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Linking up with Video: Perspectives on interpreting practice and research
Edited by Heidi Salaets and Geert Brône
[Benjamins Translation Library 149] 2020
► pp. 127–149

Chapter 5
The importance of video recordings in signed language interpreting research

In signed language interpreting studies, researchers have devoted attention to the role of video recordings in data collection since the very beginning. Given the visual nature of signed languages, such recordings are imperative in order to investigate various aspects of signed language interpreting such as for instance interpreting strategies, interpreting quality, and interactional aspects of the interpreter mediated communication.

This differs from studies looking at spoken language interpreting, where traditionally audio recordings were and to some extent still are the primary source of data in research.

In this chapter I claim that, in line with recent shifts in the understanding of communication and interaction (Mondada 2011), any research on interpreting – which is a communicative act – should be based on multimodal data, including the visual, audiological, gestural and any other layers of interaction.

As a way of introduction, the chapter gives an overview of how and to which extent video recordings as a data collection tool have been used in three research fields in spoken and signed languages; spoken interaction studies, sign linguistics and interpreting studies, drawing primarily on Erickson (2011), Lucas et al. (2013), and Napier & Leeson (2016).

This chapter goes on to discuss the advantages and possible challenges of the use of video as a recording tool in signed language interpreting research, based on a case study on interpreting strategies used by Flemish Sign Language interpreters (Heyerick forthcoming). The same example also illustrates the role of video as an elicitation tool within signed language interpreting research.

While the chapter explores the benefits, opportunities and potential obstacles of working with video in research on signed language interpreting, I argue that including video recordings in any research examining communication and/or interaction has the potential to provide very rich data. Video allows for interactive events to be registered in their full multimodal effect and to be regarded and researched as multimodal events (Mondada 2011). This approach can broaden the understanding of human interaction in any field of study.

Article outline
  • Video recordings as a data collection tool
    • Spoken interaction: Acknowledging the multimodal layers
    • Signed interaction: Visual registration of visual languages
    • Spoken and signed interpreting studies: The emergence of corpora
    • Signed language interpreting: Visual registration of communication
  • Video as a data collection and elicitation tool: A case study
    • The case study
    • Use of video recordings: Data collection and elicitation
      • (1)Preparation session with Think-Aloud Process (TAP)
      • (2)The interpreting task
      • (3)The stimulated recall interview
        • Issues
        • Solutions
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 13 January 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.149.06hey
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