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Interpreting Consolidated: The View from IC Newsletter

THE VIEW from IC
 

CASLI Testing Update
and How Deaf Players Influenced the Game of Baseball

July 2022 - Issue #21
What's in this issue                      View this email in your browser
1. CASLI Testing Update - A Conversation via RID (ASL and English)
2. Tribute to Virginia Lee Hughes (English)
3. How Deaf Players Influenced the Game of Baseball (ASL and English)
4. Call Out to Canadians - Include ASL, LSQ and ISL in the Official Languages Act (English)
5. Combo Deals on Our Website (English)
6. Out There: MSM Productions, Ltd. (English)
7. The IC Book Club: The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal (English)
8. FUN FACTS with Mary Harman (ASL and English)

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CASLI Testing Update

A conversation between Sean Furman of CASLI

and Star Greiser of RID

via RID Communications, July 1, 2022
A Conversation with CASLI.

Published by Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Inc. 14 June 2022. 
Star: Hi Sean! How are you? Thank you for the time to sit down with me to answer some questions about CASLI, the testing process and more.
 
Sean: Hi Star! I’m doing well, thank you. I hope you are too? And absolutely. I’m happy to address people’s concerns. 
 
Star: Wonderful! So we’ve seen in the community that there are concerns about the Deaf performance exam. Can you give us some background information and context on that?
 
Sean: Sure! First, I want to acknowledge that many deaf interpreters are frustrated about the waiting time for test results. We are working to address the waiting length without compromising the integrity of the test. 
 
Sean: Now, the Deaf Interpreter Performance Exam was launched in November 2020 and it took almost a year to achieve the threshold of 50 candidates taking the exam. Once that was met, the scoring committee convened with the psychometrician, and have been collaborating since then. We are doing our due diligence to ensure the Deaf performance exam is reliable, accurate and valid. We very much want candidates to get their exam results and we are working consistently on this.  
 
Sean: We want to correct the assumption that CASLI does not care about the deaf interpreter community. That is not true. We care very much about them. We are trying to do the right thing so their results and certifications are reliable and valid. This test is not like a test you take in college. Our tests require psychometrics, and that is complex and rigorous. We want to measure your skills as precisely as possible, and unfortunately, that’s led to some delays. We fully recognize that these delays negatively impact our deaf interpreter community, and we are sorry for that. We are working to address that. 
 
Star: Thank you for that, Sean. It’s important to me, as RID CEO, that we have a highly qualified and diverse pool of certified deaf interpreters. We believe strongly in deaf and hearing interpreter teams to provide full communication access to our deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing and deaf disabled communities. So I appreciate what you said. Now, I would like to ask you about the case studies progress. Can you tell us a bit about that?
 
Sean: Yes. The case studies progress has been slow because much like the deaf performance exam, we need to ensure it is reliable and valid. We are working with our psychometrician to reconcile the results. We hope our candidates will receive their results within a month or so. We cannot guarantee that it will be a month, but we hope it will be. 
 
Star: Great news! I appreciate CASLI’s work on verifying that our interpreters get reliable and valid results so their certification is meaningful. Can you help answer that question?
 
Sean: Yes, if you took and passed either NIC Knowledge Exam or CDI KNowledge exam, and plan to take the new Performance exam then the answer is yes. Candidates would take the Case Studies exam (gap test) with the Performance exam. You can find more details on the CASLI website or contact us at info@casli.org.
 
Star: That’s great news! Now, I’ve been seeing questions about when the beta period ends for the CASLI Generalist Knowledge Exam. What is the anticipated wait time for candidates to get their exam results?
 
Sean: Great question, Star! Candidates can expect to get their results within 10 business days.  This is part of our quality and assurance process to ensure the system has processed the candidates’ exams without any technical issues.  
 
Star: That helps to clear up things about the Case Study Exam! Thank you, Sean. Now, I’ve seen many interpreters and stakeholders ask why is CASLI retiring the NIC Interview & Performance exam now? Can you explain this to our members and stakeholders?
 
Sean: Of course. So, every test has a life cycle of typically seven years. The NIC test’s life cycle has expired, so it is time to retire that test. We want to ensure our candidates and interpreters’ skills are accurately tested and reflect their ability to interpret in today’s society. That is why we now have the Generalist Knowledge Exam, and the Hearing Interpreter Performance Exam and the Deaf Interpreter Performance Exam. 
 
Star: That’s important information – I don’t think most realize that there is a life cycle for this kind of testing. We are constantly evolving, and our tests have to evolve with us to stay reliable and valid. We must keep up with changes in language, vocabulary, and society’s trends. So, what will the Hearing Interpreter Performance look like? 
 
Sean: The new Performance exam will have longer vignettes than the NIC Interview & Performance exam. This allows interpreters to have more time for their interpretation. We recognized frustrations with the previous test where candidates did not feel they had enough time to warm up and interpret. So, the new Performance exam has six (6) scenarios and each scenario ranges between 5 - 17 minutes. Candidates can take a sample on the CASLI Exam System to sample the exam to get an idea of what the exam looks like. 
 
Star: Good to know that CASLI has samples of the tests! That is very helpful for our candidates! I hope they take the opportunity to take the samples and see what it is like. I understand that the Hearing Interpreter Performance Exam has a beta period? Can you elaborate more on that?
 
Sean: Sure. Once the exam is released, it will undergo a beta period, a time frame where candidates will not get their exam results within the usual 90 days. This is a time frame where we are ensuring that our scoring committee aligns with our psychometric standards. We want to make sure your test results are reliable and valid, as always. So we are being extra careful during the beta period, to make sure that happens. The more people who take our test, the quicker the beta period will be. 
 
Star: That’s helpful information! I appreciate you taking the time to clear up questions and concerns. I hope this conversation was helpful for our members and stakeholders. We appreciate you and CASLI! Thank you for your work! 
 
Sean: Absolutely! Thank you, Star. It is my pleasure and honor to work for CASLI, and to help ensure our tests accurately reflect interpreters’ skills to benefit the Deaf, DeafBlind, Hard of Hearing and Deaf Disabled communities we serve. Have a wonderful day! 
 
Star: You too! Thank you! 
Virginia Lee Hughes, Pioneer in Sign Language Interpreting Profession, RIP July 2022

How Deaf Players Influenced

the Game of Baseball
 
Baseball card for Hoy, C. F. Washington. Card from Old Judge Cigarette Factory, New York, 1888. In sepia tones, it pictures a white man in a white baseball uniform, wearing a black belt, socks and boots. His right hand is holding a baseball, raised in mid-throw.
Baseball's William Ellsworth "Dummy" Hoy began his major league career with the Washington Nationals of the National League in 1888. Hoy was not the first deaf player in the major leagues, but he was the first with a sustained career, spanning 14 years.

Born in Houcktown, Ohio in 1862, Hoy lost his hearing to meningitis at age 3, and being deaf and "dumb" - unable to speak - got the name "Dummy". He graduated from the Ohio School for the Deaf in 1879 as the valedictorian. While playing baseball outside his shoe repair shop in 1886 he was asked to play for an area team's big game vs their major rival.
William Ellsworth "Dummy" Hoy, Center Fielder with the Washington Nationals,
on an 1888 baseball card issued by Goodwin and Co. with "Old Judge" brand cigarettes.               
Image from The Met collection
Hoy decided that he would try to make it in the big leagues. After trying out with several teams who turned him down because of his deafness and possibly his size - he was only 5' 6" - he was taken on by Oshkosh in Wisconsin and two years later made it to Washington in the National League. Hoy went on to play in four of the five major leagues in existence at the time. He was an accomplished center fielder due to his speed and an amazing arm, had a career batting average of .288 and stole nearly 600 bases. He set a single-game record in 1889 as an outfielder for throwing out three runners at home plate who had been attempting to score from second. In years since, this record has been tied twice but never been broken.

Hoy is credited with working with his manager to develop signs for "strike", "ball" and "safe" which are still used in the game, although this fact is disputed by some researchers. Knowing that he couldn't hear their cheers, the crowd would stand and wave their arms and hats to show their appreciation for his plays. In fact, a documentary film about his life is entitled, "I See the Crowd Roar."

Throughout his long life - he died at age 99 in 1961 - William Hoy continued to inspire young athletes to work toward their dreams, no matter the obstacles. He was the first athlete inducted into the American Athletic Association of the Deaf Hall of Fame in 1951, and Gallaudet University named their baseball facility Hoy Field in his honor.
The History of William "Dummy" Hoy - A Deaf Baseball Player. In ASL.

Published by Seek the World. 1 October 2019.
Steve Sandy, a Deaf researcher, explains how William Hoy, major league baseball's second deaf player who played center field for most of his career from 1888 - 1902, worked with his manager to develop gestures for "strike", "ball" and "safe" which became common in the game of baseball.
Read more at History.com
https://www.history.com/news/william-hoy-deaf-player-major-league-baseball

and at the Society for American Baseball Research
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/william-hoy/
Baseball card for Luther Haden "Dummy" Taylor, pitcher for the New York Giants. Background of the card is green like grass. Black and white head shot of a white man with short, straight dark hair parted in the middle, wearing a white collared shirt. The photo is in a gold circular frame superimposed on two crossed baseball bats and a baseball appears above the frame. Underneath the frame, there is a white diamond shape representing a baseball diamond, a player in a white uniform fielding a ground ball, and a player in a white uniform batting. The label under the frame has the words Taylor, New York, N. L. (N. L. standing for National League).
Luther Haden "Dummy" Taylor was born in 1875 in Oskaloosa, Kansas. He went on to attend the Kansas School for the Deaf and graduated in 1895 as valedictorian. He began his road to the majors following graduation and was called up to the New York Giants as a pitcher in 1900.

Taylor was just starting his career with the New York Giants at the time William Hoy's baseball career was winding down. Here's the story of their first meeting as opponents on the field:
A historic baseball moment occurred in 1902 when Hoy, then with the Reds, batted against the Giants’ Taylor — the only time two deaf players faced each other, pitcher versus batter. When Hoy first took his place in the batter’s box, he signed to Taylor, “I’m glad to see you!” and then singled crisply to center.
Joe Guzzardi, "Honoring Baseball's Hearing-Impaired Players",
https://pajoeguzzardi.medium.com/honoring-baseballs-hearing-impaired-players-925c54e7d030

Arm troubles ended Taylor's career as an active player in 1908, but he went on to be a successful coach of several sports at schools for the deaf in Kansas, Iowa and Illinois. His longest tenure was at Illinois where he was exceedingly proud to have one of his students, Dick Sipek, play for the Cincinnati Reds in 1945. There wasn't to be another deaf player in the majors until Curtis Pride joined the Montreal Expos in 1993.

Read more at the Society for American Baseball Research
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/luther-taylor/
CALL OUT TO CANADIANS

Include ASL, LSQ and ISL

in the Official Languages Act
A message to all Canadians:

The Government of Canada is inviting the public to make comments on improving and strengthening the Official Languages Act by August 31 2022.  See details at https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/consultation-official-languages-2022/discussion-paper.html and look at Theme 7: Diversity and Inclusion. We want to seize this opportunity to encourage the Government of Canada to recognize ASL, LSQ and ISL as official languages of Deaf Canadians under the Official Languages Act. This will enable Deaf Canadians to have equal access to federal information, communications and services.

Share your views and thoughts by sending an email, a written submission, a video in sign language, or any other document of interest to the following email address: Consultations_LO-OL_Consultations@pch.gc.ca
Film strip image with the words "Make It A Combo" in grey on white background.
Check out the deals

at The IC Store!
Books and DVDs available in combinations at a reduced cost on the Interpreting Consolidated website
Books and DVDs available in combinations at a reduced cost on the Interpreting Consolidated website
Save $$ when you buy a combo

- Out There -

MSM Productions, Ltd. 
 
Logo for MSM Productions, Ltd. consisting of a stylized red cardinal with the words WWW.MSM.LTD on its wing and the words EST. 1984 on its tail, flying over the words MSM PRODUCTIONS, LTD.
MSM Productions, Ltd. is a Deaf-run, Deaf-staffed multimedia company whose ventures include print publications, textbooks, conferences, webhosting and video production.
The View from IC is interested in featuring Canadian and American businesses and organizations owned/created/operated by Deaf or hard of hearing persons. Recommendations? Let us know.

Or, if you are involved in one of these businesses or organizations and would appreciate some FREE promotion in Out There in a future issue, fill out our form here. Kat will be in touch!
 *** The IC Book Club ***
Book cover for The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters in white lettering, by Balli Kaur Jaswal. The colors are blue and red in a tapestry like print. The image at the bottom of the cover is of a stylized Taj Mahal with three women holding hands in front of it, all dressed in very different styles, t-shirt and pants, t-shirt and pants with long coat, and a dress.
For July, we bring you a beach read. Enjoy your summer!

From the publisher's website:
The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters, by Balli Kaur Jaswal. William Morrow, 2019.

The British-born Punjabi Shergill sisters—Rajni, Jezmeen, and Shirina—were never close and barely got along growing up, and now as adults, have grown even further apart. Rajni, a school principal, is a stickler for order. Jezmeen, a thirty-year-old struggling actress, fears her big break may never come. Shirina, the peacemaking "good" sister, married into wealth and enjoys a picture-perfect life.

On her deathbed, their mother voices one last wish: that her daughters will make a pilgrimage together to the Golden Temple in Amritsar to carry out her final rites.

The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters is a female take on the Indian travel narrative. "I was curious about how different the trip would be if it were undertaken by women, who are vulnerable to different dangers in a male-dominated society," Balli Kaur Jaswal writes. "I also wanted to explore the tensions between tradition and modernity in immigrant communities, and particularly how those tensions play out among women like these sisters, who are the first generation to be raised outside of India."

Powerful, emotionally evocative, and wonderfully atmospheric, The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters is a charming and thoughtful story that illuminates the bonds of family, sisterhood, and heritage that tether us despite our differences. Funny and heartbreaking, it is a reminder of the truly important things we must treasure in our lives.

For more about the author, click here:  Balli Kaur Jaswal
Multi-colored dot circle on dark blue background. Inside the circle, in white uppercase letters it reads Fun Facts with Mary Harman.
Watch Mary Harman to learn a fun fact about the word 'SWIMS'!
Mary Harman, a woman with dark eyes and long dark hair in dark grey long-sleeved t-shirt, signing ASL in front of a black background.
Find out from Mary Harman! 

Follow Mary on Instagram @MaryHarman.

More fun facts next month!
View all Hand Twisters/Fun Facts signed by Mary Harman, and English Oddities signed by Angela Petrone Stratiy at The View From IC Blog. 

Interpreting Consolidated (IC) publishes resources for ASL and interpreting students, interpreters, educators and mentors in the US and Canada.
 
Questions? Have an idea for a resource you'd like to see? Just want to say hello? Get in touch with Kat Vickers, Marketing and Distribution Manager. Or just reply to this email! The address will look weird, but it will get to us.

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