Robert G. Lee | Independent Scholar (original) (raw)
Papers by Robert G. Lee
Language, 1998
... CAROL NEIDLE DAWN MACLAUGHLIN Boston University Boston University ROBERT G. LEE BENJAMIN BAHA... more ... CAROL NEIDLE DAWN MACLAUGHLIN Boston University Boston University ROBERT G. LEE BENJAMIN BAHAN Boston University Gallaudet University JUDY KEGL Rutgers University ... object wH-phrase in spec-CP object in situ wh wh (f) [JOHN SEE ti YESTERDAY]ip WHO1 ...
Syntactic Structure and …, 1997
Recherches linguistiques …, 2000
Avertissement Le contenu de ce site relève de la législation française sur la propriété intellect... more Avertissement Le contenu de ce site relève de la législation française sur la propriété intellectuelle et est la propriété exclusive de l'éditeur. Les oeuvres figurant sur ce site peuvent être consultées et reproduites sur un support papier ou numérique sous réserve qu'elles soient strictement réservées à un usage soit personnel, soit scientifique ou pédagogique excluant toute exploitation commerciale. La reproduction devra obligatoirement mentionner l'éditeur, le nom de la revue, l'auteur et la référence du document. Toute autre reproduction est interdite sauf accord préalable de l'éditeur, en dehors des cas prévus par la législation en vigueur en France. Revues.org est un portail de revues en sciences humaines et sociales développé par le Cléo, Centre pour l'édition électronique ouverte (CNRS, EHESS, UP, UAPV).
The concept of ‘role of interpreter’ as a discrete rigid construct has been used historically in ... more The concept of ‘role of interpreter’ as a discrete rigid construct has been used historically in ways that actually inhibit (rather than facilitate) interaction amongst participants. The paper presents aspects of a new paradigm that defines role not in a static way, but in a dynamic way that requires interpreters make active choices about managing the myriad factors that foster successful interactions.
Linguistic Inquiry, 2000
The distribution of null arguments across languages has been accounted for in terms of two distin... more The distribution of null arguments across languages has been accounted for in terms of two distinct strategies: licensing by agreement and licensing by topic. Lillo-Martin (1986, 1991) claims that American Sign Language (ASL) exploits both strategies for licensing null ...
Studia Linguistica, 1998
ASL syntax makes essential use of specific non-manual expressions of syntactic features (e.g., +n... more ASL syntax makes essential use of specific non-manual expressions of syntactic features (e.g., +neg, +wh) that co-occur with manual signs. These markings occur obligatorily with manual material contained in the node of origin and optionally extend over the c-command domain of that node, thus providing important evidence for hierarchical structure. In this article, we show that agreement features, both within the clause and the noun phrase, also have non-manual correlates that exhibit the predicted distribution. Interestingly, transitive IPs and possessive DPs pattern together in their manifestation of agreement marking, while intransitive IPs pattern with non-possessive DPs. for clausal agreement, see ; for DP structure and agreement within DP, see BKMN (1995), . The major results of this research are presented in NKMBL (forthcoming).
Linguistic Inquiry, 2000
The distribution of null arguments across languages has been accounted for in terms of two distin... more The distribution of null arguments across languages has been accounted for in terms of two distinct strategies: licensing by agreement and licensing by topic. Lillo-Martin (1986, 1991) claims that American Sign Language (ASL) exploits both strategies for licensing null ...
American Sign Language …, 1998
This report presents an analysis of wh-movement in American Sign Language in which moved wh-phras... more This report presents an analysis of wh-movement in American Sign Language in which moved wh-phrases occur in a rightward specifier of CP position. Evidence is based on straightforward word order facts and on the distribution of non-manual wh-marking, which displays the same patterns and systematicity as other non-manual syntactic markings. We had presented an analysis in terms of rightward wh-movement in prior work (see especially Neidle, Kegl, Bahan, Aarons, and MacLaughlin 1997). This analysis was criticized in Petronio and Lillo-Martin 1997. Here we show that their alternative interpretations of the data are incorrect and that their analysis cannot account for the facts of the language. In addition, this report presents a more detailed exposition of several aspects of our analysis than is available in our prior publications and presents new evidence in support of rightward wh-movement in ASL. Thus, we maintain that universal grammar must allow the option of rightward movement.
This article describes a new model of interpreted interactions that will help students as well as... more This article describes a new model of interpreted interactions that will help students as well as experienced practitioners define and delineate the decisions that they make. By understanding the dimensions that comprise the concept we call 'role space', interpreters can more effectively allow participants to have successful communicative interactions.
The full version of the model is outlined in the book: https://www.academia.edu/8415077/Redefining_the_Role_of_the_Community_Interpreter_The_Concept_of_Role-space
This article is an initial exploration of the concept of the 'role' of sign language interpreters... more This article is an initial exploration of the concept of the 'role' of sign language interpreters; although it is not specific to the modality -it is generalisable to issues of minority vs. majority languages/cultures. The suggestion is that 'role' is not a unitary idea; rather it is a construct that initially comes from an interpreter's beliefs about the participants in an interaction (and the beliefs that the interpreter holds about his/herself vis-a-vis the other participants) and and how those beliefs can affect the interpreter's performance of their role. Interpreters need to understand their own beliefs/biases about the languages/cultures/communities with which they work in order to be truly effective.
German translation of ‘The Role of the Community/Public Service Interpreter’ - presented at the S... more German translation of ‘The Role of the Community/Public Service Interpreter’ - presented at the Supporting Deaf People online conference 2009.
German Translation of: ‘Re-visiting Role: Arguing for a multi-dimensional analysis of interpreter... more German Translation of: ‘Re-visiting Role: Arguing for a multi-dimensional analysis of interpreter behaviour’ - originally presented at the Supporting Deaf people On line conference in 2011.
This review appeared in The Sign Language Translator and Interpreter Vol. 3, Nbr. 2, 2009
Books by Robert G. Lee
Redefining the Role of the Community Interpreter: The Concept of Role-space, 2014
'Redefining the Role of the Community Interpreter' questions the traditional notion of 'role' tha... more 'Redefining the Role of the Community Interpreter' questions the traditional notion of 'role' that is so often taught on interpreter education and training courses and, more often than not, prescribed by the Codes of Ethics/Practice/Conduct published by institutional users and providers of interpreting services. By examining the nature of face-to-face interactions and drawing on the most recent research into community and public service interpreting, the authors propose and describe a wholly new approach to the role of the interpreter; one based on research and the experiences of the authors, both of whom have, for many years, taught postgraduate interpreting courses and, for even more years, interpreted in a wide variety of settings, from international conferences to social services departments, from presidential addresses to benefits offices, and from doctors’ surgeries to Courts of Appeal. The ‘role-space’ model treats all interactions as unique and offers the interpreter a tool to prepare for and participate in those interactions. Excellent language skills are taken for granted, as is the integrity of the interpreter; what is new is the freedom of the interpreter to make appropriate professional decisions based on the reality of the interaction they are interpreting.
'Redefining the Role of the Community Interpreter' questions the traditional notion of 'role' tha... more 'Redefining the Role of the Community Interpreter' questions the traditional notion of 'role' that is so often taught on interpreter education and training courses and, more often than not, prescribed by the Codes of Ethics/Practice/Conduct published by institutional users and providers of interpreting services. By examining the nature of face-to-face interactions and drawing on the most recent research into community and public service interpreting, the authors propose and describe a wholly new approach to the role of the interpreter; one based on research and the experiences of the authors, both of whom have, for many years, taught postgraduate interpreting courses and, for even more years, interpreted in a wide variety of settings, from international conferences to social services departments, from presidential addresses to benefits offices, and from doctors’ surgeries to Courts of Appeal. The ‘role-space’ model treats all interactions as unique and offers the interpreter a tool to prepare for and participate in those interactions. Excellent language skills are taken for granted, as is the integrity of the interpreter; what is new is the freedom of the interpreter to make appropriate professional decisions based on the reality of the interaction they are interpreting.
US Amazon link: www.tinyurl.com/rolespaceus
UK Amazon link: www.tinyurl.com/rolespaceuk
Mentorship in Sign Language Interpreting acknowledges the contributions of mentoring to the sign ... more Mentorship in Sign Language Interpreting acknowledges the contributions of mentoring to the sign language interpreting profession, especially those groups, organizations and programs that have made significant contributions to mentoring interpreters. The 15 chapters in this volume reflect the progress and impact of mentoring in its many forms, theories and models for mentoring programs. Through innovative collaboration with the authors of each chapter, the editors have provided an educational tool that has moved beyond simple implementation of mentoring projects and programs to structured evaluations and informed assessments of the impact of such programs. Revenues for the publication will go toward supporting the RID Mentoring Grant Fund. (Available from: https://www.rid.org/acct-app/index.cfm?action=store.category&ProductCategoryID=4).
Recent research on the syntax of signed languages has revealed that, apart from some modality-spe... more Recent research on the syntax of signed languages has revealed that, apart from some modality-specific differences, signed languages are organized according to the same underlying principles as spoken languages. This book addresses the organization and distribution of functional categories in American Sign Language (ASL), focusing on tense, agreement, and wh-constructions.
Signed languages provide illuminating evidence about functional projections of a kind unavailable in the study of spoken languages. Along with manual signing, crucial information is expressed by specific movements of the face and upper body. The authors argue that such nonmanual markings are often direct expressions of abstract syntactic features. The distribution and intensity of these markings provide information about the location of functional heads and the boundaries of functional projections. The authors show how evidence from ASL is useful for evaluating a number of recent theoretical proposals on, among other things, the status of syntactic agreement projections and constraints on phrase structure and the directionality of movement.
Language, 1998
... CAROL NEIDLE DAWN MACLAUGHLIN Boston University Boston University ROBERT G. LEE BENJAMIN BAHA... more ... CAROL NEIDLE DAWN MACLAUGHLIN Boston University Boston University ROBERT G. LEE BENJAMIN BAHAN Boston University Gallaudet University JUDY KEGL Rutgers University ... object wH-phrase in spec-CP object in situ wh wh (f) [JOHN SEE ti YESTERDAY]ip WHO1 ...
Syntactic Structure and …, 1997
Recherches linguistiques …, 2000
Avertissement Le contenu de ce site relève de la législation française sur la propriété intellect... more Avertissement Le contenu de ce site relève de la législation française sur la propriété intellectuelle et est la propriété exclusive de l'éditeur. Les oeuvres figurant sur ce site peuvent être consultées et reproduites sur un support papier ou numérique sous réserve qu'elles soient strictement réservées à un usage soit personnel, soit scientifique ou pédagogique excluant toute exploitation commerciale. La reproduction devra obligatoirement mentionner l'éditeur, le nom de la revue, l'auteur et la référence du document. Toute autre reproduction est interdite sauf accord préalable de l'éditeur, en dehors des cas prévus par la législation en vigueur en France. Revues.org est un portail de revues en sciences humaines et sociales développé par le Cléo, Centre pour l'édition électronique ouverte (CNRS, EHESS, UP, UAPV).
The concept of ‘role of interpreter’ as a discrete rigid construct has been used historically in ... more The concept of ‘role of interpreter’ as a discrete rigid construct has been used historically in ways that actually inhibit (rather than facilitate) interaction amongst participants. The paper presents aspects of a new paradigm that defines role not in a static way, but in a dynamic way that requires interpreters make active choices about managing the myriad factors that foster successful interactions.
Linguistic Inquiry, 2000
The distribution of null arguments across languages has been accounted for in terms of two distin... more The distribution of null arguments across languages has been accounted for in terms of two distinct strategies: licensing by agreement and licensing by topic. Lillo-Martin (1986, 1991) claims that American Sign Language (ASL) exploits both strategies for licensing null ...
Studia Linguistica, 1998
ASL syntax makes essential use of specific non-manual expressions of syntactic features (e.g., +n... more ASL syntax makes essential use of specific non-manual expressions of syntactic features (e.g., +neg, +wh) that co-occur with manual signs. These markings occur obligatorily with manual material contained in the node of origin and optionally extend over the c-command domain of that node, thus providing important evidence for hierarchical structure. In this article, we show that agreement features, both within the clause and the noun phrase, also have non-manual correlates that exhibit the predicted distribution. Interestingly, transitive IPs and possessive DPs pattern together in their manifestation of agreement marking, while intransitive IPs pattern with non-possessive DPs. for clausal agreement, see ; for DP structure and agreement within DP, see BKMN (1995), . The major results of this research are presented in NKMBL (forthcoming).
Linguistic Inquiry, 2000
The distribution of null arguments across languages has been accounted for in terms of two distin... more The distribution of null arguments across languages has been accounted for in terms of two distinct strategies: licensing by agreement and licensing by topic. Lillo-Martin (1986, 1991) claims that American Sign Language (ASL) exploits both strategies for licensing null ...
American Sign Language …, 1998
This report presents an analysis of wh-movement in American Sign Language in which moved wh-phras... more This report presents an analysis of wh-movement in American Sign Language in which moved wh-phrases occur in a rightward specifier of CP position. Evidence is based on straightforward word order facts and on the distribution of non-manual wh-marking, which displays the same patterns and systematicity as other non-manual syntactic markings. We had presented an analysis in terms of rightward wh-movement in prior work (see especially Neidle, Kegl, Bahan, Aarons, and MacLaughlin 1997). This analysis was criticized in Petronio and Lillo-Martin 1997. Here we show that their alternative interpretations of the data are incorrect and that their analysis cannot account for the facts of the language. In addition, this report presents a more detailed exposition of several aspects of our analysis than is available in our prior publications and presents new evidence in support of rightward wh-movement in ASL. Thus, we maintain that universal grammar must allow the option of rightward movement.
This article describes a new model of interpreted interactions that will help students as well as... more This article describes a new model of interpreted interactions that will help students as well as experienced practitioners define and delineate the decisions that they make. By understanding the dimensions that comprise the concept we call 'role space', interpreters can more effectively allow participants to have successful communicative interactions.
The full version of the model is outlined in the book: https://www.academia.edu/8415077/Redefining_the_Role_of_the_Community_Interpreter_The_Concept_of_Role-space
This article is an initial exploration of the concept of the 'role' of sign language interpreters... more This article is an initial exploration of the concept of the 'role' of sign language interpreters; although it is not specific to the modality -it is generalisable to issues of minority vs. majority languages/cultures. The suggestion is that 'role' is not a unitary idea; rather it is a construct that initially comes from an interpreter's beliefs about the participants in an interaction (and the beliefs that the interpreter holds about his/herself vis-a-vis the other participants) and and how those beliefs can affect the interpreter's performance of their role. Interpreters need to understand their own beliefs/biases about the languages/cultures/communities with which they work in order to be truly effective.
German translation of ‘The Role of the Community/Public Service Interpreter’ - presented at the S... more German translation of ‘The Role of the Community/Public Service Interpreter’ - presented at the Supporting Deaf People online conference 2009.
German Translation of: ‘Re-visiting Role: Arguing for a multi-dimensional analysis of interpreter... more German Translation of: ‘Re-visiting Role: Arguing for a multi-dimensional analysis of interpreter behaviour’ - originally presented at the Supporting Deaf people On line conference in 2011.
This review appeared in The Sign Language Translator and Interpreter Vol. 3, Nbr. 2, 2009
Redefining the Role of the Community Interpreter: The Concept of Role-space, 2014
'Redefining the Role of the Community Interpreter' questions the traditional notion of 'role' tha... more 'Redefining the Role of the Community Interpreter' questions the traditional notion of 'role' that is so often taught on interpreter education and training courses and, more often than not, prescribed by the Codes of Ethics/Practice/Conduct published by institutional users and providers of interpreting services. By examining the nature of face-to-face interactions and drawing on the most recent research into community and public service interpreting, the authors propose and describe a wholly new approach to the role of the interpreter; one based on research and the experiences of the authors, both of whom have, for many years, taught postgraduate interpreting courses and, for even more years, interpreted in a wide variety of settings, from international conferences to social services departments, from presidential addresses to benefits offices, and from doctors’ surgeries to Courts of Appeal. The ‘role-space’ model treats all interactions as unique and offers the interpreter a tool to prepare for and participate in those interactions. Excellent language skills are taken for granted, as is the integrity of the interpreter; what is new is the freedom of the interpreter to make appropriate professional decisions based on the reality of the interaction they are interpreting.
'Redefining the Role of the Community Interpreter' questions the traditional notion of 'role' tha... more 'Redefining the Role of the Community Interpreter' questions the traditional notion of 'role' that is so often taught on interpreter education and training courses and, more often than not, prescribed by the Codes of Ethics/Practice/Conduct published by institutional users and providers of interpreting services. By examining the nature of face-to-face interactions and drawing on the most recent research into community and public service interpreting, the authors propose and describe a wholly new approach to the role of the interpreter; one based on research and the experiences of the authors, both of whom have, for many years, taught postgraduate interpreting courses and, for even more years, interpreted in a wide variety of settings, from international conferences to social services departments, from presidential addresses to benefits offices, and from doctors’ surgeries to Courts of Appeal. The ‘role-space’ model treats all interactions as unique and offers the interpreter a tool to prepare for and participate in those interactions. Excellent language skills are taken for granted, as is the integrity of the interpreter; what is new is the freedom of the interpreter to make appropriate professional decisions based on the reality of the interaction they are interpreting.
US Amazon link: www.tinyurl.com/rolespaceus
UK Amazon link: www.tinyurl.com/rolespaceuk
Mentorship in Sign Language Interpreting acknowledges the contributions of mentoring to the sign ... more Mentorship in Sign Language Interpreting acknowledges the contributions of mentoring to the sign language interpreting profession, especially those groups, organizations and programs that have made significant contributions to mentoring interpreters. The 15 chapters in this volume reflect the progress and impact of mentoring in its many forms, theories and models for mentoring programs. Through innovative collaboration with the authors of each chapter, the editors have provided an educational tool that has moved beyond simple implementation of mentoring projects and programs to structured evaluations and informed assessments of the impact of such programs. Revenues for the publication will go toward supporting the RID Mentoring Grant Fund. (Available from: https://www.rid.org/acct-app/index.cfm?action=store.category&ProductCategoryID=4).
Recent research on the syntax of signed languages has revealed that, apart from some modality-spe... more Recent research on the syntax of signed languages has revealed that, apart from some modality-specific differences, signed languages are organized according to the same underlying principles as spoken languages. This book addresses the organization and distribution of functional categories in American Sign Language (ASL), focusing on tense, agreement, and wh-constructions.
Signed languages provide illuminating evidence about functional projections of a kind unavailable in the study of spoken languages. Along with manual signing, crucial information is expressed by specific movements of the face and upper body. The authors argue that such nonmanual markings are often direct expressions of abstract syntactic features. The distribution and intensity of these markings provide information about the location of functional heads and the boundaries of functional projections. The authors show how evidence from ASL is useful for evaluating a number of recent theoretical proposals on, among other things, the status of syntactic agreement projections and constraints on phrase structure and the directionality of movement.