CASLI Interpreting Skills & Techniques 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the recommended lag time range for skilled simultaneous interpreters working between ASL and English?
- Less than 1 second
- 3 to 7 seconds (Correct answer)
- 10 to 15 seconds
- Over 20 seconds
Correct answer: 3 to 7 seconds
A lag time of roughly 3–7 seconds allows the interpreter to comprehend meaningful chunks before producing equivalent target-language output.
Question 2: Which factor most directly affects an interpreter's ability to manage cognitive load during an assignment?
- The physical lighting in the room
- The interpreter's familiarity with the subject matter and preparation beforehand (Correct answer)
- The number of Deaf consumers present
- Whether the interpreter is certified or not
Correct answer: The interpreter's familiarity with the subject matter and preparation beforehand
Pre-assignment preparation reduces cognitive effort during simultaneous processing, freeing mental resources for accurate interpretation.
Question 3: A Deaf consumer's communication style shifts noticeably during an interpreted medical crisis. The interpreter should:
- Maintain the same interpreting style regardless of the consumer's shifts
- Dynamically adapt register and pacing to match the consumer's current communication needs (Correct answer)
- Stop interpreting until the consumer stabilizes
- Ask the physician to simplify their language instead
Correct answer: Dynamically adapt register and pacing to match the consumer's current communication needs
Effective interpreters continuously adapt to the consumer's communication style, especially during high-stress moments.
Question 4: When the speaker uses sarcasm, the interpreter's primary obligation is to:
- Interpret the literal meaning to avoid confusion
- Convey the sarcastic intent using appropriate ASL or English pragmatic markers (Correct answer)
- Warn the consumer that sarcasm is being used before interpreting
- Omit the sarcasm and report the underlying sincere meaning
Correct answer: Convey the sarcastic intent using appropriate ASL or English pragmatic markers
Interpreters must convey the full pragmatic meaning, including sarcasm, using target-language features that express equivalent tone.
Question 5: Which of the following is a hallmark sign of interpreter fatigue during simultaneous interpreting?
- Increased use of appropriate ASL classifiers
- Omissions, additions, and substitution errors that increase over time (Correct answer)
- Faster processing speed with fewer hesitations
- More accurate rendering of technical vocabulary
Correct answer: Omissions, additions, and substitution errors that increase over time
Interpreter fatigue manifests as declining accuracy—more omissions, errors, and substitutions—especially as an assignment progresses without rotation.
Question 6: A presenter uses extensive idiomatic English expressions. To create an equivalent ASL interpretation, the interpreter should:
- Fingerspell each idiom letter-by-letter
- Find ASL idiomatic or conceptual equivalents that carry the same meaning (Correct answer)
- Omit idioms as they are untranslatable
- Substitute idioms with formal ASL equivalents only
Correct answer: Find ASL idiomatic or conceptual equivalents that carry the same meaning
Idiomatic meaning requires conceptual equivalence in the target language, not literal or fingerspelled transfers.
Question 7: In the CASLI performance assessment, what does 'message equivalence' primarily evaluate?
- Whether the interpreter signed every word
- The degree to which the interpreted message conveys the same meaning, intent, and effect as the source (Correct answer)
- The interpreter's speed and fluency of production only
- Whether the interpreter used Signed Exact English
Correct answer: The degree to which the interpreted message conveys the same meaning, intent, and effect as the source
Message equivalence is the core criterion: does the interpreted output faithfully represent the source message's meaning, intent, and pragmatic effect?
CASLI Interpreting Skills & Techniques 4
What is the recommended lag time range for skilled simultaneous interpreters working between ASL and English?