13.4 Collaborating with Spoken-Language, Trilingual & DeafBlind Interpreting Teams

CASLI's second pre-encounter task is to "collaborate with other interpreters (including Deaf, hearing, and foreign language interpreters) such as determining interpreting protocols for different types of interpreters, logistics and strategies for teaming, etc." The Deaf-interpreter half of that is covered in Chapter 9; this section covers the configurations that get far less attention and appear regularly on case studies: relaying through a spoken-language interpreter, trilingual work, and DeafBlind teams.

1. Why these configurations exist

American Deaf communities are multilingual. A Deaf consumer may sign ASL while their hearing family speaks Spanish; a newly arrived Deaf immigrant may use Mexican Sign Language (LSM) while the hospital operates in English; a DeafBlind consumer may need Pro-Tactile reception with a support team. The CASLI blueprint's underlying assumption list includes accurately relaying messages "along the continuum of ASL and other signed languages, as well as other forms of visual and tactile communication for Deaf and DeafBlind individuals."

2. Working with a spoken-language interpreter (relay)

The configuration: the Deaf consumer signs ASL; the hearing party speaks a language other than English; ASL↔English is handled by the sign language interpreter and English↔Spanish (or another language) by the spoken-language interpreter, with English as the pivot.

What changes:

• Latency doubles. Each message passes through two interpreters, so lag can reach eight to twelve seconds. Everyone needs to know this in advance or the conversation will fall apart into interruptions.
• Error compounds. Any distortion introduced in the first leg is faithfully carried into the second. Precision on the English pivot matters more than usual.
• Turn-taking must be explicitly managed. Two interpreters plus two or more principals cannot self-organize; agree a signal for "hold" and for "I need a repeat" before you start.
• Register drift. Two interpreters make independent register choices; a brief pre-conference aligning formality and terminology prevents the consumer from receiving a different tone than the speaker used.

Pre-conference agenda for a relay team: confirm the pivot language; agree explicit turn signals; agree how each interpreter will request a repetition; agree how names, numbers, and dosages will be handled; agree that clarifications are voiced so all parties know a clarification is happening; agree how you will handle a failure in either leg.

3. Trilingual interpreting

Trilingual interpreters work across ASL, English, and a third spoken language — most commonly Spanish in the United States — often within a single encounter, and frequently across the cultural expectations of three communities at once. A trilingual interpreter is not simply an ASL interpreter who also speaks Spanish; the work requires professional-level competence in all three languages plus the cultural mediation among them.

Key points for the generalist:

• If the assignment genuinely requires trilingual work, request a trilingual interpreter, not a bilingual interpreter who will improvise.
• Family members are not a substitute. A hearing sibling who speaks Spanish and signs some ASL is not a trilingual interpreter, and using them raises the same accuracy, role-conflict, and privacy problems as using any family member.
• Deaf trilingual interpreters exist and may be the correct resource where the Deaf consumer's signed language is not ASL.
• CPC Illustrative Behavior 2.4 covers this directly: request support, including "language facilitators," to address exceptional communication challenges including "foreign sign language."

4. DeafBlind interpreting teams

DeafBlind consumers use a range of reception methods, and the method dictates the team structure:

Two practice points that appear on exams:

1. Environmental information is content, not extra. A DeafBlind consumer does not receive who entered the room, who laughed, who is looking away, or that the presenter has moved to the whiteboard. Conveying it is part of providing equivalent access, not an editorial addition. Pro-Tactile practice developed substantially to give the DeafBlind person access to exactly that information through touch.
2. Support Service Providers (SSPs), now often called Co-Navigators, are not interpreters. They provide visual and environmental information and sighted guide services. Where interpreting is required, an interpreter is required; an SSP or Co-Navigator does not substitute for one.

5. The shared pre-conference

Whatever the configuration, a multi-interpreter team needs a pre-conference. Agree in advance:

ROLES        Who works which language pair or direction?
             Who is feed / support and how will a feed be offered?
             Where is each person positioned?

MECHANICS    Switch interval and switch signal
             Signal for "hold", "repeat", "I have a correction"
             How clarification requests are made visible to the principals

CONTENT      Terminology and name signs to be used consistently
             How numbers, dosages, dates and proper nouns are handled
             Register and formality target

FAILURE      What happens if one leg breaks down
             Who speaks to the hiring entity if conditions are inadequate
             How the team debriefs afterwards

CPC Illustrative Behavior 5.2 makes this a professional expectation, requiring interpreters to "work cooperatively with team members through consultation before assignments regarding logistics, providing professional and courteous assistance when asked and monitoring the accuracy of the message while functioning in the role of the support interpreter." The pre-conference is not optional collegiality; it is the named mechanism by which teams are expected to operate.