13:00 - 13:30 GMT
FINISHED
"BUILDING FORWARD, BUILDING BETTER: SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETING IN THE 21ST CENTURY"
Presented by
Lorraine Leeson
Lorraine is Professor in Deaf Studies and Associate Dean of Research at Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin (Ireland). Lorraine served as the inaugural Director of the Centre for Deaf Studies (est. 2001), was one of Ireland’s first trained sign language interpreters, and was one of Europe’s first sign language interpreters to complete a PhD in a cognate field. Lorraine’s work has focused on aspects of the linguistics and applied linguistics of sign languages, with a key focus on interpreting studies. She has engaged in pan-European research work with academic institutions, Deaf communities and interpreting organisations since 1990, and been engaged in the development/delivery of interpreter education in Ireland, the UK, Malta, Sweden, Belgium and the USA. Her work has contributed to increased recognition of sign languages at European level, and to the inclusion of sign languages in the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework of Reference Companion Volume (CEFR-CV). Lorraine is a European Centre for Modern Languages expert.
Current research projects include Justisigns 2 which seeks to develop evidence-based training materials for stakeholders working in interpreted settings with deaf people, migrants and refugees who have experienced domestic, sexual and gender based violence. She is also a PI on the Horizon 2020 funded project, SignOn, which seeks to develop an app to facilitate machine translation between written/spoken/signed languages.
Lorraine was heavily involved in the work to secure legal recognition of Irish Sign Language and currently serves as a member of the Register of Irish Sign Language Interpreters Panel. Lorraine has been an interpreter since 1994 and continues to interpret when she can.
Recent publications include “Sign Language in Action” with Jemina Napier (2016), “Interpreting and the Politics of Recognition” (2017), co-edited with Christopher Stone, and a special volume of Teanga, the journal of the Irish Association of Applied Linguistics, on Irish Sign Language, co-edited with Irene Murtagh (2020).
Sign language interpreting is a profession in development here in Europe. While an increasing number of countries have recognized their indigenous sign language/s, and offer interpreter education opportunities, many countries have not and this leaves Deaf communities at a distinct disadvantage. At the same time, sign languages are more visible in the national media in many countries than ever before, and in particular, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. We increasingly see the work of deaf translators and interpreters on our screens, demonstrating Deaf cultural and linguistic capital in action. This presentation will consider some of the key drivers of change that have supported increased recognition of sign languages and sign language interpreting, and the ways in which moving online opens up potential opportunities for engagement and collaboration.