What is "expansion" in ASL interpreting?
Question:
Dr. Vicars,
I notice that sometimes an English sentence will use a particular word and then
an interpreter uses several signs to interpret that word into ASL. What is
that process called?
Response:
The interpreting technique to which you refer is "expansion."
If someone voices a word for which there is not a good match in ASL -- an
interpreter may choose to expand by using multiple signs to express an
equivalent concept in ASL. (The interpreter may also choose other methods
such as using depictive signing, pointing to a present referent, giving an
example, fingerspelling, etc.)
It works both ways. (English to ASL as well as ASL to English.)
If someone signs a word for which there is not a good match in English -- an
interpreter will need to expand by using multiple English words. For example, if
a person signs: "IX-(she) HEARING" the interpreter may need to voice "She is a
person who can hear" or "That woman grew up with the ability to hear and speak
and thus her world view is different from that of a Deaf person."
We typically see ASL expansion happen for multiple-meaning English words
representing concepts that are rarely or infrequently discussed in the Deaf
Community.
We typically see English expansion happen for depictive ASL signing (or what
some people refer to as the use of classifiers).
Plus idiomatic language use generally requires expansion in other languages.
It is trite but but perhaps helpful to think of the phrase "a picture is worth a
thousand words." Similarly, the use of depiction in ASL can necessitate the use
of several English sentences. Likewise if someone uses the English word
antidisestablishmentarianism -- you can pretty much expect to see an interpreter
do some expansion.
Homework for you:
Look up the definition of "nuance"
Look up the definition of "equivalency"
Look up the definition of "analogous"
Look up the definition of "Venn diagram"
Notes:
Notes: