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Using Interpreters in Church
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Deaf people often want to participate in the wider Church or take place in special events but often they or their Church leaders are not sure how they can get hold of an interpreter.The Christian Interpreter Network which is run by Signs of God is a great resource for finding Christian Interpreters. You can access a list of trained Interpreters at the signs of God website here http://www.signsofgod.org.uk/cin and you can search for an interpreter near you or the event you want to go to by typing in the name of the town or a postcode.
All the interpreters listed there have had some interpreter training. There is an additional list with the names of those who have level 3 BSL but have not yet had any interpreter training. This can he sent to you on request from Signs of God - see above link
Signs of God runs training courses which are a real boon for helping those with some signing skills cope with the special demands of interpreting in Church and at Christian events. If you have volunteer interpreters at you church maybe you could supoport them to go on such a training course or maybe a summer school. (see here http://www.signsofgod.org.uk/pages/training)Another great resource can be your local Chaplain to the Deaf. These are Church of England ordained and lay ministers appointed to minister to the Deaf community in your area. At the moment their is not a contact list of chaplains publicly available but if you know the name of your local C of E diocese you can google for its webpage and find details their. If not please contact Deafchurch webmaster via contact us form and we''l do our best to help.
Searchable directories of qualified interpreters can be found at website of ASLI - the association of Sign Language Interpreters http://www.asli.org.uk/
or the NRCDP (National Registers of Communication Professionals working with Deaf and Deaf Blind People) website here http://www.nrcpd.org.uk/page.php?content=1
It can be puzzling to understand what the puzzling array of Sign Language and interpreting qualifications mean but deafchurch.co.uk is here to help..
BSL qualifications are issued by Signature (http://www.signature.org.uk)Level 1 is a basic introduction to BSL. Something like the equivalent of Holiday Spanish or French you could learn in a short eveing course at a local college. Someone with level will so say hello, goodbye, ask directions, comment on the weather etc but not yet be able to hold a sustained conversation
Level 2 is the next stage.It needs a similar level of language skill to a GCSE in French or German (but much below that required in GCSE English). A person with level 2 qualifications will be able to chat about day to day matters, but will usually struggle if the conversation uses technical terms, advanced or regional vocabulary from an unfamiliar area or advanced BSL grammatical structures. In Church
Level 3 is roughly equivalent to having an A level in French or German. The student who has achieved this level should be able to hold fluent conversation on a wide range of topics. They should be able to communicate basic information accurately. However they are still likely to miss some information and will struggle to to use some advanced grammatical structures of BSL and communicate using all the subtleties and riches of BSL.
Level 6 (there is no current level 4 or 5) is the equivalent competence to someone having a degree in French or German. A person having level 6 BSL will be able to sign fluently on a vast range topics and will have further extended vocabulary , they use the advanced structures of BSL with skill and subtlety to show sarcasm, humour.
Some people who took there qualifications before current levels were set have an older qulaifaction called level 4 which is the same level as the current level 6
Interpreting Qualifications are normally only started after gaining Level 6 in BSL - though sometimes those on some University course can start interpreter training at a lower level. All interpreting qualifications are at Level 6 and above. There are no recognized lower level qualifications.
Fully qualified and registered interpreters are called Members of the Register of Sign Language Interpreters (MRSLI). Those who have level 6 BSL and some interpreting training but who are still training and have not yet demonstrated their Interpreting skill is at the right level will be referred to Trainee Interpreters (TI) .
Junior Trainee Interpreters (JTI) have Level 3 BSL and are likely to be in the early stages of their interpreting training. This category still around for historic reasons is likely to disappear over the next year or so as the professional organizations are agreed that level 6 BSL is the minimum required to provide a fair service to Deaf customers.
You may also come across people who refer to themselves as CSW's (Communication Support Workers) many of these are unqualified though some will have the CSW qualification which provided training in supporting Deaf learners in education though signing notetaking etc and requires Level 3 BSL.
Many Deaf people are to some extent Bilingual and this means if the interpreter is not up to standard sometimes they can "muddle through" using combination of lip-reading, guess work and doing a fair bit of the translating themselves. They will also sometimes "dumb down" their own BSL to make it easier for a volunteer interpreter to understand.
This means that sometimes Deaf people in their local church can manage using a volunteer with level 2 or 3 BSL to interpret for them. If that person is known to them or interprets regularly they will be easy to understand. However this can be stressful and demanding like listening to a foreigner with poor English is for foreigners and they will miss some information and certainly some of subtleties and humour.
This can be made a bit easier where songs and responses and prayers and key sermon points are put up on a screen.
However wherever possible Deaf people should be given access to the best possible interpreting, and volunteers should continue to improve their skills. For legal interpreting and medical interpreting MRSLI is generally regarded as the minimum safe standard and if we really believe the word of God is the most important information there is and our eternal wellbeing is at stake then surely we can't but provide the best possible?