The Norms of Sign Language Interpreting in Turkey: A pre-investigational study on the field

Sign language interpreting is a developing profession, but an emerging study field in Turkey al- though it has been recognized as a profession as of 2006, and sign language interpreters have been hired to offer free interpreting services at social service offices since 2007. Currently, most of the interpreters of Turkish Sign Language are CODAs (Child of Deaf Adults), and there is not a university degree program for training new interpreters. Moreover, it has received little attention by Turkish translation and interpreting scholars so far. This paper aims to share the preliminary findings of an ongoing study in which the author provides detailed information on historical and current dynamics of Turkish Deaf community and sign language interpreting, and explores the current norms of sign language interpreting in Turkey as well as the roles adopted by Turkish sign language interpreters, which have been investigated through semi-structured interviews with seventeen interpreters. This paper, however, does not include the research data and final conclusions since they are still being processed by the researcher, rather it includes the literature review on the role of the sign language interpreter and the theoretical framework which rests on the concept of translation norms of Gideon Toury (1995). The translation norms of Toury (1995) have been adapted to the field of sign language interpreting in Turkey taking a basis of Moira Inghilleri’s work (2003) where she examines interpreted asylum interviews. Although larger research data are limitedly included in this paper due to space restrictions, the current paper indicates that norms govern how sign language interpreters perceive their roles, and how this affects the professional status of the interpreters. This study also aspires to contribute to the field by demonstrating how research and practice on sign language interpreting can benefit from translation theories, especially, in countries like Turkey where establishing sign language interpreting undergraduate programs is a topic of discussion nowadays