Something Got Lost in the Translation: The Role of the Interpreter/Translator in Early Intervention [Video and Accompanying Handouts]
Susanne D. Marcus
This kit is intended to assist Early Intervention personnel in preparing interpreters to work with them to evaluate the needs of at-risk children and children who are developmentally delayed. The video is used to illustrate appropriate behavior, how the interpreters are to convey meaning between the evaluators and parents, and what the interpreters should expect during the evaluation sessions. There are three parts to the interview: (1) Briefing--the evaluator explains to the interpreter (a) introduction of participants, (b) seating arrangement, (c) the purpose of the interaction and (d) terminology to be used and reminder to translate every thing spoken. (2) Interaction--it will be noisy and distracting. The interpreter should have strong memory skills and be able to handle unplanned events. (3) Debriefing--the interpreter explains things that might not have been said, such as the mother's concern that the child might "act up", or any cultural influences that might have affected the interview.
Susanne D. Marcus. Something Got Lost in the Translation: The Role of the Interpreter/Translator in Early Intervention [Video and Accompanying Handouts] (1996). Early Intervention Training Consortium [New York State]: New York, NY.
Sponsoring Agency: Interagency Council of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Agencies, Inc.; New York State Association of Counties; Westchester Institute for Human Development; New York State
Language: English
Reading Level: Easy
Formats Available: Printed Material, Videotape
(additional E-mail address to contact regarding this material: smarcussol@cs.com)
Early Intervention Training Consortium [New York State]
Interagency Council of MRDD Agencies, Inc.
275 Seventh Avenue
New York, NY
10001
Phone: (212) 645-6360
Fax: (212) 627-8847
Email: mames@iacny.org
Languages Available: English
Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Infants and Families: The Role of Interpreters in Early Intervention
Intended User Audience:
Users may include parents/family members, administrators, early childhood and early intervention/early childhood special education personnel, occupational therapists, physical therapists and speech pathologists, translators and interpreters.
Product Development:
Participants in the development of the video include: parents, service delivery personnel, faculty/trainers, early intervention/early childhood special education personnel and paraprofessionals, and speech pathologists. These participants were from the following cultural and linguistic groups: Central American, South American, Russian, European American, and Indian.
Product Evaluation:
Though no formal evaluation has been published, the video has been evaluated by participants (in New York City and Albany, New York), including: Service delivery personnel, administrators, faculty/trainers, early intervention/early childhood special education personnel, and speech pathologists.
These people were from the following cultural and linguistic groups: European American 35%; African American 15%; South American 25%; Mandarin Chinese 10%; Puerto Rican 15%.
Product Dissemination:
Approximately 125 copies have been distributed in New York State.
Review #1
About the reviewer:
Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, the reviewer came to the U.S.
with a degree in elementary education and one in special education.
She has a bachelor's degree in arts and is currently exploring a
master's degree in Disability and Human Development. In 1990 her son
was born with several disabilities, and she experienced with him a
midwestern state's system for early intervention in different local
education agencies. In 1991, she started working for the state
Migrant Head Start and is currently the Disabilities Services Manager
for the state project. The majority of the children attending the
program are Hispanics with a high percentage coming directly
from Mexico each year.
Audience:
This reviewer believes that the intended audience for this material is exclusively administrators, translators/interpreters, professionals and paraprofessionals working in the early intervention field. This is a good material to use with students, also. It is clear to this reviewer that there is no specific information for families, although this material could be read and understood by family members. The material is easy to read and does not require an extensive familiarity with the topic.
Strengths of the Material:
It is clear and easy to follow. The video enhances this material, making it easy for the intended audience; in 10 minutes the message is easily conveyed. The theme of culturally and linguistically diverse families is intrinsic to this material. The families used in the video represent a variety of cultural groups, making it very appropriate.
This material addresses strongly the fact that accommodations must be made when working with culturally and linguistically diverse infants, toddlers and their families, suggesting the need for system level changes. The clarification of jargon is another strength of this material. There is a very specific distinction made between translators and interpreters, as well as easy-to-follow lists with tips on how to interact during the meeting, how to find bilingual professionals, and how to establish the responsibilities of the interpreter. The material does an excellent job regarding prioritizing alternatives when no bilingual professionals are available.
Limitations of the Material:
The material does not offer strategies to address conflict that may arise between the family and provider, and how the interpreter should react to this conflict. The family information gathering process itself is not clearly discussed but it is mentioned during the video, in a conversation between the interpreter and the early intervention professional; perhaps a small amount of information explaining this process would provide context for the discussion of using interpreters to assist in the family information gathering process.
This material does not offer discussion related to attitudes towards cultural or linguistic diversity that may arise during the interpreter process. However, since the material is meant to focus
on best practice and requirements of the law, this omission is not considered to be major by this reviewer. This material was written in 1994 and may require some language adjustments (e.g., Part C for Part H; latest revisions of IDEA).
Adaptations:
Each group to be trained with this material may need to be considered separately; some may require the inclusion of the topic of attitudes and some may need some information about conflict resolution. Some groups may require more complex information regarding translators and interpreters. But the material itself does not require any adaptation; it is an excellent tool to help understand the role of the translator/interpreter in the early intervention system. And the video complements the written sections.
Generalizability:
Although this material was developed for the state of New York, it is easily adaptable to other states, since all states receiving Part C funds must have similar systems in place. This reviewer considers this material a very useful one. It could be wonderfully adapted to the Illinois system, since there is a clear need to understand the importance of adaptations to the culturally and linguistically diverse families living in that state. The material presents lists and easy-to-follow suggestions.
Recommendations:
This reviewer recommends this video and supporting handouts. They provide a useful introduction to the best practice use of interpreters to aid communication between service providers and family members in early intervention settings. They would also be useful for students entering the field of early intervention.
Producer's Response:
We appreciate the favorable evaluations that Something Got Lost in Translation: The Role of the Interpreter/Translator in Early Intervention received from your field reviewers. New printings of the three supplemental brochures have been modified in the regulatory section to reflect the latest revisions of IDEA.
These materials were developed as part of a grant to provide resources, curriculum, and training for early intervention personnel in locating, selecting, and training bilingual personnel as interpreters in evaluation and service delivery. The video and related brochures are to be used as one part of a whole day training for interpreters, with or without program-related background, as well as a training for early intervention program personnel on techniques for working with families in translated situations.
Review #2
About the reviewer:
The reviewer has a doctoral degree in special education from
the University of Kansas. She has been working with young
children with developmental disabilities for several years.
She holds the certificate in Early Childhood Special Education
(ECSE) issued by Kansas, and the certificate in special education
issued by Korea. Her research interest includes partnerships
between professionals and families of children with disabilities,
positive behavior supports for children with challenging behaviors,
and outcomes of early intervention.
Audience:
The primary audience for this video and three handouts are parents/family members and any early intervention personnel, including early intervention/early childhood special education teachers, occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech pathologists, family service coordinators (case managers), and administrators, who need to work with interpreters to communicate with families. Interpreters and translators who will work with these professionals can also be the audience of this material.
Strengths of the Material:
This material is very short and simple, and includes a lot of useful information. Though the need to work with interpreters and translators increases in the field of early intervention as the number of children with disabilities and their families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds increase, very few materials have been developed regarding how to work with interpreters. Therefore, this material will be welcomed and used by many agencies and providers that want to have some tips about working with interpreters and finding an effective way to orient their interpreters.
The videotape runs only 10 minutes, but clearly illustrates the collaboration procedures between service providers and interpreters according to three phases (briefing, interaction, and debriefing). Important points are well incorporated in each phase (e.g., confidentiality and neutrality issues).
The three handouts (Assessing The Need for Early Intervention, 1994; The Role of Interpreters in Early Intervention, 1995; An Interpreter's Guide to Early Intervention, 1996) contain very similar content to the videotape, but they supplement the videotape by providing more specific information. The handouts will be very useful in the orientation for interpreters and translators, especially when they do not have any background in disability-related fields. Especially, the second handout (An Interpreter's Guide to Early Intervention) provides definition and explanations of the terms and concepts that are frequently used by early intervention professionals. This information will be very helpful for beginning interpreters who have little or no experience in early intervention services.
Limitations of the Material:
The material is very short, but to the point. There are no limitations in terms of structure and content of the material. The only limitation comes from the fact that the material was made before the reauthorization of IDEA in 1997. As a result, the material includes the regulatory section based on the law before the 1997 amendment (e.g., "Part H" needs to be changed to "Part C").
Adaptations:
There are three ways to make adaptations for the best use of the material: First, as mentioned in the limitation section, a statement and terms from the 1997 amendment of IDEA can be added to the material.
Second, when the interpreters or translators do not have much background knowledge in special education or disability conditions, even concisely interpreted/translated terms may sound offensive to families. In many countries, there are multiple terms for a certain disability condition and some of them are not respectful though they are commonly used (e.g., in many countries, there are words for "idiot" and "mental deficiency," and those terms commonly are interchangeably used with "mental retardation"). Therefore, users (e.g., those who provide training to interpreters) may need to contact bilingual service providers or university faculty in the early intervention field and make a list of terms that can and should not be used.
Third, especially when the conversation has to involve many medical terms or other professional jargon (e.g., cochlear implant, dialysis, or hydrocephalus), even quite experienced interpreters may have difficulties in interpreting/translating the words. Descriptive explanation of each term will be helpful to enhance interpreters' understanding. Also, a medical dictionary between two languages (e.g., English-Japanese medical dictionary) can assist this process very effectively. This kind of dictionary can be purchased easily through Internet bookstores.
Generalizability:
Though the developer originally targeted the service providers and interpreters/translators in the state of New York, the material has broader generalizability. Since the video and guidebooks are general, rather than dealing exclusively with a certain language or culture, the material can be used in any community with any people irrespective of their specific linguistic origin.
Recommendations:
Recommend. When interpreters are involved in early intervention, this material will provide very useful information for service providers who work with families whose languages are different from their own and the interpreters who work between the providers and families.
Producer's Response:
We appreciate the favorable evaluations that Something Got Lost in Translation: The Role of the Interpreter/Translator in Early Intervention received from your field reviewers. New printings of the three supplemental brochures have been modified in the regulatory section to reflect the latest revisions of IDEA.
These materials were developed as part of a grant to provide resources, curriculum, and training for early intervention personnel in locating, selecting, and training bilingual personnel as interpreters in evaluation and service delivery. The video and related brochures are to be used as one part of a whole day training for interpreters, with or without program-related background, as well as a training for early intervention program personnel on techniques for working with families in translated situations.
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