Hear this - a sign of the times

Jeremy Borland, an NZSL interpreter at the Kelston Deaf Education Centre, has a deaf sister, Talitha. Picture / Martin Sykes

Sign-language interpreters are in short supply and they are going to be even more in demand when legislation before in Parliament recognises signing as the country's third official language.

There are around 450,000 deaf or hearing-impaired people in New Zealand and the legislation will make it mandatory for the 28,000 Kiwis who use New Zealand sign language (NZSL) to have access to interpreters in legal proceedings, and in education, health, employment and public broadcasting.

Deaf people are often accompanied by a hearing family member or friend to help them if they don't choose to use a professional interpreter.

Shannon Knox is the president of the professional body, the Sign Language Interpreters Association of New Zealand, which has 51 members and represents about two-thirds of qualified interpreters practising in New Zealand.

The association is concerned that using a helper, rather than an interpreter, can present difficulties as the proceedings may not be 100 per cent understood or there may be questions about confidentiality leading to embarrassment.

Many deaf people can speak and lip read and this often presents problems.

"Because the hearing person is understanding what the deaf person is saying, they assume that the deaf person is understanding everything that they are saying," Knox says.

The two-year Diploma in Sign Language Interpreting at Auckland University of Technology is the only course in New Zealand designed to prepare interpreters for work in the deaf and hearing communities.

Encouraging more people to learn NZSL is the first step in attracting more people to the profession, as applicants to AUT need to be able to converse comfortably in the language.

Six to 10 people graduate each year.

Sue Williams was a graduate of the first AUT diploma class, 12 years ago. She works as a community interpreter for clients at workplace meetings, police interviews, in court, at medical appointments, and meetings with Work and Income and Child, Youth and Family.

"Generally deaf people can't participate in meetings, particularly in group situations, as it is impossible to follow what is going on, so they use the interpreter as the conduit for their information and to have the ability to participate," she says.

The job is satisfying, she says, because using an interpreter gives deaf people the opportunity to be fully functioning members of the community.

Williams learned NZSL as a child as both her parents were deaf.

She believes being recognised as the country's third language will give NZSL more kudos, and in turn will lead to interpreting being regarded as a serious profession.

The role is a physical one and often interpreters work in pairs so as not to wear themselves out.

Raising awareness of NZSL interpreting as a career is a marketing exercise. For instance, interpreters all over the country visit NZSL night classes to introduce the profession to students and promote the AUT course.

NZSL interpreters are often self-employed and are booked through the Deaf Association directly, or through private agencies. They earn around $40 an hour.

Anyone with an affinity for languages usually picks up NZSL easily.

While more than 40 per cent of New Zealand's deaf community is Maori, there are few Maori interpreters.

This is preventing many deaf people being included in tangi, hui and marae proceedings.

In an attempt to encourage more students with Maori language skills on to the interpreting course, AUT and the Ministry of Education are offering six scholarships each year to cover course fees.

Jeremy Borland, an NZSL interpreter at the Kelston Deaf Education Centre in Auckland, graduated from the AUT diploma course in 2002.

"I have a deaf sister, Talitha so I grew up signing. I did some informal interpreting for her, then later found that the option of training to become a professional interpreter was available," he said.

Services at the centre include the School for the Deaf, a bilingual preschool, and specialist teachers of the deaf and resource personnel for deaf children and their families.

"Every day at work I am using different things we were taught, such as memory retention, translation skills, and the ethical training - how far you can go personally in a situation and how much you have got to stay the invisible communication facilitator," Borland says.

The diploma is a prerequisite for employment as an interpreter at the centre, says chief executive David Foster.

"The role relies on very accurate exchange of information, which is often at quite a demanding language register. Complicated concepts, ideas and processes need to be discussed.

"We simply can't afford for the communication to be poor."

* This week is Deaf Awareness Week.