SASLJ Vol. 2 No. 1 SASLJ Vol 2, No 1 | Page 17

Polygraph Testing Lizor et al. better.” The first female participant said that a “Certified Deaf Interpreter could be added so they could be able to expand the message more, to be able to show the facial expressions and movements, to make it more comfortable.” The fourth male participant noted that a CDI “would be more visual and would be able to show the concept and interpret the concept more visually and I could get a better understanding of what was asked.” One female participant commented that the hearing polygraph examiner needs to learn sign language. At face value, this might be taken to mean that she wanted him to learn her language. However, we interpret this to mean that the participant would prefer direct communication instead of going through an interpreter, which is understandable. The polygraph examiner would normally interact with examinees directly with a common language in use. Deaf individuals have a similar desire for this communicative set-up for the polygraph examination. Another female participant added that she prefers conversing in ASL. A third participant commented “if there was a deaf person who was already trained in providing polygraph examinations, because then we could have direct communication with the deaf person who would sign the questions.” As the participants commented, they would prefer direct communication of a polygraph examiner who could communicate in ASL. Discussion and Conclusion As a result of the research conducted and reported in this paper, it is evident that providing an ASL interpreter during a polygraph examination is effective. It is the status of ASL as a signed language and how it operates as deaf people’s language which offers an explanation for why the interpreter made a positive impact on the polygraph testing process during the second phase. With the first phase (where the interpreter was not present), the faltering performance of many deaf participants can be attributed to their lack of access to spoken language. Speechreading is a poor or ineffective means for communication. The participants’ comments indicate their strong need for communicating with ASL, which is understandable given that language constitutes a crucial element for any human communication. The findings related to semi-lingualism also point to the importance of ASL proficiency for deaf people’s participation in the polygraph examination. The fact that the study was limited to two regions in one state and a small sample size of 14 people in the study must be noted. The current study is best described as an initial exploration into the concept of linguistic accessibility that had not been adequately addressed in the research literature. While the deaf participants in the study were diverse in age, education, ASL proficiency, English literacy skills, and some ethnic diversity, there could have been a larger sample that included more a diverse population. More controls are also desirable for future studies. One example is investigating the polygraph testing performance of two groups of deaf participants that share a similar background, with one group using an interpreter and the other without the use of an interpreter. All participants would take the exam just once, and the variable of performance improvement due to taking the exam twice would be removed. The new focus on linguistic accessibility can include a specific investigation on the impact of ASL proficiency among deaf polygraph test takers (e.g., by creating two groups with one not possessing native or native-like ASL proficiency while the other does). An investigation on the impact of a hearing interpreter vs. a deaf interpreter (or Certified Deaf Interpreter or CDI) is also worthwhile. Finally, it is important to investigate the impact of a deaf person or a person who is fluent in ASL who could conduct the polygraph examinations. This type of study would include consideration of the fact that the examinees would watch the polygraph examiner signing, which SASLJ, Vol. 2, No.1 – Spring/Summer 2018 17