Laurie Swabey

• PhD
• Professor at St. Catherine University

More than 40 years after American Sign Language (ASL) and interpreter education were first offered as programs of study in higher education, little is known about the level of ASL proficiency of graduates from baccalaureate degree programs in interpreting and what level of ASL proficiency may be associated with passing the performance portion of th...

This literature review has two purposes. First, it serves as the basis for development of an experiential learning graduation-to-certification program for American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters through both face-to-face and virtual environments. Second, it is intended as a reference on experiential learning for those working with interpreters at...

In 2008 the National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers (NCIEC) conducted a national needs assessment survey asking Deaf people about their healthcare needs and experiences. Deaf people identified healthcare as the most important setting to have an interpreter (NIEC, 2008, 2015). However, there is no systematic entry to, or professional de...

Little is known about the nature of fingerspelling during sign language interpretation. In this small-scale, exploratory study, we examined the fingerspelling of interpreters working in five different sign languages: American Sign Language (ASL), Australian Sign Language (Auslan), British Sign Language (BSL), Irish Sign Language (ISL), and Italian...

Translating from English into American Sign Language holds a number of challenges, particularly when the English source text is a formal, high profile, scripted speech. This study examined perspectives of Deaf bilinguals on translating President Obama’s 2009 inaugural address into American Sign Language. We conducted a microanalysis of translations...

Interpreters who work regularly with a deaf health professional are often referred to, in the U.S., as designated healthcare interpreters (DHIs). To date, there have not been any systematic studies that specifically investigate the work of DHIs, yet the number of deaf people pursuing careers in the health professions continues to grow (Zazove et al...

Despite federal laws that mandate equal access and communication in all healthcare settings for deaf people, consistent provision of quality interpreting in healthcare settings is still not a reality, as recognized by deaf people and American Sign Language (ASL)-English interpreters. The purpose of this study was to better understand the work of AS...

This study examined omissions, errors, and variability in lexical selection across simultaneous interpretations of President Obama’s 2009 inaugural address, in three spoken languages (French, German, Japanese) and in American Sign Language (ASL). Microanalysis of how information conveyed by 39 source speech lexical items was transferred into the ta...

In the U.S. healthcare system, signed language interpreters frequently facilitate communication between deaf individuals who use American Sign Language (ASL) and their non-signing physicians. A small but growing number of deaf individuals are pursuing medical training and becoming physicians, creating an opportunity for some deaf patients to commun...

In this study we examine linguistic features produced by interpreters and deaf bilingual physicians when translating medication instructions from English into American Sign Language (ASL). In the U.S. healthcare system, signed language interpreters are frequently called upon to facilitate communication between deaf individuals who use ASL and their...

A fundamental principle held by professional American Sign Language-English interpreters is the critical importance of preparing for assignments; however, neither preparation strategies nor their efficacy have been studied in depth. For this study, six experienced ASL-English conference interpreters were interviewed about the preparation process th...

Deaf Americans have identified healthcare as the most difficult setting in which to obtain a qualified interpreter. Yet, relatively little attention has been given to developing evidence-based resources and a standardized body of knowledge to educate healthcare interpreters. In Our Hands: Educating Healthcare Interpreters addresses these concerns b...

Historically, interpreter education programs and professional codes of ethics have taken a cautionary stance toward practitioner involvement in interpreted interactions. Yet, situations arise – particularly within healthcare settings – which require interpreters' expertise and intervention. This di between professional rhetoric and real-world exper...

Referring expressions are an integral part of language, whether the language is spoken, written, or signed. Although forms in English such as it, she, that, that frog can refer to many different things, competent native speakers are able to understand these referring expressions correctly. How interlocutors use and comprehend various referring expr...

Legislation guarantees communication access in the United States healthcare system for deaf citizens and this access is oen made possible by bimodal bilingual interpreters, individuals uent in spoken and signed languages. Yet there is a conspicuous lack of research on interpreted discourse in this setting. With the exception of research on mental h...

Book review of Advances in Interpreting Research

Despite the existence of interpreter education programs for American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters since the late 1970s, there has yet to be a program for educating healthcare interpreters that is based on effective practices research and is available to interpreters across the U.S. Because the need for qualified interpreters in healthcare for D...

Referring expressions are an integral part of language and are present in every discourse that students interpret. In a sentence such as "The woman next door gave the green book to my son's friend," referring forms such as "the woman next door" and "the green book" are descriptive. However, the same meaning in context could be conveyed by the sente...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Minnesota, 2002. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-163)