguistics only
- An interpreter's actual sign language skills and interpreting performance in educational settings (Correct answer)
- An interpreter's ability to pass a written ethics examination
- The academic credentials of candidates seeking RID certification
Correct answer: An interpreter's actual sign language skills and interpreting performance in educational settings
The EIPA assesses the real-world interpreting skills and ASL proficiency of interpreters working in K-12 educational environments through performance-based evaluation.
CASLI Educational Interpreting 5
A hearing student in class repeatedly directs questions to the interpreter instead of the Deaf student.
The best interpreter response is to: