ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates that different interpretations contribute to recipients constructing variations in their perceptions of the identity of a Deaf educator. It examines the impact of interpreter-mediated discourse on the situated identity of a Deaf professional educator in the institutional context of a museum. A recent study by Fitzmaurice and Purdy using students as addressees demonstrates that interpreter dysfluencies affect the assessment of professionalism of interpreted Deaf speakers, mirroring the findings of Lawrence on interpreted speaker credibility. The first group was comprised of experienced, trained Deaf Docents who often present lectures to Deaf audiences in museums in metropolitan settings along the eastern seaboard of the United States. All have postsecondary educations. Each had over five years of experience presenting American Sign Language (ASL) talks in museums and each had been regularly assessed by those museums using the museum's own rubrics for measuring competence and professionalism.
