American Sign Language—
English Interpretation
Specializations:
Associate of Applied Science
Career Studies Certificate
Interpreter
Education
Career Studies Certificate
Employment of interpreters and translators is projected to increase faster than
the average for all occupations over the 2004-14 period
What do Interpreters do?
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Sign language interpreters facilitate communication between people
who are deaf or hard of hearing and people who can hear. Sign language
interpreters must be fluent in English and in American Sign Language
(ASL), which combines signing, finger spelling, and specific body
language. ASL has its own grammatical rules, sentence structure,
idioms, historical contexts, and cultural nuances. Sign language
interpreting, like foreign language interpreting, involves more than
simply replacing a word of spoken English with a sign representing
that word.
>>More
How much money do interpreters
make?
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, salaried interpreters and translators had median hourly earnings
of $16.28 in May 2004. The middle 50 percent earned between $12.40
and $21.09. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $9.67, and the
highest 10 percent earned more than $27.45.
>>More
What is the job outlook?
According to the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics, employment of interpreters
and translators is projected to increase
faster than the average for all occupations over the 2004-14
period, reflecting strong growth in the industries employing interpreters
and translators.
>>More
|
| |
What
do Interpreters do?
According to the U.S. Department of Labor Most
sign language interpreters either interpret, aiding communication between
English and ASL, or transliterate, facilitating communication between
English and contact signing—a form of signing that uses a more
English language-based word order. Some interpreters specialize in
oral interpreting for deaf or hard of hearing persons who lip-read
instead of sign. Other specialties include tactile signing, which is
interpreting for persons who are blind as well as deaf by making manual
signs into a person’s hands; cued speech; and signing exact English.
How much
do interpreters make?
Earnings depend on skill, experience, education, certification, and
type of employer. Salaries of interpreters and translators can vary
widely.
For those who are not salaried, earnings may fluctuate, depending on
the availability of work. Furthermore, freelancers do not have any
employer-paid benefits. Freelance interpreters usually earn an hourly
rate.
What
is the job outlook for interpreters?
The Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws, such as the
Rehabilitation Act, mandate that, in certain situations, an interpreter
must be available for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Given
the shortage of interpreters and translators meeting the desired
skill level of employers, interpreters for the deaf will continue
to have favorable employment prospects. On the other hand, job
growth is expected to be limited for both conference interpreters
and literary translators.
|
|
