Course Description & Objectives

This workshop critically examines how interpreters’ employment status and team configurations shape their work and professional positioning in courtroom settings. Drawing on Tester’s (2021) ethnographic research on Deaf interpreters in courts, Goffman’s (1981) concept of positioning and footing, and frameworks from Dean & Pollard (2013) and Witter-Merithew (2019), the session explores how staff and freelance interpreters experience differing expectations around authority, neutrality, and collaboration, and how these factors influence Deaf–hearing co-interpreting teams. Findings from Tester’s dissertation highlight how systemic structures and courtroom hierarchies intersect with interpreter identity and status to influence teamwork, role negotiation, and ultimately language access for Deaf court users. Participants will analyze the unique contributions Deaf interpreters make to legal discourse and examine both interpersonal and institutional barriers they face. By situating these issues within both theory and practice, the session encourages critical reflection on equity and offers strategies to strengthen collaboration and outcomes in courtroom settings.

Upon completion of this session, participants will be able to:

• Analyze how employment status (staff vs. freelance) and institutional hierarchies affect interpreters’ positioning and role perception in courtroom contexts, applying Goffman’s concept of footing.
• Examine how systemic expectations influence Deaf–hearing co-interpreting teamwork and role negotiation, drawing on Dean & Pollard’s demand–control schema and Witter-Merithew’s work on supervision and reflective practice.
• Identify institutional and interpersonal strategies that improve communication, collaboration, and equitable treatment of Deaf interpreters within courtroom teams.
• Critically reflect on their own positionality and the impact of employment structures on professional relationships and interpreting outcomes.