What’d Your Face Just Say??Intentional prosody in ASL/English interpreting
Christina Healy October 6, 2017
WSRID Conference
A little about myself…and also, why Prosody?
Teachers
Thespians
Counselors
In process: “Below the Waist” with Elizabeth Steyer
Practice makes permanent.
Intentional practice breeds progress.
(And of course, we cannot be intentional about that to which we have not attended.)
A little warm up: Identifying Prosodic Markers
• We’ll watch the video three times. (The next slide has a summary before we watch.)
• First time: just watch the video through. • Second time: jot down prosodic markers you
notice (non-manuals, rhythm, etc.). • We’ll share as a group, and then watch one
more time. See if you can catch any new ones on the third time through!
About the Text• Maleni Chaitoo is being interviewed as part of a
Behind the Scenes of “Don’t Shoot the Messenger.”
• In this clip she shares 3 things she can’t live without:
• 1) Her Computer - to keep in touch with family and friends around the world (and her iPhone, too).
• 2) Netflix
• 3) Sports - a part of her life since birth, all four seasons: soccer&volleyball, skiing&ice-skating, tennis&rockclimbing, surfing&swimming&sailing at the beach, etc.
brows (up/down) eyes (wide/squinted/blinks)
nose (scrunch/flare) mouth
rhythm (speed of signing/pausing)
head movement
torso movement
size of signing
Any prosodic marking?
Affective
"Universal Emotions" Happiness Sadness Fear Surprise Anger Disgust
Speaker’s Stance sarcasm doubt
confidenceand many more!
Holistic and variable by individual Spans across phrase boundaries
Grammatical
ASL Sentence Types Polar and Content Questions Rhetoricals Clefts Negation Conditionals
Info. Packaging Topics Relative clauses Continuation
…adverbials, echoes, depiction, metaphor,
and more!
Componential and rule-governed Aligned with words/phrases
Volume Intonation
Rhythm
Affective
Prosody
Identifying Prosodic Form and Function
Grammatical
“The Three Essentials”
MUST REQUIRE THAT SECOND… #NETFLIX
Example • Identifying the form then function of prosodic markings.
Identifying Prosodic Form and Function
topicalization
Grammatical prosody: topicalizing (or marking continuation) guidepost to structure discourse - framing holding floor while thinking
SECOND(listbuoy) …point-at-second…
topicalizationraised eyebrows, chin up then down, widened eyes, direct eye contact, pause (and then pause again)
Ex. 1structure discourse
Example • Identifying the form then function of prosodic markings.
SPORT POINT INCLUDE FOUR #SEASONS <FALL>t SOCCER PLAY SO-FORTH VOLLEYBALL SO-FORTH…
Identifying Prosodic Form and Function
torso leaning or twisting left-right-left-right
Grammatical/Structural Prosody: Listing as examples of main idea Not an exhaustive list Opportunity for connection?
FALL…WINTER…SPRING/SUMMER…BEACH…
Ex. 2
Pick A or B: 1. Identify the form of prosodic markings. 2. In groups of three discuss the functions served.
Computer: for information access and communication, plus connecting with
family and friends
A. B.
Netflix: It’s a must. Can’t afford to live
without it.
your turn
Pick A or B: 1. Identify the form of prosodic markings. 2. In groups of three discuss the functions served.
Computer: for information access and communication, plus connecting with family
and friends
Netflix: It’s a must. Can’t afford to live
without it.
B.A.
Now let’s consider translation….1. First things first:
What is the meaning of the original text, including the purpose of its prosodic marking?
2. What are some ways that meaning can be expressed in English words and prosody?
3. After considering the distinct ways each language expresses these meanings: Videotape yourself interpreting the source text into English.
Example follows…
Identifying Prosodic Form and Function
torso leaning or twisting left-right-left-right
Grammatical/Structural Prosody: Listing as examples of main idea Not an exhaustive list Opportunity for connection?
FALL…WINTER…SPRING/SUMMER…BEACH…
Ex. 2
Identifying Prosodic Form and Function
Ex. 2
Listing as examples of main idea, Not an exhaustive list, Opportunity for connection?
One Option: list examples and use raising intonation and elongated vowels to indicate listing…
Another Option: Every sport you can name, rain or shine, or knee deep in the snow, year-round I’m out there playing!
Your turn :)1. First things first:
What is the meaning of the original text, including the purpose of its prosodic marking?
2. What are some ways that meaning can be expressed in words and prosody in your target communication system?
3. After considering the distinct ways each language expresses these meanings: Videotape yourself interpreting the source text into your target communication system.
4. With a partner, discuss the prosody you notice in your tape.
0
1
2
3
4
Untitled 1
Unconsciously Unskilled Consciously
Unskilled
Consciously Skilled
Unconsciously Skilled
Four Stages of Skill Development
Cycle of Learning (O’Connor & Seymour, 1990)
0
1
2
3
4
Untitled 1
Consciously Unskilled
Consciously Skilled
Unconsciously Skilled
Four Stages of Skill Development
Cycle of Learning (O’Connor & Seymour, 1990)
How about you, you have a dog?You want an A, better not skip class.
c u l t u r e
l a n g u a g e
Gumperz (1982)
A woman: without her, man is nothing.
Interpreters who want to refine their craft tape and
analyze their work.
Interpreters, who want to refine their craft, tape and analyze their work.
A woman: without her, man is nothing.
Interpreters, who want to refine their craft, tape and analyze their work.
Mary & Joe & Cris went to the party.
Identifying Prosodic Form and Function
…First sentence in pair…
volume, intonation, rhythm…
(what function is that prosody serving??)
…Second sentence in pair…
volume, intonation, rhythm…
(what function is that prosody serving??)
#3. Pick one pair of sentences below: • Identify the form of the prosodic markings. • In groups of three discuss the functions served.
A woman without her man is nothing.
A woman: without her, man is
nothing.
Interpreters that want to refine their craft tape and
analyze their work.
Interpreters, which is a profession in
which people want to refine their craft, tape and analyze
their work.[Mary & Joe], and Cris
went to the party.
A.
B.
C. Mary, and [Joe & Cris] went to the party.
Intentional practice breeds progress.
(And of course, we cannot be intentional about that to which we have not attended.)
Let's take a look at our prosody…1. First things first:
What is the meaning of the original text, including the purpose of its prosodic marking?
2. What are some ways that meaning can be expressed in ASL signs and prosody?
3. After considering the distinct ways each language expresses these meanings: Create a translation.
4. Videotape yourself interpreting the two target texts.
brows (up/down) eyes (wide/squinted/blinks)
nose (scrunch/flare) mouth
rhythm (speed of signing/pausing)
head movement
torso movement
size of signing
Any prosodic marking?
Thesis Topics, Anyone?
• Processing versus product prosody
• Backchanneling while terping
• TCUs in multimodal conversations
• Terpspeak?
Sentences and phrases are one kind of turn-constructional unit (TCU).
So, I was thinking that it
would be great to —
Where do you wanna have lunch?
"A second organizational resource shaping TCUs is in the…intonational 'packaging.’"
- Schegloff, 2007Prosody
Elderspeak…Child-directed speech…Terpspeak?
"Elderspeak consists of some or all of the following characteristics: using a singsong voice which changes pitch and tone and exaggerates words…using rising pitch at the end of statements so that they sound like questions."
-Thomas, 2010
A few great books:
Deborah Tannen
Jack Hoza Scott Liddell
scholar.google.com
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