Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Dean and Pollards demand control schema (2013), or DCS, offers interpreters a
comprehensive approach to decision making. It breaks the process down into two parts
demands (factors that impact an interpreters work) and controls (solutions to those factors).
The process begins with demands, which can be understood as challenges or decisions
that come up during the assignment and that the interpreter must respond to. Demands are broken
Environmental demands are anything related to the place that the assignment is
happening in. For example, a post in the middle of the room that may block a Deaf person's view
Interpersonal demands are anything related to the interactions between the people present
at the assignment. For example, if the consumers do not get along, that would be an interpersonal
Paralinguistic demands are anything related to the consumer's use of language. For
example, an accent that makes the presenter difficult to understand would be a paralinguistic
demand.
Intrapersonal demands are present in the thoughts of the interpreter. For example,
constant thoughts of how hungry she is would be an intrapersonal demand for the
interpreter. The interpret can experience any number of demands simultaneously and must be
The next step in the DCS process is the controls. Controls can be best understood as
solutions to the challenges that came up as demands and can be utilized at any time before,
during, or after the assignment. The controls are the interpreters response to the demands of the
assignment. For example, a pre-assignment control for the above mentioned intrapersonal
demand would be for the interpreter to eat enough before the assignment that she will not be
hungry during the assignment and will be able to focus more closely on her work. The interpreter
can utilize any number of controls in response to the demands, or potential demands, of the work
she is doing.
Controls reside on a spectrum ranging from liberal to conservative. Controls that are very
liberal involve the interpreter doing a deliberate action which will affect the consumers, such as
interjecting her own opinion in an attempt to resolve a situation or even walking out of the room.
On the other hand, controls that are very conservative involve her taking little action outside of
at risk. Ultimately, whether a control is viewed as very liberal or very conservative depends on
the situation and the people involved, including the interpreter. As professionals in the field of
interpreting, it is best to try and utilize controls that fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum
A continuation of the DCS process is another process known as DCCRD, which stands
for demands, controls, consequences, and resulting demands. When working through a problem
using this platform, there are certain steps that must be taken. These steps are in place to help the
interpreter better understand the situation from all angles and examine all the possible decisions
available to her. The interpreter can then choose the best decision, and be able to back it up with
The DCCRD process starts with demands and controls, as previously outlined in the
discussion of DCS above. The next step after controls is consequences, which are in response to
the controls. Consequences can be positive or negative, depending on the desired outcome of the
control. Next, the resulting demands are further demands that could come up as a result of
Both DCS and DCCRD break down decision-making and the analysis of those decisions
in a clear and accessible way. They make it easy to understand how the decision is meant to be
made (controls are used in response to demands) and what could come of the decisions
depending on the solution chosen. They are great tools that give interpreters the vocabulary to
both understand what they are doing when they make a decision and to discuss it with other
References
Dean, R., & Pollard, R. (2013). The demand control schema: Interpreting as a practice