Colloquium Lecture: Professional Identity Development of Interpreters

Danielle J. Hunt

Department of Interpretation
Gallaudet University
Washington DC

Professional Identity Development of Interpreters

In the dissertation guiding this presentation, Hunt extends previous studies on:

• Language and identity (Gordon, 2013)
• Language-induced identity shifts in second language learners (Johnson, 2007)
• Experiences of hearing, regular education students who have taken American Sign Language (ASL) courses (Brown, 2013)
• Experiences of Korean-English interpreters/translators (Bahk-Halberg, 2007)

to a specific group of bilinguals – ASL-English interpreters.

Hunt examined the lived experiences of American Sign Language-English interpreters beginning with a questionnaire, followed by autophotography and photo-elicitation interviews, and finally semi-structured interviews for further data collection.

Grounded in a hermeneutic phenomenological methodology, Hunt will address two primary research questions:

• How does a group of ASL-English interpreters experience the development of a sense of self and professional identity?
• What are a group of ASL-English interpreters’ perceptions of how others react to their presentation of self and professional identity?