Response Paper #3

We are all influenced by our schema, which is an expected situation structure formed from cultural background and past experiences. We expect certain scenarios to have certain structures, but that may not always be the case. In the given scenario, I am an interpreter that is contacted by the interpreter referral service and I am asked to interpret a performance review for a Deaf man. The Deaf man works on the production floor of the Gillette Company and I have never met him before.

The schema that comes to my mind when picturing a performance review is a serious meeting in the bosses medium-sized office. The boss will be sitting behind his desk, hands folded. The person receiving the performance review would be sitting in a chair in front of the bosses desk, a nervous look on their face. Basically everything you see in the movies. A well lit office space with a bookcase and random artwork on white walls. It may also be a bit noisy if the boss' office is near the production floor. The boss would open up the employee's folder and take out the packet containing all of the employee's performance review information. The boss would start with what the employee is doing well and then follow up with what they should improve on or the boss may choose to start with improvements needed and then end with what the employee excels at. In the given scenario, an interpreter is thrown into the mixture. The schema that comes to my mind is pretty much the same other that the employee would maintain eye contact with the interpreter, not the boss, and that there would be an interpreter standing either next to or behind the boss.

There would be a few questions I would want to ask myself and the referral agency before accepting this assignment. The ve...

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... The Deaf person may think that the person conducting the interview is just offering suggestions as to what the Deaf person could work on, but they are really telling them that they have to work on those areas. As the interpreter, it would be difficult for me to convey that message because it is sugar coated with hearing culture. The Deaf person may think they are an excellent employee, but the performance review my say otherwise and it is important that I convey that message without distorting what the hearing person said. There may also be some production jargon that I am not familiar with, so I may have to ask clarifying questions.

Our schemas influence us to believe that the structure of a certain situation will be the same as it was in past experiences, but we have to realize that is not true and adapt to situations and scenarios as they come, go, and change.