Interpreting Service Models

by David Bar-Tzur

Helper model

The four traditional service models are (1) helper, (2) conduit, (3) communication facilitator, and (4) bicultural-bilingual or bi-bi. The helper model came about before interpreting was a profession. Most interpreters were Codas, clerics, or social workers. Codas were often called into “duty” at an early age which made both the hearing children and the deaf adults feel that deaf people are lacking if they have to depend on young children to get along in a hearing world. Clerics often felt that they brought salvation, the ultimate help, to many other cultures and minorities, showing the world the right way. Social workers sought to fix the pathology of deafness, thinking themselves essential for deaf people’s functioning.

Pathological treatment led to internalized oppression, where deaf people themselves felt that they needed help to survive in the world. The major relationship was with the Deaf community. Interpreters were often involved by birth or through side needs of their occupation. For some there was a cultural obligation to attend Deaf events. This pressure lead to shunning Hearing events to identify with the Deaf world. Interpreters used consecutive interpretation and would often summarize and edit out what they thought was beyond deaf people. In order to help, interpreters would share confidential information with people in authority. The positive thing was that Deaf people were being given access to information that had alluded them for years; the negative thing was that deaf people were not making their own decisions.

Conduit/machine model

With the birth of RID at Ball State, and as a reaction against the helper model, the pendulum swung to the opposite extreme and interpreters felt that they had to be invisible, neutral, and uninvolved. They were only a telephone wire that served as a conduit for information flow. The intention was to avoid the injustices that happened under the helper model and to return control to deaf people, but when people are invisible, their humanity is not recognized, and so they feel worthless. When people struggle to be neutral, their opinion is suppressed about even matters that would make the interpreting process run more smoothly. In an effort to be uninvolved, interpreters disengaged their concern.

The “9-5 attitude” arose, where interpreters did not socialize with deaf people and thereby were seen as cold fish. Lack of cultural understanding led to alienation from the Hearing World and the Deaf World. The major relationship was with the hearing community, since this was the interpreter’s default community and a machine does not interact while working. The positive thing was the institution of standards and ethics; the negative thing was that deaf people were getting a representation of the words, but not of the meaning.

Communication facilitator model

The pendulum started to swing back as both interpreters and deaf people came to realize that something was missing. Interpreters started to assert their needs. They would take responsibility for introducing their role, lighting, seating, meeting the deaf person before the assignment, and interpersonal skills. The positive thing was that these things were appropriate to take charge of since it allowed interpreters to do their work; the negative thing was that interpreters still didn’t take on responsibility for the communication.

Bilingual bi-cultural mediator model

Next interpreters sought to understand both cultures and find equivalence in as far as possible to get both sides to see the other’s perspective. They become culture brokers, but there is a danger in trying to be the expert in either world. This could be visualized as a double-helper model were both Deaf and Hearing people need help and the interpreter is the one to give it to them. The major relationship was with the Deaf community for non-Codas, trying desperately to catch up and become an expert in ASL and the Deaf community. The positive thing it that interpreters can find greater semantic equivalency; the negative thing is that interpreters may overstep their bounds in trying to be the expert in everything.