EIPA Transliteration and Signed English Systems 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the primary distinction between transliteration and interpretation in educational interpreting?
- Transliteration preserves the source language structure while interpretation conveys meaning across two distinct languages (Correct answer)
- Transliteration is always faster than interpretation
- Interpretation uses fingerspelling exclusively while transliteration uses signs
- Transliteration is only used for academic content while interpretation is used for social conversation
Correct answer: Transliteration preserves the source language structure while interpretation conveys meaning across two distinct languages
Transliteration maintains the form and structure of the source language (English), while interpretation transfers meaning between two separate languages (English and ASL).
Question 2: Which signed English system is designed to represent every English morpheme, including affixes and verb tenses, with a distinct sign?
- Pidgin Signed English (PSE)
- Signed Exact English (SEE II) (Correct answer)
- Contact Signing
- Conceptually Accurate Signed English (CASE)
Correct answer: Signed Exact English (SEE II)
Signed Exact English (SEE II), developed by Gerilee Gustason, creates or borrows signs for every English morpheme including prefixes, suffixes, and verb endings.
Question 3: What is Pidgin Signed English (PSE) most commonly referred to as today?
- Manually Coded English
- Conceptually Accurate Signed English (CASE)
- Contact Signing (Correct answer)
- Simultaneous Communication
Correct answer: Contact Signing
PSE is now more accurately called Contact Signing because it represents the natural language contact between ASL and English, using ASL signs in English word order with some ASL features.
Question 4: In which educational situation would a transliterator most appropriately use Signed Exact English (SEE) rather than ASL?
- When interpreting a lecture on advanced mathematics
- When a student's IEP specifies SEE as the communication mode and the student uses SEE at home (Correct answer)
- Whenever the student is Deaf
- When the content is too complex to interpret into ASL
Correct answer: When a student's IEP specifies SEE as the communication mode and the student uses SEE at home
The student's IEP and established home communication mode should drive the interpreter's choice; if SEE is documented in the IEP, it is the appropriate system to use.
Question 5: What is the purpose of initialized signs in Manually Coded English (MCE) systems?
- To represent the handshape of the first letter of the corresponding English word (Correct answer)
- To indicate the start of a new sentence
- To show that a sign is borrowed from ASL
- To slow down the rate of signing for beginning signers
Correct answer: To represent the handshape of the first letter of the corresponding English word
Initialized signs use the handshape of the first letter of the English word to distinguish signs with similar meanings, such as signing 'group,' 'team,' and 'class' in the same location with G, T, or C handshapes.
Question 6: Which of the following best describes Contact Signing as used in educational interpreting?
- A formal system with standardized grammar rules derived purely from ASL
- A blend of ASL vocabulary in English word order, often incorporating some ASL grammatical features (Correct answer)
- A system that fingerspells every word in English
- A method that uses only initialized signs and no ASL loan signs
Correct answer: A blend of ASL vocabulary in English word order, often incorporating some ASL grammatical features
Contact Signing is a naturally occurring variety that borrows ASL signs but generally follows English word order, reflecting language contact between ASL and English users.
Question 7: When a teacher uses SimCom (simultaneous communication), what does this involve?
- Two interpreters working in relay
- Speaking English and signing simultaneously, typically in English word order (Correct answer)
- Using fingerspelling at the same time as mouthing words silently
- Switching between ASL and English in alternating turns
Correct answer: Speaking English and signing simultaneously, typically in English word order
SimCom involves speaking English aloud while simultaneously signing, usually in English word order, which is a hallmark of Total Communication classrooms.
EIPA Transliteration and Signed English Systems 1
What is the primary distinction between transliteration and interpretation in educational interpreting?