These videos were produced by members of the NCIEC. Materials may be reproduced and distributed freely, with credit given to the National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers (NCIEC).
For more information about interpreting teams that include Deaf interpreters, visit www.interpretereducation.org/specialization/deaf-interpreter/. Visit www.interpretereducation.org and www.gallaudet.edu/guriec for more information about NCIEC & GURIEC programs.
Note: This is a *mock trial.* The Deaf witness, lawyers, and judge are actors.
The female interpreter is hearing, and the male interpreter is Deaf. Both interpreters are professional, certified interpreters with specialized legal training. They generously agreed to be videotaped doing this mock legal assignment. The interpretations are not rehearsed.
This is one example of how professional interpreters can work together as Deaf/Hearing interpreter teams. These videos allow us to analyze how a teaming situation like this can work well, and when it can have challenges. A Certified Deaf Interpreter (CDI)/Specialist Interpreter is often used in high-risk situations (medical, legal, etc). The team works together so that the English message is given by a native English speaker (the hearing interpreter), and the ASL message is given by a native ASL user (the Deaf interpreter). At its best, this process actually the interpretation *more* efficient and accurate.
