NIC ASL Proficiency 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In an NIC interpreted setting, a Deaf consumer uses a very formal register. How should the interpreter handle this?
- Simplify language for the hearing audience
- Match the formal register in the target language (Correct answer)
- Add explanatory context the speaker did not provide
- Use more fingerspelling to convey formality
Correct answer: Match the formal register in the target language
Interpreters must match the register of the source message; a formal ASL register should be rendered with equivalent formal English.
Question 2: Which ASL parameter involves the tension, speed, and manner of hand movement?
- Location
- Handshape
- Movement quality (Correct answer)
- Palm orientation
Correct answer: Movement quality
Movement quality (sometimes called 'manner') encompasses the internal dynamics of a sign's movement, such as tension, speed, and fluidity.
Question 3: What does the NMM 'puffed cheeks' most commonly mark in ASL?
- A wh-question
- Large size or great extent (Correct answer)
- A conditional clause
- Negation
Correct answer: Large size or great extent
Puffed cheeks in ASL function as a size mouth morpheme, indicating something is large, full, or extensive.
Question 4: When a signer uses role shift in ASL, what typically happens to their body?
- They stop signing and only use facial expression
- They shift their body and/or eye gaze to embody a character (Correct answer)
- They slow their signing pace significantly
- They switch to English mouth movements
Correct answer: They shift their body and/or eye gaze to embody a character
Role shift involves the signer physically shifting body orientation and eye gaze to take on the perspective of a character in a narrative.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes a 'lexicalized fingerspelling' in ASL?
- Spelling out a word at full speed with no modification
- A fingerspelled sequence that has acquired its own movement pattern and meaning (Correct answer)
- Any sign derived from the manual alphabet
- Fingerspelling used exclusively for proper nouns
Correct answer: A fingerspelled sequence that has acquired its own movement pattern and meaning
Lexicalized fingerspelling occurs when a fingerspelled word becomes a conventional sign with modified movement, reduced letters, and fixed meaning (e.g., #BACK, #EARLY).
Question 6: In ASL syntax, where does the topic of a topicalized sentence typically appear?
- After the predicate
- At the end of the sentence
- At the beginning of the sentence with raised brows (Correct answer)
- In the middle of the signing space
Correct answer: At the beginning of the sentence with raised brows
Topicalization moves a noun phrase to sentence-initial position and is marked with raised eyebrows and slight head tilt, a non-manual grammatical marker.
Question 7: What is 'contact signing' (formerly called PSE) in the context of ASL proficiency?
- A formal variety of ASL used in academic settings
- A continuum variety blending ASL and English features (Correct answer)
- Tactile signing used by DeafBlind individuals
- Signing used only during initial contact with a new client
Correct answer: A continuum variety blending ASL and English features
Contact signing (previously called Pidgin Signed English) blends ASL vocabulary and grammar with English structural features, common in bilingual Deaf-hearing contact situations.
NIC ASL Proficiency 3
In an NIC interpreted setting, a Deaf consumer uses a very formal register.
How should the interpreter handle this?