This course provides opportunities to practically apply a cognitive model of interpreting in which the interpreter actively constructs meaning based on cues provided by others. Students will develop skills in analyzing and translating ASL and English texts, exploring multiple parameters of discourse and message analysis. These may include speaker/signer intent, implied and explicit content, emotional affect, culturally-bound elements, and the impact of contextual factors.
Prerequisites
Course type
This course is offered as part of a VCC program and cannot be taken individually.
International students: Eligibility is determined at the program level. Visit the program page for international student requirements and application information.
- Key linguistic differences between English and ASL: – Use of face and space; – Common sentence types, syntactical structures and discourse markers; – Time/tense markers; – Pronominalization; – Prepositional and adverbial information; – Pluralization; – Contextualization and topicalization
- Analysis parameters in English and ASL texts: – Variables of the cultural, situational, relational, psychological context(s); – Implied and explicit propositions, main points and supporting details; – Culturally-linked elements; – Linguistic register; – Speaker/signer characteristics and goals; – Emotional affect and tone; – Metanotative qualities/style of the speaker/signer; – Contextual force relative to target audience characteristics and goals
- Power and responsibility inherent in the tasks of translation/interpretation: – Meaning-making as a shared process of co-construction; – Linguistic and cultural mediation; – Awareness of positionality and bias; – Challenges in aiming for dynamic equivalence and impartiality
- Steps and sub-processes in translation/interpretation: – Predicting what to expect from the discourse; – Concentrating and attending to source message; – Representing meaning, dropping source language form; – Preparing to express meaning using target language form; – Producing target message; – Monitoring and critiquing one’s own process and results
PLAR is assessed through: simulation or actual presentation of a candidate’s abilities, live and/or video-recorded. The demonstration may include, but is not limited to, a variety of interpretation samples.
Course schedules
Select your program to see the available course schedules.
| CRN# | Duration | Delivery | Location | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72586 |
September 8, 2026 to December 15, 2026 |
Lecture | VCC Broadway Building A | See full schedule |
Online courses listed without scheduled meeting times can be completed on your own schedule. All self-paced courses have on-campus tests. Off-site certified invigilation centres may be used at the student's expense.
How to take this course
This course is offered as part of a VCC program only.
Contact us
If you have any questions, please email at [email protected].
† This information is intended as a guideline only. Program and course details are subject to change with the approval of VCC's Board of Governors.