Sign language interpreting: Linguistic coping strategies. Jemina Napier, Douglas McLean Publisher, Coleford, 2002, 224 pp, ISBN 094625 2 378

DEI 6.2_crc

3/6/04

1:38 pm

Page 123

Deafness and Education International, 6(2), 2004 © Whurr Publishers Ltd

Book reviews

SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETING: LINGUISTIC COPING STRATEGIES Jemina Napier, Douglas McLean Publisher, Coleford, 2002, 224 pp, ISBN 094625 2 378, £19.95. This book is a conversion of the author’s PhD thesis and has six chapters that gradually focus on the research study that was undertaken. Chapter 1 gives a general overview of the literature surrounding interpreting in general, as well as sign language interpreting, introducing the Deaf community and their relationship to sign language interpreters. Discourse genres are also introduced and discussed so that the reader has a wider understanding of the features that will be analysed later in the book. Chapter 2 introduces the strategies that interpreters use whilst interpreting. There is a comprehensive review of the literature and a clear treatment of the ideas surrounding omissions. This is where the author begins to introduce strategic omissions, her main topic of study; this is the idea that interpreters make decisions about omitting parts of the source language and that these decisions are part of the interpreter’s coping strategies. In Chapter 3 there is a greater focus on and explanation of Napier’s categories of omissions in the context of conference interpreting and then educational interpreting, which gives greater insight into the decisions that interpreters make and what service users might expect. Napier explains a variety of ways of assessing the target language translation and how Deaf students’ access to information via the interpreter is by no means perfect. The educational background of the interpreter and the need for preparation in its widest sense are also discussed. Chapter 4 introduces the research questions that were asked, the author’s own expectations of the study and her predicted findings. It goes on to give a clear methodology for the study including how the methodology was assessed for reliability. Chapter 5 gives clear examples of literal and free translation styles including the use of finger spelling. The results are clearly described, as is their relationship with factors such as educational background, translation style, and the conscious strategic omissions of the interpreters. Usefully, Napier discusses common problems with, and the interpreters’ comments on, the source language that should help both interpreters and those working with interpreters to prepare effectively. The discussions of the Deaf panelists is informative and the debate is well reported, showing the many factors that

123

DEI 6.2_crc

124

3/6/04

1:38 pm

Page 124

Book reviews

Deaf people see as relevant to finding an appropriate interpreter. Finally, Chapter 6 provides a clear summary of the findings and their implications. This also addresses Deaf students’ access to education via interpreters and issues for interpreter education and training as well as wider implications for interpreting in general and future research. Although the target audience seems to be interpreter students, I would recommend this for those with an interest in the interpreting as well, such as Deaf students, teachers, and lecturers working within education. The book does not presuppose the reader has specific knowledge and the prologue gives a clear description of some of the uses of terminology and situates the work well. It is an interesting and enlightening read. Reviewed by Christopher Stone, Centre for Deaf Studies, University of Bristol

COCHLEAR IMPLANTS: OBJECTIVE MEASURES Edited by Helen E Cullington, Whurr Publishers, London, 2003, 230 pp, ISBN 186156 324 8, £28. This book is an edited collection of eight chapters, each written by wellknown experts in the field of cochlear implants. It runs to 249 pages including contents, contributor list, foreword, acknowledgments, introduction and main chapters. Each chapter is well organized with ample referencing, clear figures and appendices where deemed necessary. Despite these positive features, the book remains, in my opinion at least, a bit of a curate’s egg. There are two reasons for this: (i) the focus of some chapters is rather restricted, with limited appeal to general readership and (ii) those same chapters deal with non-physiological measures of implant integrity rather than non-subjective (i.e. objective) physiological measures of human evoked activity. In my view, the latter are of primary interest and deserve the term ‘objective measures’, while the former are (admittedly important, but) simply measures, for which terms like objectivity and subjectivity are not really relevant or useful. Chapter 1 offers a broad overview of the topic to which the book is devoted. This chapter will be valuable to most readers as it sets the context within which the remaining chapters operate. The following two chapters (2 and 3) entitled ‘Telemetry: Features and Applications’ and ‘Average Electrode Voltage Measurements in Patients with Cochlear Implants’, however, will have rather restricted appeal and will be of more interest to those with detailed focus on technical aspects of testing implant integrity. The average reader, with little technical knowledge or interest will, no doubt, flip quickly through these pages, anxious to get to something more physiological. This