Terms used within educational interpretation
This page explains common terms used in educational interpreting in academic environments. The purpose is to facilitate understanding of the terms that often appear in these contexts.
Some explanations of terms
Deaf vs hearing impaired
Regardless of hearing status, deaf people refer to themselves as Deaf, which usually means they consider themselves as part of the sign language minority, while non-signing speakers more often say they are hearing impaired.
Functional variation vs disability vs impairment
The laws and regulations governing entitlement to support measures in higher education use the word disability which is why the term disability is used in this text.
Head interpreter
The interpreter who acts as the contact person between the interpreters and the teachers is referred to as the “head interpreter”.
Student studying with an interpreter
Where the term ‘student studying with an interpreter’ is used, it refers to a student who is deaf, hard of hearing or having deaf-blindness, regardless of the chosen interpreting method.
Swedish Sign Language
Swedish Sign Language is the language used by Deaf people in Sweden. It has its own grammar and lexicon, and is expressed gesturally and perceived visually.
Interpreter
The term interpreter usually includes speech-to-text interpreters, sign language interpreters, deaf-blind interpreters and interpreters between spoken languages. In this publication, the word ‘interpreter’ is used as a general term, mainly for speech-to-text interpreters and sign language interpreters.
Parties in interpreted settings
Refers to all those present in an interpreted situation, including students studying with an interpreter, other (hearing) students and not least the teacher/speaker/lecturer.
Interpreter colleague/team interpreter
Interpreters usually work in pairs where both are active at the same time, one interpreter interprets and the interpreter colleague aids the other interpreter.