1. Interpreting: A Practice Profession
Demand Control Schema

2. Fill it in with any interpreting related question
Fill it in with any interpreting related question. Ask them what question Dean and Pollard used as an example in their article. (What do you do if you can’t hear the speaker)
Ex., “a consumer is highly emotional,” “I can’t hear what the speaker said”, “the deaf person is looking down”
What do I do when…?

3. Beware! This is a trick question?
We are often looking for or tempted to offer a “RULE” – “match speaker’s affect” or “ask for clarification when needed” or “keep intepreting”– this is a rule-based approach to decision-making – called DEONTOLOGICAL thinking
This approach DOESN’T consider the circumstances/current situation – it just applies the rule regardless of what’s currently happening, can lead to very harmful consequences
Beware! This is a trick question

4. “It depends”
Dean and Pollard have mixed feelings about this answer to our question. Why?

5. This approach suggests that interpreting is a technical profession
Students should be able to give a definition of this term after reading D and P. A technical profession - skills and knowledge of techniques are central. The tools used are predictable and reliable
*** they produce similar results if used similarly – so consequences are predictable and consistent
Technical profession is one that is performed primarily OUTSIDE of a dynamic human context. Examples are accountants, architects, computer technicians, etc.
This approach suggests that interpreting is a technical profession

6. Interpreters are practice professionals
Ask students why this is the case and what other types of professionals are practice professionals. Rules don’t work. Our work always occurs within a DYNAMIC HUMAN CONTEXT that MUST be considered prior to determining what the most effective response might be to our question.
Examples are doctors, social workers, teachers.
CONTEXT and CONSEQUENCES are key.
Teleological approach to decision-making – consequence-based.
Interpreters are practice professionals

7. Teleological approach to Deontological approach to decision-making
Practice Professions
Technical Professions
Doctors, teachers
Pilots, accountants
Technical skills and knowledge required
SAME
Work performed in dynamic human context
Work performed (primarily) outside of dynamic human context
Work centers around people (unpredictable -social and emotional factors are critical)
Work centers around tools and formulas (predictable)
One-size-fits-all answers to questions do not work
One-size-fits-all answers to questions are often successful
Teleological approach to
decision-making
Deontological approach to decision-making
Interpreters’ ethical mandate: “do no harm”
Interpreters’ ethical mandate: “pretend you’re not there” or “you’re just the conduit”
Interpreting requires ability to assess other people’s perspectives and make decisions that consider them
Interpreting requires linguistic knowledge and skill
Be sure to stress the words in blue

8. What is the thesis of her article?
What might Witter-Merithew say about the practice/technical distinction?
What is the thesis of her article?
Would she agree or disagree with Dean and Pollard?
Use at least one quote directly from her “Invisibility” article to support your point

9. How do the entry-to-practice competencies support the practice profession approach?
1. Theoretical and World Knowledge
2. Human Relations
3. Language Skills
4. Interpreting Skills
5. Professionalism
Discuss text (Conversations with Stakeholders) and how these were determined. Discuss term “stakeholders”

10. Preparing to be a competent practice professional
Identify one specific competency within categories 1, 4 and 5 that you may need to develop further
I will ask each student to share one with the class. I will likely choose the category for them. I will ask that they write these on the same paper they wrote their earlier answer on – I will tell them that I’m collecting these at the end of the class.

11. CAIR (Council on Islamic American Relations) Community Panel Presentation on Defamation of Muslims and Islam in the Media WHAT MIGHT MATTER TO THE TERP?
Brainstorm in groups for a set amount of time – maybe 3 minutes – goal is to list as many things as they can that might be significant

12. Demands
Controls
Those aspects of a job that are salient/significant and need to be considered
NOT necessarily demanding or challenging
Four categories
Those things that an interpreter brings to bear in response to job demands
NOT a verb. Only a noun
Can be categorized in two ways
Demand Control Schema

13. Every job has demands and controls
Robyn K. Dean, FIPSE 2007
Every job has demands and controls
High Control
LOW STRAIN
ACTIVE
Low Demand
High Demand
Research done in 1979 on occupational health by Robert Karasek. Intepreting was not included in his research but Dean and Pollard adopted this theory and applied it to our work. Active is most rewarding, high strain leads to most burnout.
PASSIVE
HIGH STRAIN
Low Control

14. Let’s pause for a Critical Thinking Moment
How does the technical vs. practice profession distinction for interpreters relate to the four quadrants and the concepts of demands and controls?
Technical profession would be low control bc we assume we only have a limited number of tools available to us/necessary to us. We would assume that this is because demands are fairly similar and consistent and therefore perhaps more low demand. In fact our work is high demand and, htough we seem to have realized that historically, we stuck by the notion that it was low control and did not allow ourselves a wide decision latitude. This placed us in the high strain category.

15. Application to our field
Robyn K. Dean, FIPSE 2007
Application to our field
Robyn Dean and Robert Pollard’s article introduced their ideas about the application of this schema to the interpreting field.
Theory to schema – we don’t read this article in class as much of it is now considered outdated, but it was the beginning of this schema – they have since done quite a bit of refinement and development of their ideas

16. Application to our field
Robyn K. Dean, FIPSE 2007
Application to our field
Dean and Pollard’s initial concerns were:
Shifting our quadrant
Determining categories specific to the field in order to assist with this shift
From high strain to active

17. Dean & Pollard’s 4 Demand Categories (EIPI)
Robyn K. Dean, FIPSE 2007
Dean & Pollard’s 4 Demand Categories (EIPI)
Environmental
That which is specific to the setting (i.e., goal, professional roles, terminology, physical surroundings)
Interpersonal
That which is specific to the interaction of the consumers and interpreter (i.e., culture, FOI, goals)
Paralinguistic
That which is specific to the expressive skills of the deaf/hearing consumers (i.e., style, pace, volume)
Intrapersonal
That which is specific to the interpreter (i.e., thoughts, feelings, physical reactions)
See word doc for more specifics if needed

18. Environmental Demands
Robyn K. Dean, FIPSE 2007
Environmental Demands
Goal of the environment
Terminology associated with this setting
Personnel or clientele in this setting
Physical surroundings of the setting
Room temperature
Chemicals and odors
Seating arrangements/sight lines
Lighting quality
Visual distractions
Background noise
Space (people, furniture, equipment)
G of E is broad and relates to whole env, not just to one person in that env. Ex. Goal of an ER – to triage, stabilize, admit vs. send home

19. CAIR (Council on Islamic American Relations) Community Panel Presentation on Defamation of Muslims and Islam in the Media
What are the env demands present here? Look at your list and generate new ones based on the subcategories

20. Interpersonal Demands
Robyn K. Dean, FIPSE 2007
Interpersonal Demands
Dynamics that exist between consumers and consumer to interpreter, such as:
Power & authority dynamics
Communication style and goals
Emotional tone or mood
Role and cultural differences
Communication flow (e.g., turn taking)
Relationship nuances (new, familiar, intimate)
“Thought worlds” of hearing & deaf people (not interpreter)
Point out that what ppl say and do are part of this. Env. Sets the scene for the play and interpersonal is the action of the play. Note that register goes here and so does goal of speaker.

21. CAIR (Council on Islamic American Relations) Community Panel Presentation on Defamation of Muslims and Islam in the Media
Identify Ie demands possible here. Tell them that the ability to predict demands is a CRITICAL skill for terps. Ususally we receive env. Info from agencies and we must make predictions about the other 3 categories in order to be better prepared. So doing this with a pic is part of practicing our prediction skills

22. Paralinguistic Demands:
Robyn K. Dean, FIPSE 2007
Paralinguistic Demands:
Idiosyncrasies of speaking
Volume
Pace
Accents
Clarity of speech
Physical position
Physical limitations
Physical Barriers to seeing/hearing communication
Interpreter’s notes: Notice we do not use “language” per se. It is more about the “raw material” an interpreter’s receives. If the interpreter understands the concept or not is another issue.
Mental retardation
Stroke
Injured limb(s)
Intoxication
Arthritis
Cerebral Palsy
Facial paralysis
AD/HD
Neck problems
Others?

23. CAIR (Council on Islamic American Relations) Community Panel Presentation on Defamation of Muslims and Islam in the Media
Id possible para demands

24. Intrapersonal Demands
Robyn K. Dean, FIPSE 2007
Intrapersonal Demands
Feelings or ruminations one may have about:
one’s safety
one’s interpreting performance
liability
the people and the dynamics
the environment
physiological distractions
psychological responses or distractions
This is the stuff that gets in your way, not what helps you.
The note in red is meant to distinguish btwn Ia demands and highly conservative controls. They wont get that yet but be sure to stress that the stuff we think about that helps us has another name.

25. CAIR (Council on Islamic American Relations): Community Panel Presentation on Defamation of Islam and Muslims in the Media
Your own Ia demands

26. WOW!!!! That’s an awful lot of stuff to take into consideration
every time
I make a decision…

27. The Constellation of Demands is:
Robyn K. Dean, FIPSE 2007
The Constellation of Demands is:
All of the demands relevant to any given decision-making moment But how do you know what factors to consider? This is what “it depends” on!!!!!
Concurrent
Main
Use the EIPI categories to help fill in our circles. Teach difference btwn main and concurrent. Main is that which you are most directly responding to as the terp.

28. EIPI Context vs. Constellation of Demands
The EIPI context is a more thorough, detailed way of describing an entire interpreting assignment
The constellation of demands refers only to those demands from the EIPI context that are relevant in a given decision- making moment

29. First Grade Classroom at Reading Time
The teacher in a first grade class has called her students over to the carpet for story time. The story is about penguins and their adventures as a performing group. The students are seated on the carpet and listening to the continuing story of the penguins. There is an interpreter seated next to the teacher and a deaf student seated on the carpet in the middle facing both teacher and interpreter.

30. Environmental Demands
Goal: Education
Entertainment
Personnel/Clientele:
20 first graders: Most Caucasian, some African-American
Teacher: Hispanic female, mid-30’s
Physical Surroundings: students seated on “reading carpet”, crowded, teacher in front on rocking chair, visually busy walls, door to the hallway is open, gerbil cage with running wheel
Terminology: associated with penguins, performance, specific character names, vocabulary and grammar instruction

31. Interpersonal Demands
Robyn K. Dean, FIPSE 2007
Interpersonal Demands
Teacher uses facial expressions and gestures for correcting children
A student complains she can’t see the picture
Teacher asks students to predict what might happen
The story is visually interesting and students are fascinated watching the interpreter
Student calls out “How do you sign penguin?”
Another student is sneaking candy from his pockets and distributing it to some; others ask but he refuses; teacher is not aware

32. Paralinguistic Demands
“Read” material
Teacher has a Hispanic accent
She reads slowly and pauses for emphasis
Deaf kid signs with one hand (other hand is propping himself up) using his voice
Kid’s are whispering to each other about the candy
Intermittent noise from the hallway makes the story hard to hear

33. Robyn K. Dean, FIPSE 2007
Demands

34. Let’s build a constellation
Student is sneaking candy and distributing it to some children.
1. Interpreter does nothing
2. Interpreter quietly informs teacher that the boy is passing out candy
What demand(s) might make the difference here?
Which is more liberal/conservative? Why?

35. What was today’s muddiest point?

36. Definitions of Controls
Decision latitude afforded to the worker
Response to job demands
Better understood as noun and not verb (to control, to be in control, feel out of control are not accurate applications of control)
Controls are about the employee
Controls in interpreting must also include characteristics of interpreter (gender, age, ethnicity, etc.) because interpreting is a practice profession & about human interaction

37. Controls can be categorized
Liberal Conservative

38. Dean & Pollard’s Temporal Control Categories
Robyn K. Dean, FIPSE 2007
Dean & Pollard’s Temporal Control Categories
Pre-assignment controls: controls that exist or are employed before for the formal assignment.
Assignment controls: controls that are employed during the interpreting assignment.
Post-assignment controls: controls that are employed after the assignment is over.
Self-explanatory

39. Pre-assignment Controls
Robyn K. Dean, FIPSE 2007
Pre-assignment Controls
Physical, cognitive, and psychological attributes
Gender, age, ethnicity, etc.
Interpreting education: Direct and Indirect
Credentials: Certification or QA
Experience: Work-related and personal
Prior Relationships
Direct preparation for the assignment
Clothing
Contacts (team, hearing & deaf consumers)
Readings, prep materials, Internet

40. Assignment Controls Identifying demands Positive Self-talk
Robyn K. Dean, FIPSE 2007
Assignment Controls
Identifying demands
Positive Self-talk
Direct interventions (asking a question, etc.)
Interpretation decisions (what to sign or say)
Using the Code of Professional Conduct as a guide
Using what we’ve learned about our work as a guide
Asking our team for help

41. Post-assignment Controls
Robyn K. Dean, FIPSE 2007
Post-assignment Controls
Supervision
Formal (with supervisor)
Informal (with colleagues)
Debriefing/venting
With support system
Follow up
With people involved
With further education
With referring party
Self-care

42. Dean and Pollard’s liberal to conservative spectrum
Liberal: favoring action
Conservative: favoring inaction
Neither is, in and of itself, ideal or correct!
Conservative
Liberal

43. Possible Pre-assignment Controls
Read the chapter ahead of time
Find a comfortable place to sit
Make sure I am placed close enough to the teacher and the book
Mentally prepare myself for a lot of distracting sights and sounds
Ask teacher if some signs from the story could be taught to the class (via deaf student and/or interpreter) so to avoid too many interruptions during story and to encourage interest in their classmate’s language

44. Possible Assignment Controls: Liberal to Conservative
Use good visual ASL (use of space and facial expressions) to show the comedic and active nature of the story
Make teacher’s subtle correction of behavior more overt by “signing” the inferred meaning
Make eye contact with the boy passing out candy and give the “I see you” facial expression
Make eye contact with students who are watching the ASL with interest and smile with encouragement
Colors indicate groupings of controls that seem related to the same main demand

45. Possible Assignment Controls: Liberal to Conservative
When the deaf student signs with one hand use consecutive interpreting to figure it out
Ask for clarification, highlighting the lack of clarity with use of one hand
Ask student to use both hands
Pause with teacher to show similar emphasis techniques in ASL
Use sign vocabulary taught to class deliberately for those paying attention

46. Possible Post-Assignment Controls
Briefly highlight any plot changes or developments in the story with deaf student to ensure clarity of translation
Encourage students’ new vocabulary and encourage interaction with deaf student after story (redirecting attention back to their classmate)
Thank teacher for taking time out at the beginning of the story to respond to students’ curiosity
Consider whether the “candy” disruption should be reported to the teacher and ask for guidance on future behavior issues ( i.e., how she would like me to deal with them -- ignore or report).

47. Can you spot the demands and controls?
Have students list as many as they can and label them EIPI and liberal to conservative

48. Understanding field-specific scholarship
Break into groups
Each group is assigned one or two quotes
Report back to the class as a whole
See word doc for this activity