EIPA Transliteration and Signed English Systems 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is a common criticism of Signed Exact English (SEE) from a Deaf cultural and linguistic perspective?
- It uses too many ASL signs and therefore confuses students
- It imposes English morphology onto a visual-gestural modality for which it was not designed, creating an unnatural system (Correct answer)
- It lacks signs for academic vocabulary
- It is too similar to ASL to be useful for hearing students
Correct answer: It imposes English morphology onto a visual-gestural modality for which it was not designed, creating an unnatural system
Critics argue that SEE attempts to map spoken English structure onto a visual-gestural language, producing awkward forms like separate signs for -ing, -ed, and -s that do not reflect how natural visual languages work.
Question 2: Which signed English system was originally developed by David Anthony in the early 1970s?
- Signed Exact English II (SEE II)
- Seeing Essential English (SEE I) (Correct answer)
- Pidgin Signed English (PSE)
- Conceptually Accurate Signed English (CASE)
Correct answer: Seeing Essential English (SEE I)
Seeing Essential English (SEE I) was developed by David Anthony and was the first major Manually Coded English system, later leading to the development of SEE II by Gustason's team.
Question 3: How does the grammatical structure of Signed Exact English (SEE) differ from American Sign Language (ASL)?
- SEE uses spatial grammar and non-manual markers to convey syntax; ASL follows English word order
- SEE follows English word order and morphology; ASL uses its own spatial grammar, topic-comment structure, and non-manual markers (Correct answer)
- SEE and ASL share identical syntax but differ only in vocabulary
- SEE omits articles and prepositions while ASL includes them
Correct answer: SEE follows English word order and morphology; ASL uses its own spatial grammar, topic-comment structure, and non-manual markers
ASL is a complete natural language with its own spatial grammar and topic-comment syntax, while SEE mirrors English word order and adds signed morphemes to represent English grammatical forms.
Question 4: On the EIPA, how are transliteration skills evaluated differently from interpretation skills?
- Transliteration is not assessed; only ASL interpretation is scored
- Transliteration is evaluated on how accurately the interpreter preserves English form and structure in the signed message (Correct answer)
- Transliteration is scored based on the number of initialized signs used
- Transliteration skills are only assessed at the advanced level 4.0 and above
Correct answer: Transliteration is evaluated on how accurately the interpreter preserves English form and structure in the signed message
EIPA evaluators assess transliteration by examining how faithfully the interpreter renders English structure into a signed form without shifting to a different language, tracking form-preservation alongside clarity.
Question 5: Which signed system uses mostly ASL loan signs arranged in English word order and is often described as conceptually accurate?
- Seeing Essential English (SEE I)
- Signed Exact English (SEE II)
- Conceptually Accurate Signed English (CASE) (Correct answer)
- Rochester Method
Correct answer: Conceptually Accurate Signed English (CASE)
CASE uses ASL signs chosen for their conceptual meaning and arranges them in English word order, unlike SEE systems that create new signed morphemes for each English morpheme.
Question 6: In Signed Exact English, when no established sign exists for an English word, how is the sign typically created?
- The interpreter always fingerspells the word
- A new sign is invented using the first letter of the English word combined with a designated movement (Correct answer)
- The interpreter borrows the closest semantic sign from ASL without modification
- The word is omitted and context is relied upon
Correct answer: A new sign is invented using the first letter of the English word combined with a designated movement
SEE creates new signs for words lacking ASL equivalents by combining the handshape of the first letter of the English word with a designated movement and location.
Question 7: An educational interpreter notices that a Deaf student uses ASL fluently at home but the classroom teacher uses SimCom. What is the interpreter's most appropriate strategy?
- Match the teacher's SimCom exactly to maintain classroom consistency
- Consult the student's IEP and team to determine the communication mode that best supports the student's learning (Correct answer)
- Automatically switch to ASL because it is linguistically superior
- Avoid signing and rely on written notes to the student
Correct answer: Consult the student's IEP and team to determine the communication mode that best supports the student's learning
The IEP team determines the appropriate communication mode for a student; the interpreter should follow IEP guidelines and not make unilateral language decisions.
EIPA Transliteration and Signed English Systems 2
What is a common criticism of Signed Exact English (SEE) from a Deaf cultural and linguistic perspective?