Untranslatability of metaphors from Spanish to Colombian Sign Language

Abstract

Among the challenges faced by Deaf or Hard of Hearing people when sitting for a written Spanish exam we find the analogue questions, those that represent logical relationships of languages, e.g., metaphors, idioms, phrases, in addition, each culture is responsible for the construction of all these linguistic resources throughout its history. Deaf or Hard of Hearing people do not easily understand that type of questions, because they are part of a culture and an oral tradition that is foreign to the deaf culture and to the Colombian Sign Language (LSC). When the moment of interpretation comes the sense is lost and also the meaning of the question, because the strategies available to the LSC interpreter are very limited and in many cases the the Deaf or Hard of Hearing person is deprived of the metacognitive act that involves the understanding of analogies. This study presents the results of a comparison of the understanding of written metaphors between  two hearing persons and two Deaf or Hard of Hearing persons, so as to demonstrate that a Spanish test to assess the ability of analogical thinking of Deaf students, is perhaps not the most appropriate method, as the cultural and linguistic differences between oral language and / or written and Sign Languages are often impassable. The conclusions that could be obtained with respect to cognitive and linguistic skills of Deaf people should be the result of an analysis of the LSC and of a test designed based on this semiotic system and not of the understanding of a written code  very distant for them.