SL Interpretation at TISLR

[Karlin, Ben]

I would like to respond as a working interpreter, one who both has an
interest in the research done in the field and who has been greatly
benefited by that work.  I think that we also have a responsibility to "give
back" and make ourselves as available as possible to conferences such as
TISLR.  It is difficult for me to fathom putting on a conference with an
army of volunteers and sponsors where the largest expense is interpreters.
Somehow it just doesn't feel right.  I understand the challenge of
interpreting at this level of a conference; the difficulty of finding
interpreters with the experience and expertise needed.  It may be worth
investigating whether there are interpreters who would consider working at
the conference a privilege and establishing a one- or two-day preconference
to give them (us?) a basis for understanding the papers to be presented.

Ben Karlin
St Louis, MO, USA

>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: Carol Padden [mailto:cpadden at UCSD.EDU]
>  Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2003 12:34 PM
>  To: SLLING-L at ADMIN.HUMBERC.ON.CA
>  Subject: Re: SL Interpretation at TISLR
>
>
>  Dear Josep --
>
>  I wrote a reply to a recent posting but it got bounced back,
>  evidently because of an alternate email address I was using.
>   Let me try again.
>
>  First, I want to commend the Barcelona group and Mr. Quer
>  for your efforts to mount another conference, and for being
>  willing to open up discussion on the topic of interpreting
>  at international conferences.
>
>  I agree that we should reach consensus on a fundamental
>  principle, one that I am pleased to see Mr. Quer offer here
>  - that the organizers recognize there is a responsibility to
>  support interpretation. I propose that the organizers reach
>  a determination about how much they can expect to budget for
>  this purpose. This will become the constraint we need to
>  work within. It seems to me that it doesn't make sense to
>  debate over how many or which sign languages until we know
>  what the real constraints are.
>
>  I too support a voluntary committee of concerned individuals
>  who can then work out a pragmatic accomodation that abides
>  by these principles.
>
>  Carol Padden
>
>  At 11:52 AM +0200 4/17/03, Josep Quer wrote:
>  >Dear Listers,
>  >
>  >I'm glad the discussion has finally started and important
>  issues are
>  >brought up. I essentially agree with the points made in the recent
>  >postings, and I really hope we can reach a consensus on
>  this matter.
>  >Let me make it clear that it never was our intention to put
>  the burden
>  >of interpreting costs on the budgets of our Deaf colleagues. I felt
>  >uncomfortable when a Deaf colleague from the US  offered to
>  bring the
>  >ASL interpreters himself, making use of the resources his
>  institution
>  >has allocated for this purpose, because that might limit his
>  >opportunities to attend other conferences where no SL
>  interpreting will
>  >be provided. Still, we are all embedded in very different academic,
>  >social and economic conditions, and that makes it especially
>  >complicated. Even for those who live in developed
>  countries, situations
>  >vary enormously. As a hearing linguist in a wealthy country who is
>  >unable to sign a lecture, I couldn't possibly apply for an
>  interpreter
>  >when I can just get reimbursement of 75% of a plane ticket
>  to attend a
>  >conference every two years. As a result of an agreement between the
>  >Catalan Federation for the Deaf and the University of Barcelona, we
>  >hope to be able to get the message through (and concrete
>  results), but
>  >that won't probably solve the interpretation issue
>  completely. Gaurav
>  >Mathur (MIT) suggested the possibility of creating a SL Linguistics
>  >Association that could deal with this issue to start with.
>  This should
>  >be tackled during TISLR, but before that we need to find
>  solutions for
>  >the whole community. We'll put all our efforts into trying
>  to get as
>  >much funding as we can, but in order to apply for it we
>  need to have a
>  >tentative but concrete budget, and interpretion will be the biggest
>  >part of it. So we need to reach a consensus as soon as possible. My
>  >personal take is that if the conference is not accessible to all
>  >participants, it shouldn't take place. But we won't give up that
>  >easily! Please keep on posting!
>  >
>  >And thanks for the feedback!
>  >
>  >Josep
>
>
>  --
>
>  ___________________________________________
>
>  Carol A. Padden, Professor
>  Department of Communication, Mail Code 0503
>  University of California, San Diego
>  9500 Gilman Drive
>  La Jolla, CA 92093-0503
>
>  858.534.7571 tty
>  858.822.5223 voice
>  858.534.7315 fax
>
>  cpadden at ucsd.edu
>