efsli @ WASLI / WFD

Goodbye South Africa.....

2011-07-23T17:36:00.001+02:00

Dear colleagues and friends,

We hope you enjoyed the efsli reports from the WASLI conference and WFD congress in South Africa. The events have been interesting, fun and inspiring. Thank you for enjoying the excitement with us.

You can read all the reports from both conferences, they are linked in the menu on the right hand side. The blog will be further updated during the coming months, with more pictures and updated reports.

The board of the European Forum of Sign Language Interpreters (efsli) hopes to see you at one of the upcoming efsli events in Europe:

16 & 18 September 2011: efsli AGM & conference, Italy (www.efsli2011.org)
3 - 5 November 2011: efsli school 'efsli's got talent', London, UK (www.efsli.org)
14 & 15 November 2011: efsli working seminar 'Towards a Standard Curriculum for Sign Language Interpreters across Europe, Utrecht, the Netherlands (www.efsli.org/efsli/trainers/trainers_seminar_2011.php)
4 - 6 May 2012: efsli spring school 'Interpreting in Legal Settings', Greece (www.efsli.org)
14 - 16 September 2012: efsli AGM & conference, Vienna, Austria
17 - 19 September 2012: efsli Trainers' seminar, Graz, Austria

If you would like to know more about efsli or if you would like to become a member, please visit the efsli website. For any further questions, please contact the efsli secretariat: secretariat@efsli.org

Warm regards,

Maya de Wit, efsli president

Special interest group presentations - sign language interpreters

2011-07-23T17:17:00.000+02:00

Four presentations were held within the special interest group sign language interpreters. The summary of these presentations will be published later on this blog.

Are Deaf interpreters a part of the Global Deaf renaissance or the Global Deaf resistance?
Presenters: Robert Adam and Christopher Stone

Mentoring of sign language interpreters

Presenter: Francois Deysel

Deaf interpreters, what are their strengths and weaknesses?
Presenters: Gardy van Gils & Willem Terpstra

A sign language interpreter in inclusive education: The View of Deaf persons on their Quality of Life.
Presenter: Maya de Wit

Creating a Stress free Environment for the Deaf - Michinori Nakahashi

2011-07-23T10:52:00.001+02:00

The presenter works with the Japanese Deaf Association and is the director of labor and vocation within the association.

Research has been conducted on the work situation of deaf persons in Japan. The history of occupation of Deaf people in Japan looks as follows:
Previously Deaf people used to work in manual labour fields, such as carpentry, hair dressing, etc. From 1963 - 1965 a law was passed that employers should hire persons with disabilities. As a consequence since 1970 more Deaf people have obtained jobs in other fields, due to the provision of interpreting services.

Deaf people currently in employment still face barriers in employment. They do receive interpreting services and subsidies for persons with disabilities and also job coaches at the new work place. We try to ensure that communication and information sharing is actually taking place at the work place.

There is a high employment rate of deaf people in Japan, there is a low retention rate. Nearly 40% of the Deaf workers at large scale companies quite within five years. The number reason for this being the atmosphere in the work place and the frequent communication breakdown. The second rason is that the wages are lower than their hearing colleagues and they work long hours. The work environments are mostly oral, which they then become isolated, which then causes stress.

The social factor at the work place is also difficult. The hearing people chat with each other, but the Deaf person can then not join in, and therefore being again isolated.

The Japanese Federation of the Deaf conducted research for three years from 2003 to 2005. We surveyed over 3000 members of the association. We hoped that with these results we can improve the situation for deaf people in the work place in Japan. We also conducted interviews with the hearing persons in the work place where the deaf persons work. Three reports were published with recommendations.

The most important recommendation is to have sign language in the work place and to have a communication friendly work place. One of the other findings is that Deaf people do complain about their situation in the work place, to make this known will actually help in better understanding and a step towards possible changes.

Next to the reports, manuals were developed for hearing people on how they can work together with deaf people. There are three important recommendations that evolved:

It should be a work place where deaf workers can feel comfortable to consult
Develop manuals to inform Deaf and hearing people on how to create a communication friendly work place
UNCRPD: Japan has not ratified the UNCRPD yet, but we can use elements from the convention to implement

With having a stress free work environment for deaf workers, we will also be able to achieve equality in the work place.

Development of the social competence of Deaf learners / clients and facilitators in a learning, working and living environment - A.L. Smit & DJP Ebersohn

2011-07-23T10:02:00.000+02:00

The presenters will explain the use of the Social Competency Model (SoCoMo) which can be used with deaf learners. This is also used in training for management and leadership.

The SoCoMo is a coaching and development programme founded in developmental psychology, five learning theories, and behavioral psychology. It is aimed at the reinforcement of competent behaviour and reduction of incompetent behaviour, acquiring skills in oreder to gain and maintain and balance between skills (social and personal) and tasks (development and communal), building a personal support network to cope with life events and social and disability-related stress, and maintain a sense of well-being, strengthening resilience.

The presenter gives a definition of Social competent behaviour (see slide).

Incompetent behaviour is when it is damaging to yourself and others, such as in the areas of human diginity and rights, well being, health, safety, etc.

A paradigm shift is needed to learn competent social behaviour. The behaviour is learned and can be unlearned. The 'problem behaviour' should be seen as something that is not yet developed. Over-involvement and criticism should be replaced by positive regard and respect. And there should be openness an transparency, there is always something good and positive. Most of the time persons are focused on the negative aspects. We must negate and prioritize which behaviour should be learned first.

The paradigm shift is needed. No longer emphasize the negative aspects, but focus on a positive relationship of respect and dignity.

Observation is the key to intervention or guidance. You must have an accurate observation which leads to appropriate action, beware of the interpretation and the describe the observations.

The presenter is explaining the sign for SoCoMo which looks like a scale. The scale has two sides: tasks on one side and the skills on the other side.

Unfortunately there is not sufficient time to explain all details. The course is in fact 96 hours of teaching.

Prevalence of behavioural problems among school aged deaf learners in South Africa - Deon de Villers & David Martin

2011-07-23T09:26:00.000+02:00

The "dream" presented is a dream of dr. Murdock Henderson who asked the presenters to present this on behalf of him as well.

We have indentified many issues with deaf children in South Africa, such as an increased decline, gang formations, etc.

These issues are dealt with in various ways. One is called the 'restorative justice', not the rules are important but it is the relationship between the child and who is the child in relationship with that is of importance. Other solutions are:

Circle of courage model
Social competency model (from the NL)
Discipline programmes: merits/demerits
Punishment: various techniques.
Expulsion
Drop out (solution is to make the life impossible for the child and then be lost in total or placed some where else).

Many of the students are lost to society. There are certain consequences to this:

Inadequate schooling
Social and self reflection (as a consequence depression)
Decline in social skills (not any longer regulated and no sense of value)
Lack of care
Loss of purpose
Incarceration
Loss of identity
Etc.

In most situations the interventions are successful. But there are students who are out of the system and are lost in society. Following the dream of Dr. Murdock Henderson is presented: the INTABA dream.

There are some facts presented on South Africa, such as there are 800.000 to 1.4 million Deaf people without mental health services. Currently there are 56.000 D/deaf people with mental health issues.

Intaba means 'mountain'. It has two boards INTABA international and INTABA RSA. Partners in Nambia: www.okonguarri.com.na
There are four strategies that are within INTABA:

offering an internship
locate and secure funds for the acquisition of some land and facilities, such as land, a school and cottages
working with the children
adult programme with a focus on addiction, provided with medical staff such as psychiatrist

The first year we will need 6 to 7 million ZAR (excl. food and unforeseen), but following that more money will be needed to carry the project forward.

More information: www.intaba.org

Deafness and Extra Costs: The Legitimacy of Domestic Compension Schemes - Richard Sahlin

2011-07-22T14:56:00.000+02:00

The presenter introduced himself as a teacher and researcher. He has looked at disability rights and the compensation that governments have given.

There is a strong link between deafness and poverty, which could be due to lower income and extra costs. Globally the states have a different set of domestic measures. The presenter looks specifically at the situation for deaf people in Sweden. Deaf people are faces with extra costs which is due to the result of being deaf, such as interpreter costs since these costs are not always covered by the government.

There could be capital costs, such as a flashing door bell at home. These are available when you are at home and subsidised by your government, but not when you are traveling and staying at a hotel for example. There are also recurring costs such electricity (more lighting), phone calls (longer calls because of the text relay service), higher insurance costs (for example car insurance).

Human costs could be sign language interpreting, proofreading, health and medical counseling. And also animal costs, such as a hearing dog, who will assist you in your daily life. There are also additional travel costs for special international deaf events. Indirect costs can also occur, such as income loss or missed information (for example announcements through the speakers at the super market for special offers).

The presenter questions how we can assess these extra costs. The deaf person could assess his or her own extra costs. The government can also do this assessment and compare this with the costs of an average hearing person.

Some countries have a compensation scheme, a disability benefit, so the Deaf person can cover some of their extra expenses that way. These measures are taken to create economic equality, but at this moment we can not say that deaf and hearing persons now have economic equality.

There are restrictive dilemma's in the countries, such as there is always limit to the budget. If we look at the UNCRPD, art. 28, it states that Deaf people should have equal access. It does not say though how poverty should be solved in this respect.

Conclusion
The compensation scheme should be available as long as there is still inequality between deaf and hearing persons in society.

World Federation of the Deaf, Health Resources Initiative - J. Fellinger, A. Kuenburg & M. Jokinen

2011-07-22T11:57:00.001+02:00

Dr. Fellinger

Markku Jokinen starts the presentation by saying: "Health is important to human beings. Health is a human right."

Until today not much information or facts are available on the health of deaf people. This project is a small step towards the improvement of the health situation for deaf people in the world. Research is essential to assist us in this. Therefore this small study is a first step forward. In a survey deaf organisations from various regions were asked on the health situation in their region. The importance of health is also stated in article 25 of the UNCRPD. It says that states who ratified the UNCRPD must provide disabled person with high quality health services without barriers and no discrimination in this respect. It also states that the service must be equal in regard to gender. Markku Jokinen ends by saying that Deaf people must have good access to quality health services.

Dr. Fellinger then continues the presentation: "Health is a gift. If you are not healthy this can be a major problem, especially Deaf people". There is very little research done in the health situation of deaf people. The research does show that there is a high rate of mental health problems within the Deaf population. In the WFD there is also commission on mental health.

The framework of the WFD Health Resources initiative is to improve the health services situation and the accessibility to these services for Deaf people. Dr. Fellinger then mentions some of the specific aims of the framework. There are three partners: the needs assessment A (global survey), the needs assessment B (different D. populations in different nations, and thirdly best practices examples. Today Dr. Fellinger presents the results of the survey.

The survey was developed with international experts and WFD experts. The response rate was 44%, representing 40 countries worldwide. Of the respondents 2/3 report that Deaf people have more problems than hearing people in their country. Half of the respondents responded mental health or emotional problems first. The causes indicated were for example communication issues.

Of the respondents 4/5 reported that the accessibility to the health services for Deaf people are very difficult. In the low HDI countries 100 percent of the Deaf persons do not have a provision of an interpreter in health care services. In the high HDI countries this is 20 percent.

There are limitations to the survey. It highly depends on the responses of the deaf presidents of the organisations. It is important that we now grab the opportunity an use thearticle 25 of the UNCRPD and that we lobby for our own interests and good health care for Deaf people.

Dr. Fellinger ends his presentation by stating that the key to information is trust, and to trust each other and to work together this will bring us good quality healthcare.

More info: http://www.wfdeaf.org/our-work/un-crpd/preparation-of-parallel-reports/article-25-health

Using the UN convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities - Helena Christina Gade

2011-07-22T10:42:00.000+02:00

In order to use the UNCRPD beffectively you must study it first to understand it fully and also how this is related to your national laws. You can then use the UNCRPD to lobby nationally.

Following your pre-work on studying the UNCRPD and your national laws you can then establish a project with the main idea being spreading the knowledge: Informing & educating, developing values and attitudes, encouraging to arrange activities, enpowering through campaigning. You can establish different projects, such as an informational tour, or produce informational reports.

It is essential to have a strategy. I can then work effictively on what I would like to achieve. You can work in cooperation with the government or with politicians, or with disability groups and deaf organisations. In the strategy you can establish an expert committee. For example, in Denmark we establish this ad hoc committee. During our meetings we discussed how we could lobby our own government to incorporate the rights of the UNCRPD in the national laws.

Essential is that you have a good argumentation. You need to refer consistently to the legal documents and to present the reasons from a human right point of view. And your argumentation must have a good conclusion
Mor information can be found on the website: www.deaf.dk

A useful and powerful tool to use is the production of a "shadow report". The shadow report can be produced by the deaf organisation or another group of stakeholders, in which the real situation is reported. This can be presented alongside the report that the government sends to the UN. The government must present an evaluation or an informative report to the UN. This can be a one sided view and the shadow report will alert the UN to the problems that are really occuring on the ground. It is advised to write the shadow report with your national disability association.

The next step in the process is that you report on a violation of the UNCRPD. There are different levels of appeal that you can use in the case of vioalation of the UNCRPD. For example, the national appeal board, or the national board of equal treatment, the national court, etc. The situation in each country can be different in this respect. A powerful tool is also the media in the situation of violation or discrimination.

Countries who ratified the UNCRPD must set up a monitoring committee. This committee can also be of assistance if you do not know how to proceed. It is also important that you work collectively in your country and that you use all the tools that are available. You do not need to wait for the generosity of your politicians or your government, but you can actually now use the UNCRPD to lobby for your rights directly.

Human Rights the key to Global Deaf Renaissance - Deborah Oyuu Iyute

2011-07-22T09:59:00.001+02:00

So far we have had three UN conventions that can be applied to Deaf people, and especially women and children:

Un Conventions on the Rights of the Child (CRC): 21 years ago
UN Conventions womemn (CEDAW) 30 yrs ago
UNCRPD was implemented 3 years ago

The CRC is for all children regardless of their disability. An important article in the CRC is article 2.1. One important aspect in this article is the right to language. The other important article is 12.1. The point of that article is that (deaf) children should be supported with judicial settings. In article 13.3 it says that the child has freedom to expression. This implies that the Deaf child can express him or herself in the language of his or her choice, such as sign language.

There are child specific issues that the presenter would like to focus on. One of the aspects is the sexual abuse, even within the marriages the women are raped. What can we do to prevent this situation. The second issue is parental neglect. The parents neglect or exploit the child. This various by country but the convention touches each of us.

The CEDAW aims at enlarging our understanding of the concept of human rights, as it gives formal recognition to the influence of culture and tradition on restricting womens enjoyment of their fundamental rights.

CEDAW is also concerned with the dimension of human reproduction as well as with the impact of cultural factors on gender relations. Art. 16 of the CEDAW focuses on the issue of marriage and family relations, asserting the equal rights and obligations of women and men with regard to choice of spouse, parenthood, personal rights and command over property. In addition art. 4 affirms women's right to reproductive choice.

Art. 10 of the CEDAW states that the state parties should take all measures to reduce discrimination against women to ensure equal rights with men in the field of educatin and in particular to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women. The presenter also mentions art. 14 which is focused on the problems faced by rural women who work extremely hard to take care of their families and children.

What needs to be done?
We need to eliminate the barriers that Deaf women and children face. We need to partner with other organisations and we need to share experiences.

To find solutions to solve the problems, we can use the UNCRPD, which came into place three years ago. The presenter focuses on article 9.2 (e) which relates to accessibility, especially by the use of professional sign language interpreters. We must advocate for the use of interpreters to assist us in becoming part of society and that society will become accessible. The other article mentioned is 21 (b) on the freedom of expression and opinion, and access to information.

We must inform our Deaf members and citizens of the CRPD, you all must participate in this informing. If you are not empowered you can not influence. We also need active involvement and participation in different organisatons and we need to produce parallel reports within the organisations.

Effective strategies to promote our rights
It is important to build alliances with policy makers. So, you as Deaf people must allign with the policy makers and your government. You must also paly a key role in the domestication of the CRPD and other laws. The information must also be accessible to Deaf people through sign language. And also use to PR your cause.

efsli blog on break for Thursday July 21

2011-07-20T16:17:00.000+02:00

Dear followers,

Tomorrow, Thursday July 21st, there will be no live reporting from the WFD congress. We will be back on Friday July 22nd. Warm greetings from Durban!

More impresssions

2011-07-20T16:10:00.000+02:00

Exhibition at WFD - impressions

2011-07-20T15:49:00.000+02:00

The cochlear implant in the constitution of deaf subjects in the Amazon jungle - Luiza Rezende

2011-07-20T15:11:00.000+02:00

The presenter explains that she is affiliated with a university in the South of Brazil, but she conducted the research in the Amazon. She did her PhD study for four years.

Brazil has a law that identifies sign language as a legitimate language, but the media and society very much promote the implementation of babies.

There are many babies implanted in the Amazone region of Brazil. I went there for the first time in 2007. I was interested in the attitudes of the families who decided to implant their babies. I started the study with two mothers and their babies. The mothers were very accepting and I could easily research the situation.

The two mothers were advised by two different CI organisations not to use any sign language. And the media also helped in promoting the positive message of CI usage. Although the deaf organisations expressed their concern about the implants, the CI associations emphasized that the implanted children would become part of society and accepted.

The presenter researched over 300 pages of media and asked an interpreter to translate the materials so she would understand the content. In the data that she collected she found that repetitavely the CI was promoted as a positive thing.

The deaf association kept saying that we needed a different approach, a different way of discussing the issue.

The homes of the families with the implanted babies turned nearly into a hospital with one medical professional after another assisting the family with learning to speak and to get accustomed to the new situation. In addition, the CI was provided for free, which was seen as a very positive thing by the family. There was even one family who celebrated the day that the baby received the CI, and not celebrating the child's birthday.

The goal of the OAE testing is to find the babies with a hearing loss as soon as possible and have them implanted, there by eradicating sign language and the deaf community.

I would like to say that technology is a good thing, but this kind of technology is not making the babies equal. By the fact that the government pays for the CI the government has bio power.

The presenter continues to give several examples of when there were medical professionals in situations who repeatedly said that she as a deaf person would not need an interpreter if she would have a CI.

In the Amazon we tried to explain that next to a CI the child would also need sign language and deaf culture. Unfortunately, they did not understand this.

Codifying SASL: An overview of Research and the Way Forward - Naomi Janse van Vuuren & Lorato Rasebopye

2011-07-20T12:55:00.000+02:00

Currently there is a conversation happening with the SA government on the SASL as a school object. This was also discussed in 2009 in SA parliament. Often the question is raised what is SASL exactly and what does it look like. This calls for the need to have SASL codified, so we can show the structure of SASL and other aspect.

In the presentation a very detailed overview of the SASL research of the past 25 years is given. The research is grouped by the different categories, such as morphological, lexical, syntax, etc. The current research (Fourie, 2011) is done on the variation and standardization in sign languages & lexicographical model for a school dictionary.

In the second part of the presentation it was presented that there are 1.609.386 Deaf South Africans (Heap, 2003). The presenter works at (...) university at the SASL department where she works with three other deaf teachers. There are five universities who conduct research on SASL in SA: Free State, Witwaterstand, (...)

There are some small pilot studies now carried out. In one project a comparisson is made of the construction of SASL, BSL, and AUSLAN. Until today only two publications published on SASL. In the current research we focus on the syntax of SASL and look if there is diversity in terms of school language policies. In addition, we will also look at oralism versus signing. Another area we are looking at phonology, and how we can develop new classifier handshapes in SASL, since currently we copy these mostly from other sign languages. We also would like to look at the lexicography and develop an electronic database. The presenter gives examples of signs that were copied from other sign languages, but are now newly being used which have no relation to other sign languages.

The presenter states that the Deaf SASL users are and will be involved in this research. In addition, we must collaborate in SA to undergo this development and research of SASL.

The New Zealand Sign Language Act & UNCRPD - Rachel Noble

2011-07-20T11:42:00.001+02:00

In New Zealand (NZ) there are three official languages: English, Maori and New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL). The law says that they are equal in status.

Facts:

Maori Language Act: 1987
NZSL: 2006 recognised
UNCRPD signed by NZ in 2007 and ratified in 2008

The NZSL Act took about 20 years of lobbying and advocacy. There were Deaf consultations with the Deaf community. The Deaf community requested several aspected to be incorporated in the NZSL act, but unfortunately not all requests were honoured.

In the act it says that NZSL is an official language and the first and preferred language of the Deaf community. It also gives the right to an interpreter in legal settings and states that government services should be available for all deaf citizens. There were also limitations to the act such as limited funding.

The presenter then made a comparisson between the Maori Language Act and the NZSL act.

The new UNCRPD now brings new items such as accountability of the government. At this moment the NZ government is now in the process of writing up the UN report. The report presents the results of the implementation of the UNCRPD. The presenter gives an overview of the parties involved in NZ in the CRPD monitoring process.

The NZSL Act and the UNCRPD have complementary relationship. The NZSL Act acknowledges us and gives us as sense of pride and belonging. The UNCRPD provides a mechanism to enforce the realisation of our rights ( and aspiration). Both are valuable tools for the NZ Deaf community.

Can an equality of condition for signed languages advance equality for Deaf communities - Joahn Bosco Conama

2011-07-20T10:53:00.001+02:00

Deaf people do not only want their sign language recognised, but they also want equality.

If you look at the concept of signed languages as a basis for equality we see ttheWFD resolution in 1991, the EUD with EU parliament resolutions in 1988 and 1998. But all the resolutions are not defining what equality means for Deaf people.

There is a global desire among Deaf people for equality, and the way to achieve this seems to be through the recognition of sign language.

The general critique is:

Are they sufficient to advance equality?
Equality remains exclusive though collective sense of pride / confidence occurred
Legally, SL users are not better than in previous situations
Education wise, SL user rights are still expendable.
Socio economic status appears to be lower than hearing people, although there are individual successes

Even though SL is legally recognised the Deaf community is not receiving equality. So SL recognition is not the only way to get equality.

The presenter then gives an overview of the different acacemic critiques given by various academics from different nationalities. The academic critiques elaborate why sign language recognition does not support the equality rights of deaf people.

One can see that the legally recognised sign languages are often excluded from language policies at an operational level and are often administered under the framework of disability policy. Deaf people seem to accept this for pragmatic reasons, considering it at least as one step forward.

The presenter then proceeds to propose an equality framework of three levels: equality of condition, liberal egalitarianism and basic equality.

Basic equality: basic respect
Liberal egalitarians: universal citizenship, toleration of differences, public / private distinctions
Equality of condition: Universal citizenship, celebration / acceptance of diversity, redefined public/private distinctions, critical dialogue

The presenter then gives an overview of the equality framework linked to the status of sign languages.

We must have a debate on the equality of condition and less on the recognition of sign languages.

This lecture is dedicated to the memory of late Laura Sadlier (RIP)

Deaf-Gain: why the world needs Deaf people - Dr. Dirksen Bauman & Dr. Joseph Murray

2011-07-20T10:06:00.000+02:00

Joe Murray starts the presentation with explaining the title of the presentation. The first draft title of this presentation was "Does the world need deaf people?". In the past the response to this was that Deaf people need to be cured, but we want to not look at it as a hearing loss, but actually something that the world can gain from Deaf people. We would like that the philosophy that focuses on "hearing loss" changes to something positive on how we can actually help the world gain something from our deafness.

So, Dirksen Bauman and Joe Murray have developed the concept of "Deaf gain". There are three concepts related to this concept:

Deaf Benefit: what do Deaf people gain from being Deaf
Deaf Contribute: what can Deaf people can contribute to the world
Deaf Lead: how can we as Deaf people lead the world

Deaf Contribute: language

There are many ways that Deaf people can contribute to the world. Language is the channel by which we can contribute to the world. Language has mostly been viewed as a spoken language, and now after many years of research the world is now recognising sign language as an equal to spoken language as well. Humans have the capacity to communicate in sign and spoken languages. Joe Murray then gives examples of the various signing committee around the world, such as Martha's Vineyard. The main concept Murray and Dirksen Bauman would like to propos is: To sign is to be human.

Deaf contribute: space

The world is mostly designed by hearing people. When five years ago Gallaudet University asked a group of 20 people what an ideal building would look like, all the persons independently gave the same reply: the shapes would all be round. One example of this is seitting at a round table, which is easier to converse at than at a square shaped table.

Deaf benefit: visual thinking

Deaf people's brain have the capacity to process more visual information by the use of perifirial vision.

Deaf benefit: manual thinking

There is a significant contribution to the understanding by the messages coming through the hands. An example was given that also hearing children have increasing learning through signs or sign language.

Deaf Benefit: transnationalism

Joe Murray emphasized the gain of being together at an international conference. Deaf persons can communicate with any other deaf person even though we are from different countries. We benefit from being Deaf together.

Deaf Benefit: collectivism

An amazing example is that deaf participants from North and South Korea met here together for the first time after 50 years. The meeting took place last night and the Deaf participants stated that they still feel part of one nation. Deaf people share a common space, a common way of communicating. etc

Deaf Lead: visual manual education

Deaf education should not be looked at something that is filling a special need of deaf persons, but let's look at the potential of deaf children and see how society can gain from deaf persons. Deaf education should cultivate and exploit the potential of deaf children: let's develop manual and visual education. We believe that education for deaf students but also for hearing students should become visual manual education.

Deaf lead

Deaf people can lead the way on the change of the world. We can teach hearing people on how they can contribute in the same way. We would like to propose that deaf children are educated internationally, not education in one country, but why do we not work towards a global education. Deaf people can lead the way on this change of education.

Deaf lead; deaf gain economy

We would like to ask Deaf people how they can contribute to the world economy through their capacities of being Deaf. Through the teaching of baby signs we also see that the world is accepting sign language more, and Deaf people have contributed in this way to the economy. Hearing parents are now teaching baby signs to their hearing children. We can also imagine that Deaf people can develop Deaf Gain Video Games, especially thinking of the strong perifirial vision deaf people have. We can also imagine that for example there will be Deaf Gain Gestural Interface developed for smart phones or tablets. Another contribution could be to architecture and urban planning. For example to have the requirement of having a deaf architect involved or a deaf person approving the design of the building. Deaf persons can also contribute as lighting consultants or as designers, since the 3D concept is well developed with deaf people. Or the area of film and cinema can be a good area of Deaf people contributing. Another opportunity would be as business networking consultants, such as how to communicate internationally with Deaf people.

Deaf lead: Human Rights

The focus of the congress is much on human rights. So we as Deaf people throughout the world can contribute to human rights collectively. We can make a contribution to the world, regardless of our disability, or even because of our disability.

Conclusion: Deaf gain is human gain

So we think that Deaf people can contribute considerabley to the world. Deaf persons should not be eradicated from the world. We need bio diversity in the world. The world would not be the same without Deaf people. The world cannot continue without Deaf people.

In short: deaf gain, is not only benefiting Deaf people, but Deaf gain is human gain.

New era - new changes - Nigel Howard

2011-07-19T17:42:00.000+02:00

This is a follow up of the presentaton held earlier today by Nigel Howard.

In this new era we must change the mindset of people from the concept of disability to ability. In addition, we must change the perception from inability to capability.

You must decide amongst yourselves what kind of changes you want to happen. And then you must initiate the changes you want to happen and be united and consistent with the changes.

What is essential is that all associations work together: deaf association must work with interpreters, parents of deaf children, individuals and groups, local, national and internationally.

One way of making change happen is through networking, such as the use of internet, information and resource sharing and informing the key political leaders.

The tools to assiist in this change are the WFD resolutions which were adopted at the 15th WFD Congress in Madrid and the UNCRPD.

The next thing is that we must have actually change happen. We must be positive, proactive and constructive. When you go back home then share your information with the persons in your country and with other parts of the world. The world needs you to make change happen. Do not sit back, but participate. You are yourself responsible to make this happen.

With the support of the declaration that was made at the ICED convention in Vancouver on 19 July 2010, we can make change happen.

Markku Jokinen, outgoing WFD president, was then invited to come to the stage. Markku Jokinen restated that individuals can make the change happen, or initiate the change. By collaborating, from person to more, we can make change happen. Markku Jokinen received the book from the ICED congress where 530 signatures were collected. Following the conference more signatures were collected, we now have a total of 8575 signatures. The signature book will be at the WFD stand during the currrent congress. During the coming four years we will collect more signatures from across the world. Anyone can sign the book to show their support for the change.

Deaf education - Lucas Magorigwa

2011-07-19T16:42:00.000+02:00

The presenter from South Africa Lucas Magorigwa is presenting on the deaf education situation in South Africa.

Although South Africa has achieved many things for Deaf people, the challenges in education in South Africa are still there. Since 1994 we have signficant achievements, such as access to education, SASL recognised, in service training is encouraged, deaf teachers are trained, and SASL interpreteres are made available.

The challenges that we face are that Deaf learners are not motivated. And the teachers, parents and public in general have low expectancies of the Deaf childe. We also do not have montoring system, in which we can see that what we planned is actually achieved

The presenter is scetching a scenario to clarify: there are many deaf students who do not complete schooling.. The higher the school level the higher the drop out rate is of the deaf students

Achieving quality education means that we need good school management, we need to involve parents in the education, we need to have high expectations, and the teachers need to be fluent in sign language. We need to be able to motiveate deaf learners to become deaf teachers, but we have not been successful in this so far.

Nelson Mandelao once said: "Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world." This means we need to use this for our deaf children.

When we look at the theme of the congress Global Deaf Renaissance (GDR), we can say that if we have::

No quality education = No GDR
No passion for the teaching profession = no GDR
No fluency in SL = No GDR
No postiivve role models = no GDR
No positive thinking = no GDR

To move forward, we need to give deaf children role models and we need:postiive thinking. Because when we face a problem, we think we cannot win. Or if we think uniiversity is difficult, we cannot pass. So we need equality between deaf and hearing communities.

In conclusion the presenter states that GDR means:

Quality deaf education
Ending oppression of deaf people
Standing up for ouselves
Bulding a better life for all deaf people all over the world

"We can make a change,.we can make a difference"

Deaf people & multi-lingualism - Kristina Svartholm

2011-07-19T16:13:00.000+02:00

In South Africa there are 11 official languages: there are three languages fully recognised and also South African Sign Language (SASL).

In 1996 the legislation came through in South Africa (SA) and since then multilingualism is full accepted. English is the dominant language in SA.

In Sweden SL got recognised in 1981 and in 2009 it became a part of the language act. Swedish, and five minority languages are mentioned in the law in addition to a special passage on sign language. In the act it says that anyone who needs sign language should be given the opportunity to develop and learn sign language. The language act does not say they have to learn sign language, but they have to be given the opportunity

English is not recongisned in Sweden in the language act. but it is used in many settings, such as university. The higher you get in education the more English is used. Because of the importance of the use of English this is also compulsory for deaf children. Deaf children learn first SL, then Swedish and then the third language is English.

In countries as the USA and the UK it is also important to learn another language besides English. Learning more languages than one is imporant for international communication and contact.

The presenter then continues and explains the triangle of learning three languages. The three languages go together and they assist the language learner to understand more about the three languages.

I support the definition of multilingualism in which you can understand more than two languages fluently and meaningfully. It is imporatn that the wishes and the needs of the language learner are forefronted and not what other people think is best for the language learner. This is the free choice of linguict identity as a basic human right. each person shoul decide on that identity themselvis.

In Sweden there are currently 8 to 10 hearing sign lanuage users to each deaf person, so the deaf sign language users are a minority among the total group of sign language users

In Sweden now 90 percent of all deaf children receive a CI, some of these children do receive sign language at an early age as well, but some parentss wait to see what the result are of the CI.

In the future there will be more late leaners of sign language, due to the increase of CI users, but there will also be children that come to deaf schools, because they have not acquired Swedish enough to manage. This means we will have to have adapted education for the late sign language learners.

The question is if sign language will survive in the future? In order to have a better understanding of this it is fundamental to understand the language processes. From knowing one sign language deaf people can learn other languages.

In closing the presenter states that it is essential that we have tolerance, openness and respect for other people and for other languages.

Break time - participants from the Netherlands

2011-07-19T15:51:00.000+02:00

Copyright: Are Deaf persons getting a fair deal? - Denise Rosemary Nicholson

2011-07-19T15:15:00.002+02:00

Since 1998 the presenter Denis Nicholson has been lobbying for rights to copyrights for deaf persons. In her presentation the presenter will show why deaf persons are not getting a fair deal in regard to copyrights.

There are several national and international legal tools that can be used to lobby for equal rights, such as the UNCRPD and national South African laws, such as the anti-discrimination act.

World International Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Copyright is is a 'bundle' of exclusive rights that the law gives to authors and creators to protect their original works for a certain period of time. There is no international copyright law.

There are limitations and exceptions to the copyright, which in short means that the national legislators can decide what to have included in the national copyright law. Because of this the limitations and exceptions are different for each country.

All international organizations agree that there should be a balance between the copyright of the authors and the interests of the general public.

In SA the copyright expires 50 years after the author dies. This means that the work can be republished, or that it is transmitted in a different form and many other items. There are also limitations for educational purposes, such as a limited number of copies that can be made for the students in the class.

The presenter then continues to explain the issues in regard to copyright issues for deaf persons. For SA deaf people, mostly SASL is their first language. The way that deaf students learn is through a visual channel and through the use of SASL. Due to the limited number of materials in SASL the regular educational materials must be adapted for the deaf students, such as translating into SASL or adding more pictures or other graphics and then publishing it onto DVD or internet, or other visual publishing channel. Also adding audio commentary for hard of hearing students is not allowed or scanning the text or the pictures from the original is not permitted.

The above is not in accordance with the current copyright law in SA. That means that the materials cannot be translated into SASL because of the copyright that holds the original materials. This results in a very limited number of materials that is available for educational purpose for the deaf students. If the teacher wants to change this into SASL or visual form, they must request permittance from the author, which might result in a negative response or in costs that are asked for by the author, which they have any right to by the copright law.

DeafSA has to make sure that the right to translating or interpreting is included into the electronic licenses. This should also be ensured nationally and internationally. Also, as educators or other professionals in the field should ensure when they buy materials what the copyright on the materials is and what the purpose is of using that mataerial.

The presenter is urging the congress participants to lobby for better rights for deaf users in relation to copyright laws and to strive for accessible formats for deaf people.

New era: Deaf participation and Colaboration - Nigel Howard

2011-07-19T12:52:00.000+02:00

Nigel Howard is a trainer in a sign language interpreter programme in Canada.

Nigel Howard starts his presentation by mentioning the 1880 Milan convention. At the Milan convention 8 resolutions were passed by the hearing educators.

Since that time for a 130 years had a major implication for education of deaf people. The implications are:

Debilitation of identity (weakened)
Enervation of voice (deprivation)
Attenuation of community (fragmentation)
Relegation of language (inferior)
Subordination of people (subservient)
Patriotisation (disrespectful)
Infantilsation (treat like a child)
Simulacrumisation (image / representation of majority)

Several times it has been tried to reject the resolutions from the 1880 Milan convention, in 1980 in Hamburg and later in New York. But these attempts were unsuccessful.

The British Columbia Deaf community took steps forward make another attempt to reject the Milan convention. This resulted in a proposal that was put forward to the ICED conference 2010 in Vancouver..

We considered beforehand how we wanted the rejection to be formulated, the options were either a formal regret or an apology. Since it was not a legal document, a regret was acceptable form. So, on 19 July 2010 the declaration was put forward at the ICED conference in Vancouver.

The declaration incorporated two proposals:

We asked if all person would reject all the resolutions taken at Milan 1880 and secondly we asked them to regret the implications of the Milan resolutions.

For the future we proposed:

that the UN principles would be adhered to and that deaf people have the possiblity to decide.
(...)
that all nations include sign languages of their Deaf citizens as legitimate languages.
that nations will facilitate, enhance and embrace their deaf citizens as participants in society
that nations refer all identief Deaf infants to regional and national organizations of the Deaf, schools and btain programmes for the Deaf
call all nations to make every effort to ensure that their Deaf citizens obtain information about their sign language and culture (?)
(...)

This proposal was put forward to the ICED and signed by four persons:

Claire Anderson, chairperson of the ICED 2010
Wayne Synclair,
(...)
Markku Jokinen, WFD president

The next step will be decided upon by the deaf persons themselves, therefore a meeting is scheduled at 4 on this topic.

Transforming New Strategies from Research into Practice - Alan Hurwitz

2011-07-19T10:54:00.001+02:00

What are the factors that make deaf education successful?

We have the responsibility to translate research into practice. For example how we can apply this in classrooms around the world. This is note easy, because research findings can cause a debate which not all agree on. But we must make an attempt to come to an agreement.

We must look at our currrent knowledge and use it accordingly. The research findings must inspire us to change.

VL2 is a research project that focuses on visual language and visual learning. There are deaf and hearing researchers working together from different universities. The aim of the project is to focus on how D/HH children learn through visual modalities. In addition, to bilingual education: how do D/HH children learn ASL and English. In short, how do D/HH children acquire knowledge in different educational settings (mainstream, deaf schools, etc). The important research question in the project how can D/HH children acquire a visual language and how can they best acquire reading and writing skills. Such as how does the brain cope with two languages.

The findings show that Deaf children have a strong visual sensitivity, this is the way they learn. Deaf children process information differently than hearing children: through a visual channel instead of an auditory channel. The findings in the project must help us understand how to teach D/HH children in for example math, language learning, etc.

It is important that D/HH children as soon as they are diagnosed with a hearing loss that sign language is offered, to help them in their learning process. Early auditory screening helps to identify the hearing loss at an early age. Unfortunately many countries do not have the resources to assist in this early identification.

Many parents want their D/HH children to receive a CI. With this development we have to think on how this impacts the education of the children.

The children who are identified early and are offered sign language and other support services, have a chance of a greater success in education. Deaf parents are in generally scared of the influence that sign language might have on the development of spoken language. But research has shown that this has no negative impact on the spoken language development of the D/HH child.

Signmark at WFD

2011-07-18T22:23:00.000+02:00

Liisa Kauppinen announces Human Rights Award to Markku Jokinen

2011-07-18T17:28:00.003+02:00

CRPD: use the convention as a tool to fight for sign language rights

2011-07-18T17:02:00.001+02:00

Several CRPD committee members call for Deaf member in 2012

2011-07-18T17:00:00.001+02:00

CRPD rapporteur assures that she will fight for the right of deaf people

2011-07-18T16:58:00.001+02:00

CRPD chair is calling for a deaf member for 2012 elections

2011-07-18T16:57:00.001+02:00

Wilma Newhoudt announces UN special message: CRPD Chair

2011-07-18T16:56:00.001+02:00

VIVA! VIVA! Bruno Druchen gets all participants cheering: VIVA!

2011-07-18T16:54:00.002+02:00

Bruno Druchen says many thank yous to all: volunteers, WFD board, and all!

2011-07-18T16:52:00.001+02:00

Markku Jokinen welcome speech

2011-07-18T15:51:00.001+02:00

Markku Jokinen, former WFD president, welcomes all participants from the 132 countries on this very special Nelson Mandela day. Markku Jokinen emphasizes that it is very important that this congress is the first WFD congress to take place on African soil:

More impressions

2011-07-18T15:31:00.002+02:00

Performance impressions

2011-07-18T15:01:00.005+02:00

Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen welcomes the participants

2011-07-18T14:42:00.000+02:00

Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen, new WFD vice president, is welcoming all the participants to the WFD Congress.

Country calls!

2011-07-18T14:37:00.000+02:00

All the countries are now called by alfabetical order.

WFD congress opening ceremony

2011-07-18T14:22:00.000+02:00

The WFD congress has just opened with a great drumming session. With all participants drumming!

Nelson Mandela Day

2011-07-18T08:22:00.002+02:00

Today, July 18th, South Africa is celebrating Nelson Mandela day: http://www.wfd2011.com/information/mandela.html

This afternoon at 14.00 hours Durban time, the WFD Congress will be officially openend.The programme of the WFD congress can be found here: http://www.wfd2011.com/information/presenters.html

During the congress you can follow us on this efsli blog, and also on Twitter.

More on efsli can be found on:

Collin Allen new WFD president

2011-07-17T18:03:00.003+02:00

In the picture is Markku Jokinen, former WFD president, announcing the new WFD president.

The Turkish delegation is celebrating after the annoucement that they have won the location for the next WFD congress in 2015 in Istanbul.

Closing of the WASLI conference

2011-07-16T17:46:00.000+02:00

Deb Russel, new WASLI president, thanked all the presenters during the WASLI conference. She also thanked the 156 participants from the nearly 50 countries who attended the WASLI conference.

United Arab Emirates country report

2011-07-16T17:43:00.000+02:00

The presenter is a member of the deaf association and is gathering information here at WASLI to bring back home to share this with the deaf and interpreting community..

(note: no more information was provided by the presenter)

Botswana country report

2011-07-16T17:39:00.000+02:00

Botswana is very peaceful country, but we are very behind South Africa in all the developments for deaf people.

In 2007 we were able to train 16 sign language interpreters. We established a committee and registered as an association. The work of the association went up and down, but we are committed to have a true association within the coming year.

The news and some informational programmes on tv are interpreted. The government has committed to train at least 6 interpreters per year. Currently there are two nearly finished who trained abroad.

The Ministry of Education tried to come up with a resource book, but the project was not done well unfortunately. Our greatest challenges are having recognising sign language, empowering the deaf and establishing an association.

Most of the parents of the deaf persons are illiterate and they need to be educated.

Zimbabwe country report

2011-07-16T17:32:00.000+02:00

The presenter has worked as a presenter of the sign language news since 2001. There is no association of sign language interpreters. The payment of interpreter depends on the employer, sometimes it is paid sometimes not.

There is a need for a training programme for interpreters.

Achievements:
So far the presenter was the only presenter, now two others are employed full time.

(...)

Cameroon country report

2011-07-16T17:25:00.000+02:00

Cameroon has about 20 million people, and 20000 deaf people. We have three sign languages: ASL, LSF, and Cameroon Sign Language.

Most interpreters in 2005 did not have a formal training, some had an on the job training. Today not much change has occurred. Most sign language interpreters go for other careers because the profession does not bring any pay. Some improvements have happened by the work of the deaf association and the parent organisation of the deaf and a third christian organisation.

Some tv programmes now have interpretation provided.

Currently we do not have an interpreter association but we are working towards that.

Costa Rica country report

2011-07-16T17:19:00.003+02:00

The presenter is not a member of the Costa Rican interpreter association.

There are 16 certified interpreters, but approx. 10 - 12 work as interpreters. There are no Deaf interpreters certified. However, there are two Deaf people who has worked in the legal system. There are many Deaf people who may be interpreters, but they do not know they may become interpreters.

Deaf people request an interpreter, for example in the legal system. Costa Rica has a training at the university for about the last four years. The fourth group is just finishing that programme.

(note: an update was made of this report following the WASLI conference, upon the request of the presenter Christian Ramirez, from Costa Rica)

"Exploring the roles of post-secondary educational SASL interpreters" - Odette Belinda Swift

2011-07-16T17:12:00.000+02:00

Prior to become an interpreter, I was a teacher for five years at the school for the deaf.

As an interpreter I experienced that the expectations of the deaf students and the administrators in the school system were very different. It was like the teacher - interpreter paradox. The teacher wanted the interpreter to incorporate some teacher and the student wanted us to stay neutral.

I researched the literature but little to nothing was found, especially in South Africa. I found that there is no clear definition of the role of the interpreter.

There are different ways for the students to get to their grade 12 and the degree and diploma level.

The methodology was that I interviewed educational interpreters and secondly that I followed interpreters while at work. I chose those two methods so I could compare what interpreters thought what they should be doing and what they were actually doing.

The interpreters said that neutrality was the most important norm and that they should not leave the source text. Also it was ok to use some fingerspelling for certain terms and jargon. They said it was acceptable when it was not getting away from the source text. I filmed 14 lectures. The shifts that were made by the interpreters were:

explicitations
repetitions
additions of information
many times of ommission
compressions

Odette Belinda Shift then showed examples of the clips that she filmed.

Conclusions:

The teacher interpreter paradox is not a paradox at all
Interpreter role is multi-faceted
(...)

"Not reinventing the wheel: borrowing other codes of ethics" - Della Goswell

2011-07-16T16:50:00.003+02:00

The Australian Associatin of Sign Language Interpreters (ASLIA) has looked at updating our code of ethics.

The way ethics works is that the profession decides is on what is ethical behaviour within the profession that we agree on. The code of ethics defines the roles and responsibilities in our work

Ethics are how we work and how we work with people, to have an understanding and what our instinct is on what is right or wrong. Sometimes it is hard to concur difficult issues. It is about taking responsibilities for the decisions that we make.

Ideally a code of ethics encapsulates our values but also does not hold us back when we work. Especially for new interpreters it is helpful to have a starting document.

ASLIA started with a first code of ethics that was based on the RID code of ethics (1979). At the beginning you should have a sort of introduction and then a more detailed explanation. Our code has 9 articles and encompasses amongst others confidentiality, impartiality, accuracy, etc. At that time we did not know any better and it was very much rule based. It came from conference interpreting, but it does not connect with the community work that sign language interpreters do.

Interpreters were conflicted about what the code said that they should do, and what in reality happened. The issues were on:

Confidentiality: sometimes not telling causes more harm than telling.AIIC has a 'Code of Honour': strictest secrecy
Impartiality: it is very limited in what it says that novice interpreters think that you cannot move around these ideas. AIIC does not even mention this issue.

Following we went to look at the Canadian code of ethics (AVLIC, 2000). This was based on extensive consutation. Della Gosswell that mentions a list of reasons why the ASLIA code should be changed.

The new ASLIA code (2007) has 5 values and 18 principles. A questionnaire that Della carried out last year amongst the interpreters showed that the majority was still naming values from the previous code. The reason why it failed in Australia is that we did not consult the interpreters or other stakeholders and we looked at other codes instead of looking at what we needed.

Two weeks ago SLIANZ had a conference looking at ethics, a process to revise their code of ethics. They had the same issues with confidentiality, impartiality and accuracy. They have started the process on what is needed to stay in the code and what needs to be reviewed.

Some suggestions on working on your code of ethics:

Check what is working and what is not
You might not need to revise the whole code
Do a needs analysis, consult, draft, pilot and educate
And involve the stakeholders

Questions that should be raised is if there should be a different code for deaf interpreters, or other domains such as mental health or legal.

Design the code that fits your situation or organisation best!

"Deaf interpreters breaking through?" - Clare Canton & Tessa Padden

2011-07-16T16:27:00.000+02:00

Clare could unfortunately not attend, but she is the first deaf person to receive a certification in Scotland as a deaf interpreter. She is the first registered and qualified interpreter in Scotland.

SASLI received funding to train 10 apprentices and the training location was Leeds. We selected that because of the presence of a famous spoken language interpreter there The training was eight months and all finalised this programme and received a certification. Clare was the only deaf person who was in this group. The training involved several things such as translation work, conference work, etc.

At first Clare experienced that it was challenging to start actually working as a deaf interpreter, because persons were not used to work with a deaf interpreter. Clare expected that there would be more work, but it was much dependent on the persons outside who would be willing with a deaf interpreter. One of the weaknesses is that SASLI is not powerful enough to get the message across about the importance of working with a deaf interpreter, especially in mental and legal settings. It would be good if SASLI would have a policy document or guidelines that can be provided to those who are unaware of the benefits of working with a deaf interpreter.

Tessa Padden then continues to present the experiences of Pam Morgan. She has worked with deaf refugees and immigrants. Tessa Padden then quotes some other persons that have worked as deaf interpreters.

One of the projects that used deaf interpreters is BSL uptake: www.bsluptake.org.uk

It is important that deaf and hearing interpreters work together.

Ethiopia country report

2011-07-16T16:02:00.000+02:00

Since 1961 we have deaf education in Ethiopia. We currently have 10 schools for the deaf. My own estimation is that 85% of deaf people in Ethiopia are not getting education. Because of the lack of interpreters and the economic condition of Ethiopia.

The CODA's, just like other countries, are the first interpreters in Ethopia. ENASLI, the Ethopian Interpreter Association, is recognised by the ministry. At the university of Addis Ababa we have a first training on sign language and deaf culture.

ENASLI and ENAD (deaf association) are closely working together to improve the situation for deaf persons in Ethopia.

Coffee break

2011-07-16T15:50:00.000+02:00

Malaysia country report

2011-07-16T15:41:00.001+02:00

The presentation is given by a deaf delegate named Dino.

Malaysia had the first experience around 1973 with the YMCA. They decided to work with the deaf community. There 400 - 500 people at that time, now there are less involved in the project.

We have several projects, for example a parenting - infant programme. Also an advocacy project supporting the deaf community. Since 2000 a lot of advocacy work was conducted.

We also had a nice childrens and teenagers club where they can meet and share and learn different things. There is also a parents support programme, because many families do not know what to do when they have a deaf child. So the deaf adults go to the homes and teach them about sign language and deaf persons. This is a very positive experience for the families. We are educating the families and they find this very helpful.

We also promote awareness on the needs and the rights of deaf people and sign language. There is a special day for that. Interpreting services are also provided but there is no payment for interpreters. Before we had six interpreters, but this is getting less. So the interpreters are getting other jobs. Sometimes the interpreters try to serve the community by offering interpreting services in for example the church.

I also teach sign language classes and I have taught many of them.

Nepal country report

2011-07-16T15:29:00.000+02:00

We have a interpreter association in Nepal called NASLI. The deaf population there is no exact data is available, but estimated is 192.000 deaf people, of which are 5000 deaf sign language users.

The deaf association (NFDH) say that there are 700.000 deaf people and approx. 15.000 sign language users. The deaf association (NFDH) was established in 1995. We have approx. 60 sign language interpreters. Currently a census is conducted in Nepal which we hope will give us exact data.

There is no training for interpreters. There are 20 interpreters working for the deaf association working as an interpreter and also admin tasks are carried.

There are 20 deaf schools, 10 are run by the deaf association.

Six years ago a committee was established by the deaf association, but this did not work out. In July 2010 a UK trainer came to train the interpreters in Kathmandu.

We have a good cooperation with the deaf association. It was first established under the deaf association. The interpreter organisation is now officially registered.

We are now in the process of getting sign language recognised and to develop a professional code of conduct. We hope this will be signed by the deaf association as well. In addition, we would like to establish a two year training.

Singapore country report

2011-07-16T15:19:00.000+02:00

The presenter is working as an interpreter for the Singapore Association of the Deaf. There are 5 million people in Singapore. There are four official languages. English is the most important language used. Around 6000 signing deaf people. There are influences from different sign languages.

There is no sign language interpreter association, only the one that provides the interpreting services within the deaf association. As of June 2011 there are 3 staff hearing interpreters, 2 deaf staff interpreters. There are 27 voluntary interpreters.

Training: we are now adopting an accreditation system. You must be 16 year old, and have mastered English language, and must attend an introductory workshop.

Achievements:

The training programme was recently set up. Prior we had in house training, or on the job training and not real interpreter training.
The adoption of the accreditation system

Challenges:

Different sign languages in the deaf community. It is challenging because there is no standard agreement on which sign language or signs to use. And mostly SEE is taught.
More often the code of ethics is violated, because interpreters do more than they should.

Italian country report

2011-07-16T15:10:00.001+02:00

Marco Nardi presented the country report for Italy, he is a delegate of ANIOS.

ANIOS has updated their code of ethics in accordance with the spoken language interpreters. The second item is the lobbying for the official recognition of Italian Sign Language (LIS), which is on going and still not decided on. The deaf people are still fighting for LIS to be incorporated into the Italian law.

Most of the Italian Sign Language interpreters work part time, they mostly have a day job and once in a while they work as an interpreter. Those who can work full time are those who work on television or at conferences.

Tanzania country report

2011-07-16T15:07:00.002+02:00

There are approx. 40 million people of which are 1.2 million deaf people. There are 4 qualified court interpreters and 30 for the community.

There is an interpreter association (TASLI) that is working well, as well at national as at regional level. We have no formal training, only through the deaf organisation. That give a 6 week course.

In 2007 the first meeting of the association took place. We set up the statutes and an action plan. In 2008 funding from a local organisation and we had an upgrading course for 15 interpreters. In 2010 a training for capacity building strategies.

We have an office paid through the membership fees. In addition, we have a payment system. We have a strategy development plan and we aim to advocate and lobby. We also have training at university level.

Swaziland country report

2011-07-16T15:02:00.000+02:00

There is an increasing recognition for the profession of sign language interpreters. In 2005 there were 2 interpreters. The deaf association changed everything when they became involved in training. Now there are 9 (?) interpreters.

The government has now two interpreters working full time at ministries and government offices. Other interpreters are working in education and churches.

The services we need to improve but we are working on this with the support of Deaf Action in Scotland. Soon we will set up an association of sign language interpreters.

"IS Interpreter in Asia and Pacific region: From experience as IS Interpreter for JICA-JFD Deaf leadership training programme" - Soya Mori

2011-07-16T14:52:00.002+02:00

People are often not familiar what it means if we say what is international sign. There is a difference between international sign in the Asian region than in the rest of the world.

Previous to 1991, Japan did not have a lot of contact to the international community. In 1991 we hosted the WFD Congress: the world came to us. Japanese deaf people saw the variety of sign languages.

In 1994 the Japanase Deaf Association (JDA) established a deaf leadership programme for Asian Deaf people. In 1995 the Japanese government gave funding to establish JICA. More people could not come in to provide this training to more people. People from other regions would come and stay for one month to Japan.

Deaf people in Japan were not so good in international sign. So we trained them first in international sign before teaching them the leadership course.

Web and Supalla (1994) published a study which looked at international sign and discussed if IS was a real language and compared IS used by Europeans and North Americans.

Deaf people from the Asian region came to Japan and did not know IS. They learned it by socializing and also through training. There was also little or no knowledge of English, and the IS was therefore not influenced by English.

In Europe there are many sign languages and many different cultures. So it was quite challenging when all came together in 1991 for the WFD congress, and to accomodate all of these language needs in one IS. For example, non manual markers are very different in Asia Sign Languages than in the European or North American Sign languages.The presenter then showed an international sign interpretation by a Japanese deaf person, which showed increased indexing than occurs in other versions of IS. There is also less fingerspelling in Asian IS.

In the analysis I found in the comparisson between the Asia Pacific IS and the Euro IS version. In the Asia Pacific IS:

More pointing or indexing used
the sign order follows the structure of JSL
Facial expression and non manual markers are different
More classifiers are used

In Asian Pacific region have a number of different sign languages, which poses a challenging situation for the region. So we need to develop a form of IS for our region that is intelligible.

"Current Practices in Signed Language Interpreting in Legal Settings in North America " - Len Roberston, Debra Russell & Risa Shaw

2011-07-16T14:30:00.001+02:00

Unfortunately Risa Shaw and Len Roberston could not attend, therefore Deb Russell is presenting on behalf of all three presenters.

The standards in USA and Canada in legal settings are very diverse. We are unclear who does the work and what we exactly do, so therefore we wanted to look further into this.

We surveyed interpreters from AVLIC and RID. Deaf and non deaf interpreters responded to the survey. The survey tool could be used to have it coded into SPSS. We also used focus groups. But at the presentation today we will present some of the findings.

A total of 1994 (?) interpreters responded. There is best practices document that refers to using deaf interpreters used in legal settings. We wanted to ask what the use of deaf interpreters in these settings would look like. We also wanted to look at best practices in preparation, consecutive interpreting and videotaping our work.

We asked a serie of questions about the use of DI (deaf interpreters). The decisions were based on:

language issues
availibility of DI (large urban areas had plenty of DI available, but in rural areas not)
complexity of the case
needs of the Deaf consumer (for example range of languages, for example Spanish)
Court factors (for example complex cases, such as more deaf witnesses, etc)

In the reality how many worked with a DI, only 40% regularly work with DI.

We asked how interpreters prepared and later we asked how they prepared. Nearly 50% said that they would rely on the referring agency on providing them preparation materials. We also asked what happens if you are not prepared. They said:

lack of confidence (if you as an interpreter are not confident, you do not sound confident, even though the deaf witness might be confident)
anxious or nervous
....

When interpreters are working interpreting in legal settings, it can / should be videotaped. Of the respondents only 11.6% said that they will initiate the videotaping and the rest would not bother to ask.

Consecutive interpreting: if persons do not speak English, they should use consecutive. This is not always done.

We asked the interpreters what pieces of training do you need:

Team processes, specifically D/H teams
Orientation to the legal system
Legal discourse
Types of law
Protocol - videotaping, qualifying, etc

Recommendations. Based on the data, we recommend that the interpreters:

Should be very high in fluency the languages.
More training in waht the consequences are of what they produce, what is the quality
Collaboration between deaf and hearing organisation.

(note: a paper of the findings will be published soon)

Philipines country report

2011-07-16T12:37:00.000+02:00

We just established the interpreter association this year in the Philipines. In the Philipines when you are an interpreter you are also a teacher, you have a double role.

We have three islands in Philipines. Only one school will accept the deaf students. We offer them several semesters of training, mostly vocational training. Many students have multiple disabilities.

I only have 30 students who are accepted in regular education.

Lesotho country report

2011-07-16T12:36:00.000+02:00

We have an interpreter association which will be officially recognised in the coming days.

There are 30 interpreters which are members and most of the interpreters are working part time. We are challenged by lack of training and funds. Our dream is that for the future we can provide international sign interpreters for the next WASLI conference from Lesotho.

The deaf community managed to make the sign language digitally.

New Zealand country report

2011-07-16T12:31:00.000+02:00

The delegate of SLIANZ mentions that the statistics of New Zealand were covered yesterday in the presentation of Rachel McKee.

Christchurch has suffered two major earthquakes and the impact on the deaf and the interpreting community has been enormous. Not until two days after the earthquake we could offer the interpreting services nationally. We had the good example from Australian floods and the provision of interpreters there. This has helped us to arrange the services.

Madagascar country report

2011-07-16T12:27:00.000+02:00

In Madagascar we have 20 million inhabitants. The deaf association (FMM) has 13 deaf clubs. There are 2500 deaf sign language users and 8 schools for the deaf. We have Malagasy Sign Langauge and the spoken language is Malagasy and French for administrative work.

In 1998 we only had 5 interpreters. From 2007 till 2009 two groups of sign language interpreters were trained (13+6). In 2010 he association of sign language interpreters was established.

Achievements since 2007:

Increase of interpreters from 5 to 33
Establishment of the association: FMTTM
TV news interpreting

The ITT project under the umbrella of the federation of the deaf they organised a training. The certificate is awarded by the federation of the deaf and the university.

There are several challenges we are still faced with such as setting up an agency for interpreters.

Malawi country report

2011-07-16T12:21:00.001+02:00

There are 12 million people in Malawi and of this 6000 people are deaf.

First group of 14 interpreters were trained in 1999-2000. At the end of this training they received the first ever certificate for interpreting in Malawi. Following the training only 4 persons stayed in the field to work as interpreters.

There are some challenges we are faced with:

There is only 1 interpreter per 200 deaf persons
The profession of sign language interpreters is not recognised as a profession. This means that for example the interpreter is told to leave the meeting, because they are considered to interfere with the meeting.
Lack of training and lack of knowledge among deaf persons, they do not know how to work with a sign language interpreter.
Interpreting is mostly volunteer work

Some achievements:

The Malawi deaf association and Deaf Action from Scotland initiated a traiining and trained 18 interpreters. Two persons went to Scotland to become a trainer. They then trained the interpreters in Malawi. There are now two interpreters working full time for the deaf association and three are working part time on tv.

India country report

2011-07-16T12:13:00.000+02:00

Our association was established in 2008: ISLIA. It was the idea of deaf persons to establish an interpreter association. They conceived this idea by traveling abroad and seeing other interpreter associations in other countries.

Currently there are 7 deaf board members and 5 hearing. We have 95 members and are all certified. In India we have many spoken languages and many of the sign language interpreters know at least 3 or 4 languages.

Since 2001 we have a one year training course for sign langauge interpreters in six different place in India. We have three different levels from A - C. C is the highest level and equivalent to the one year training. We now have 9 interpreters at C level and 42 at B level and 320 at A level.

The All India Federartion of the Deaf (AIFD) is affiliated with WFD and we have a signed agreement with AIFD on our joint cooperation.

"Thinking Through Ethics: The Development of Ethical Decision-Making Among Sign Language Interpreters" - Elizabeth Mendoza

2011-07-16T11:56:00.000+02:00

The presentation is based on the doctoral work conducted last year. I have noticed the difference between new interpreters and the interpreters who have been in the field for a longer time. And do these two groups make different ethical decisions based on the years of interpreting experiences.

The overarching question is: Are there differences in how nocive and expert ASL interpreters make ethical decisions?

I analysed the materials in the USA, such as the professional code of conduct and the NAD RID Rubric Anchors. I designed an online survey which was sent to 1403 interpreters and 393 responded, of which 225 were novices and 168 experts. Following the survey I coded the answers. The codes were for example "do good", "fidelity", "do no harm".

The presenter found that the novices were able to identify the main tenets of the code of conduct, but they were unable to identify the subtle tenets.

So how do novices and experts differ in making ethical decisions? There are differences found in contractual obligations and mixing personal and professional lives.

How do interpreters talk about situations. Novice interpreters talked about the situations in more detail (high context0 and the experts would not (low context). Also the novice interpreters based their decision on the individual outcome and not on the community outcome, eg. how does it effect my situation, not so much how does it effect the wole community.

This means that novice interpreters need more time to make decisions that is good for the whole, not just covering individual but more collective needs. What we can do with these findings is that we can improve the training of interpreters.

"The Committee of International Cooperation for Bible Translation in Sign Languages (CICBTSL): What does this organization work?" - Christian Ramirez

2011-07-16T11:37:00.002+02:00

Our organisation is called CICBTSL. It is an international organisation with all Deaf members. These are experienced translators who can work with bible translations into national sign languages. It is a networking group, with individual and organisational members. All of the organisation is Deaf-led.

The countries that are involved are:

VIBI, and organisation in Japan, have been working very hard on bible translation. VI stands for visual and BI for bible, so visual bible translations.
DOOR is the international organisation involved in a specific type of Bible translations in countries such as Kenya.
Finland
Costa Rica
United States, with organisations such as Deaf Missions
Columbia, with the organisation ACMA
Brazil, with the organisation IES

We work with experienced translators, but we also invite others. For the last three years we have been engaged in different activities. Such as in 2008 we met in Costa Rica. The United Bible Society (UBS) sponsored the meeting. In 2009 & 2010 we met in Tailand. We worked then also with non deaf translators and we discussed how we did our work.

We also worked with a large organisation called FOBAI (Forum of Bible Agencies International). We discuss items like that we have to film our translation and how this is different from written translation.

The vision of CICBTSL is that Deaf people have access to the Word of God in their heart languages, their sign languages. The mission is to provide information about the work that we do, we also provide training on how to do translation and we support exisiting projects. It is important that we work at all levels, local, regional and national.

We are not affiliated with one church, we only focus on bible translation. All of our translation is focused on the best translation possible in the national sign language. We are focused on the development of resources. We have developed an information system management about BTSL projects. The other important activity is the training of sign language consultants. The sign language translation consultants must be knowledgeable in Deaf culture, Deaf norm, different sign languages, etc.

The services that we offer at different levels, involve that we monitor the projects such as making sure that the quality is good enough.

There are several methods of translation:

verse by verse: literal
free translation: dynamic translation
chronological translation
thematic stories

Challenges involved with the translations:

Composition of the translation teams. There are interpreters in the teams but what is the role of the interpreters?
The BTSL projects must Deaf-led
How do we work together with deaf and hearing consultants inside and outside of the projects

(note: following the WASLI conference an update of this report was made upon request of the presenter, Christian Ramirez, including capitalization of Deaf, Word & God)

Brasil country report

2011-07-16T10:45:00.000+02:00

I will represent on behalf of FEBRAPILS, the Brazilian Federation of Sign Language Interpreters.

We have approx. 191 million people, of which approx. 1.5% people are deaf. Brazilian Sign Language was recognised in 2002 and the profession of sign language interpreter in 2010.

There are two events that are always interpreted: events and tv news programme.

The interpreter certification takes place annually. The courses are taught at a higher level by private and governmental institutions. The courses are offered in 15 states and the courses are free and provided by the ministry of Education.There are currently 500 students enrolled.

There are three interpreter centers. There is MA degree and PhD level for interpreting students. There are 18 regional interpreter association and 1 national association.

The second South American meeting of sign language interpreters will take place in July 2013 in Sao Paulo.

Japan country report

2011-07-16T10:36:00.000+02:00

The presenter started by thanking the nice emails from across the world for the support during the awful time of the earthquake and the tsunami.

Still 5000 people are missing and 100.000 people are forced to live in refugee centers. Following the earthquake the National Research Association of Sign Language Interpreters (NRASLI) quickly set up a communication point. Sign language interpreters were for the first time interpreting for the messages of the prime minister.

Since 2010 domestic legislation was initiated following the UNCRPD. In the article 3 the Basic Act for Persons with Disabilities now state sign languages.

There are two interpreter associations NRASLI (2010) and JASLI (2009) were officially recognised.

We regularly have medical check ups for the interpreters, where we check neck, shoulders, etc. We also do exercises before the assignment.

USA country report

2011-07-16T10:11:00.001+02:00

RID (www.rid.org) was established in 1964 and we have approx. 15000 members. We have a certification system, which is constantly revised, to improve the standards for deaf persons in USA.

There is a lot of development in the USA, especially in the area of video remote interpreting. Next to that we also do a lot of community interpreting.

We use a lot of social media: facebook, twitter, etc. We also have many publication and information available that can be found on our website.

Zambia country report

2011-07-16T10:07:00.000+02:00

Before 2011 I wrote down in my diary that I wanted to attend WASLI and WFD. And thanks to the support I am now here.

We have a few trainers, mostly deaf, who were trained in the past by the Finnish Association of the Deaf. Our association has short courses for those who want to become an interpreter. We have only a few interpreters, and they are not specialised. The interpreters are mainly in the big cities and not in the rural area.

The educational system for deaf persons is deplorable, they are not educated on general matters, but also not on HIV/aids.Deaf persons have the highest enrollment rate in education, but also the highest dropout rate.

One of our achievements is that the tv will now offer sign language interpreting is provided on major tv events.

Panama country report

2011-07-16T10:01:00.000+02:00

Panama Sign Language Interpreter Association (ANPROSIS) works together with the Panama Deaf Association. We have been working since 1983. All the interpreters prior to the current training were trained in another countries.

We have several goals from 2011-2014. We want to evaluate the screening profile examination for the accreditation of sign language interpreters. We also want to create a national technical committee for training of interpeters and to establish a registration body.

Our association has 27 members and 13 people are not members.

Australia country report

2011-07-16T09:55:00.000+02:00

In 1991 the national interpreter association was established. We have 310 members and 6 regional branches. We have a national accreditation body. There are currently 350 interpreters actively working. In Australia there are 22 million people.

We have an annual conference which is attended on average by 200 - 250 people. We see more video remote interpreting in Australia.

(note: most of the information on Australia was covered in Jemina Napier's presentation yesterday)

"Training for more liberal translation; from the lessons of interpreting course in Japan" - Harumi Kimura & Noriko Miyazawa

2011-07-16T09:15:00.000+02:00

We are teaching at the NRCD College. There is unfortunately no university training programme. Ours is government funded, there is one more that is privately funded.

Japanese spoken language and sign language are very different in structure. The aim is to teach the students to break away from their source language and so they can learn how to interpret into their target language. They are first taught how to converse in Japanese Sign Language, before they are taught how to interpret in the second year.

For the students to understand the different structure of the language we have taken a comic from the English training programme. This comic will assist in learning how to construct language. We show this story told by a native speaker of Japanese and by a Japanese signer.

There are several differences. Differences at the discourse level:

such as the incorporation of the time aspect
action chain + referential shift

The students are strongly influenced by the source language and it is very difficult to break away from this and to actually interpret correctly into Japanese Sign Language. So the first thing we teach is interpreting from Japanese Sign Language to spoken Japanese. We show a 1 to 2 minute video clip, easy to understand daily experiences.

I ask them first to write down sign by sign and then they see that this is a very different structure from Japanese Sign Language. We then continue to really see the text as a whole and try to put the structure into correct spoken Japanese. Only when they see this structure and realise the difference, they then know how to interpret better.

There are six main characteristics that are different between the two languages, I will discuss four of them here:

Presenting two opposites
Explaining the situation
Action chain
Explaining the state

So when the students understand the different structures they can break away from the Japanese.

Now when teaching interpreting from Japanese to JSL, we first start at the sentence level and not at the discourse level. The presenters give several examples of the sentence structures. After the sentence level training, we train the discourse level. For example, we give the students a newspaper article. They must read this, put the article away and then sign the article in JSL.

In Japan discourse level training is not yet fully in place. But from the students we learn what their problems are in understanding the structure of JSL.

Gambia country report

2011-07-15T18:04:00.000+02:00

In Gambia there are 1.5 million people. There are 53000 Deaf and hard of hearing people. Only 2000 use sign language.

In 2009 in a local college interpreter training and later this helped to provided training for the deaf students in regular education.

We try to have the government to ratify the UNCRPD and to have a Disability law passed.

South African country report

2011-07-15T18:02:00.000+02:00

There are 600.000 Deaf people in South Africa. There are 105 sign language interpreters in South Africa, of which 54 are trained, 50 untrained and 4 accredited.

Sign language is unfortunately not recognised. The major challenge is setting up an interpreter association. We had an association a few years ago but this unfortunately folded.

Nigeria country report

2011-07-15T17:52:00.000+02:00

Nigeria has 150 million inhabitants of which 3 million are deaf and hard of hearing. There are over 250 dialects in Nigeria.

There is no disability law in Nigeria and no sign language interpreter training.

The deaf community is willing to work together with the interpreting community. The deaf community is active for over 30 years. Since 2007 we have an interpreter association (ASLIN), with the help of the WASLI guidelines.

Christine Roschaert, a deafblind person and trainer from Canada, came to Nigeria to help train 15 interpreters. We also have a plan for the coming years and we are trying to conduct some research as well.

Finland country report

2011-07-15T17:44:00.000+02:00

Finland has a population of 5.3 million people of which are 5000 deaf people. There is a Finnish Association of the Deaf (FAD), founded in 1905. The offices of the WFD president and general secretary are located in Helsinki. There is also an interpreter association (SVT).

Since last year we now have a new structure in interpreting services for deaf people. Now the government is responsible for the services and the payment. Regardless where the service users live in Finland, the services are now all the same.

There are two postgraduate master programmes in sign language interpreting with a total of 90 credits. In addition, the European Master in Sign Language Interpreting (EUMASLI) is also run by one of the programmes in Finland.

The challenges for SVT are to become a member of EULITA and to have close cooperation with the different administrative bodies so there is no decline in the quality of the services. In addition, we will liase with the trainings because changes are about to take place in the curriculum.

"Sign Language Interpreting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from a Deaf user Perspective" - Hend Al-Showaier

2011-07-15T17:17:00.003+02:00

Hend is from a research center in Saudi Arabia and she is presenting on a deaf persons perspective on interpreting in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia signed in 2008 the UNCRPD.

Not much research has been conducted in the Arab world on sign language interpreting. Some dictionaries have been published in the last few years. At the same a marginalisation of deaf people has been taken plance.

AFOOD (Arab Federation of Deaf People) has been working in the 22 Arab nations to improve the situation for deaf people in the Arab nations. Sign languages are all different in the Arab world, and also have different dialects and cultures. Because of the variety of signed languages they suggested a singular sign language system in the Arab world. AFOOD, which is run by hearing people, approved this project. The goal was to establish easy access for deaf people in the Arab world, such as the interpreted news.

The first aim of the project was to publish a dictionary, but deaf people had no say in it. This was approved in Qatar and deaf people in the Arab world were told to use this sign language. The philosophy behind it was that if the Arab world used one spoken language, there should also be one sign language. But at the same time no one understood Arabic.

Sign language interpreting started, as in many other countries, as volunteers. The ministry of Education opened two schools for the deaf: one for women and one for men. But there are no training programmes in Saudi Arabian Sign Language, so the teachers had to learn this as they went along.

The government created a new job definition of sign language interpreters, so interpreters could be used on tv as well. Saudi Arabia set up a committee in June 2006 on experts of sign language interpreters, but these were not deaf persons or interpreters. Hend points out that she does not agree with this committee. They have for example a language policy that states to use total communication. The problem is that they believe that there is on international sign language and promote this idea as well.

Hend works at the Prince Salman Center for Disability Research (www.pscdr.org.sa). We provide training on a variety of topics by national and international presenters. So people can learn from experts and bring this back to their local area. In 2008 we are offering workshops in Saudi Arabian Sign Language which are very popular.

In May 2010 Liz Scott Gibson came to the center and presented a workshop on sign language interpreting. She was also interviewed on national tv on this workshop. Unfortunately interpreters still wok on a voluntary basis and they have no code of ethics.

Hend ended her presentation by showing a video made by a group of deaf persons in which they state their complaints about the situation of sign language interpreters in Saudi Arabia.

Germany country report

2011-07-15T16:51:00.000+02:00

Germany is not a member of WASLI and the person presenting mentioned prior to the presentation that she is not an official delegate.

In Germany the training of sign language interpreters is done at a university level and there is strong link with the deaf association.

Unfortunately at the moment there is no national body of sign language interpreters in Germany, according to the presenter. The organisation, BGSD, folded due to different expectations of the different regions in Germany. We are now working on a renewed body of sign language interpreters in Germany.

The former association of sign language interpreters in Germany had a mentoring programme which lasted one year. Unfortunately this could not be continued because of the lack of interpreters willing to be a mentor. In addition, the payment system has been approved and we also receive payment now for traveling time for interpreter assignments. The university programme is now also changing to a BA programme. There are currently 10 to 12 deaf interpreters, but we are not sure under which association they should go, under the current interpreter association or if they should set up their own association.

"6-Up: Research on signed language interpreting in Australia" - Jemina Napier

2011-07-15T16:27:00.000+02:00

The title of the presentation "6-up" is related to the number 6, since it is now 6 years on since WASLI has been established. We are growing up as WASLI, we have developed different policies and networks throughout the world.

Sign language interpreting work is also growing up. Over the years we have seen a shift more evidence collected on interpreting, how we work and what we do. We then know what we do and put this into education and further research.

In the last ten years there has been an explosion on sign language interpreting research. Nadja Grbic found that 908 different texts had been published from x till 2008. Towards the end of the 1990's there was a rapid increase.

In the last six years how many more has been published: over 100 publications have been published. Research is done in different settings: medical, legal, etc. It is important to research the function of the interpreter in different contexts. We must collect this evidence and then we are better informed.

Locally, in Australia, since 2005 the sign language interpreting research has "grown up". Jemina and Della Goswell have published but also various phd students are involved. All these are interpreters who have become researchers. It is important that research is not just done in academia.

The research projects involved different subjects such as:

Legal settings: deaf juror comprehension, interpreting in court via video conferencing, interpreting with indigenous Australians in legal settings.
Education: language contact in academic lectures - comparing interpreters & lecturers, performance continuation
Medical: Medical Sign Bank project, interpreter-mediated medical consultations
Perceptions: investigating what deaf people think of interpreting and vice versa, and what language do we need to discuss interpreting, occupational overuse syndrome (RSI)
Pedagogy: how do we teach interpreting, use of discourse, blended learning

The research has had an impact on policies in Australia. Jemina then shared some comments of stakeholders in the field, what they think of the impact of the research.

The research in Australia did not only have a local impact, but also globally. We can compare the research data. And the results can feed into policies as well, but also then will influence the teaching and then the research again.

Anyone who is a practioner can become a researcher or a "practisearcher". It does not matter where you are from you can make a difference.

Denmark country report

2011-07-15T16:03:00.000+02:00

We have 5.4 million people in Denmark and 4000 deaf sign language users. In 1866 the first deaf association was established and in 1977 the interpreter association was established.

There are 231 interpreters employed and 30 self employed. We work in a variety of settings such as education, hospitals, etc. We are faced with increased decentralisation. We would like to share this with you since we advise you not to go this way.

Almost all deaf babies have cochlear implants. This means no sign language is taught to deaf children and the deaf day care and schools are closing down, laying of all the (deaf) staff. We do not know what this means for the future. There will be less interpreters needed and the challenging question is how do we keep sign language alive in coutrnies where they perform CI on all kids.

One very positive development is the online dictionairy on Danish Sign Language: www.tegnsprog.dk

Chile country report

2011-07-15T15:37:00.000+02:00

Fifteen years ago there were not really sign languge interpreters but more helpers. Now the situation is changed.

We have 43 members and there is no higher education for sign language interpreters, but there are courses in sign languages. So persons learn sign language from there or from deaf persons directly.

There are two national deaf associations and one interpreter association. It has been a struggle for 10 years, but following the earthquake in Chile the deaf association agreed to change something. So we decided to establish a federation of the deaf combining the associations (www.achiels.cl)..

"Working together to support the Solomon Islands: An emerging Deaf and interpreting community " - Angela Murray & Joneti Rokotuibau

2011-07-15T15:22:00.000+02:00

Jeniti could unfortunately not come, but she is an interpreter from Fiji. The presentation is given by Angela.

In 2009 Angela lived in the Deaf community in the Solomon islands. In 2009 a project was set up by SLIANZ and WASLI, which this presentaiton is about.

In the Solomon Islands 523.000 people live. The official language is English, little actually speak English but use a pidgin. A total of 70 languages are spoken in the Solomon Islands. Deaf students come from all over and from the many different language backgrounds.

Before 2008 there was not really an opportunity to get an education for deaf people. The San Isidro Care Centre in Aruligo was set up for those students who missed education. They came to the centre and learned sign language for the first time and met deaf students for the first time. It gives instruction in basic skills such as building, life skills, or agriculture. The aim is after that education they could go back to their home village and work there in the skills they learned.

The deaf people were very eager to learn. I often taught literacy skills. Unfortunately most of the people refer to deaf people as deaf and dumb.

I am not a linguist, but I will do my best to describe it. It is now called Solomon Islands Sign Language, which has some influence from Australian Sign Language but also Solomon pidgin has had an influence and there are home signs and signs developed by the deaf people themselves. I was involved in documenting the sign language and a booklet was published on the signs.

We looked for another country who we could cooperate with who went to a similar experience. We found this in Fiji. A fund raiser was held in New Zealand to support this project. A deaf role model from Fiji helped them get empowered, because they could share experiences. Jeniti gave workshops for new young interpreters and for deaf people.

Access and education for the deaf need to be improved, in addition to interpreter training. We believe that this collaboration project is important for others to see how you can work together and share resources and skills.

"Expanding horizons: A collaborative model for the delivery of one interpreter education programme in two countries" - Rachel McKee , Della Goswell & Jemina Napier

2011-07-15T14:59:00.000+02:00

The idea for this collaboration came from the first WASLI conference where New Zealand interpreters approached Jemina Napier to see if an education could be set up for New Zealand in cooperation with the Australian interpreters.

Australia has 22 million inhabitants with 6500 signing deaf people concentrated in five major metropolitan coastal areas.

Australia was the first country where the accreditation of spoken and sign language interpreters are alligned with each other, this is done by NAATI. There are about 400 accredited interpreters that are working, there are more who are accredited but not working.

The aim of the course is to get student with a minimum of two years experience to get from a para professional level to a professional level. In that course, which is part time, the information is offered online and then the students come together regularly.

New Zealand has 4 million people and we estimate that there are 4000 deaf people who use New Zealand Sign Language, which was recognised in 2006. This has not had a major impact on the services or the training of interpreters. Till 1980 the deaf education was mostly oral. Following that the bilingual education started, heavily influence by Australian Sign Language.

The sign language interpreter qualification is quite simple. In 1992 we established a two year full time interpreter programme and this year it is extended to a three year Bachelor degree. There is sign language interpreter association established in 1995 and approx. 80 interpreters are now working.

When the Australian course was brought to New Zealand we expected that students would have two years experience. Now we are offering this two year course. The course is very similar to the one in Australia, but not all elective courses could be offered. But we have some extra courses on NZ deaf culture and sign language.

The context of the NZ is a bit different then the one in Australia, so we adapted it to the NZ Deaf community and needs. Online materials: Weekly course notes, reading, sign language source texts, course tasks such as case studies. In two year blocks we had role play scenarios, sample texts & video clips, exam texts and scenarios. We also have a joint blackboard website.

We also have a video lab in Australia which we tried to implement in New Zealand as well. Especially flip cameras were of great benefit and USB sticks and Dropbox. This helped a lot of making the teaching and learning easier. We also introduced ELAN software to the students analysing their data.

There was quite a heavy workload for the students, but also for the teachers. It was not just double work, but also extra work to make it all work. It has been a very positive experience for all students. It also helped us to expand our thinking of what the students need and their feedback has constantly influenced the development of the course.

This development has benefited in raising the standards and the quality of services to the deaf community in both the NZ and the Australian Deaf community.

Interpreting in International Sign: Decisions of Deaf and non-deaf Interpreters - Christopher Stone & Deb Russel

2011-07-15T13:59:00.002+02:00

The theme of this year "Think globally and act locally" ties really well to our research that we have carried out. The data is based on what we observed at an international conference. We will be discussing the interaction between a deaf and hearing interpreter. There are two teams: deaf interpreter with a hearing feed and a hearing interpreter. We are mainly focussing now on the deaf and hearing interpreters working together. The deaf and non deaf team worked with BSL, ASL and international sign.

We recorded the work of the team via zi8 Kodak and then analysed the data with the software programme ELAN. The research focussed on the decision process of the team.

We analysed how the information was chunked by the non deaf interpreter and how they signafied the chunks:
- chunking
- time hold
- hold of the initial fingerspelled word

The chunks were either held or dropped, such as dropping the hands in the lap to signify the end of the chunk. The conference presenter did not end his informational chunk, but the non deaf interpreter decided that this was the chunk to be given to the deaf interpreter.

The data was analysed and compared between the two interpreter teams: how does either team chunk the information. This was done for when and how to request feeds by the deaf interpreter from the non deaf interpreter, how to give affirmations and accomodations.

The results of this were presented in tables giving a comparative overview of the results between the two teams. These results will assist in future training of teams working with feeds, deaf and hearing interpreters and various sign languages.

Person reference during sign language interpreted conversations - Maria Christina Pires Pereira

2011-07-15T13:53:00.000+02:00

The presentation is presented by Maria's colleague. The results are part of a phd study and this is not yet finalised. The focus of the study is personal reference in the more natural form, i.e. conversation.

The study is carried out in two parts. The first part is the theoretical part, which will be presented now. The second part will be videorecordings that will be carried out in the university.

The research is about the first person reference. In the theoretical analysis it is said that while interpreting the interpreter must speak in the first person form. For example: "I will pay that bill" is signed by the deaf person, the interpreter must also voice "I will pay that bill".

The assumption is that in a formal grammatical mention that corresponds to the discourse person itself. The other assumption is that the interpreter must be invisible during the interpretation. The third assumption is that you as an interpreter repeat everything what is being said.

The question is who is the interlocutor in a interlingual interpreted interaction remains neglected in the literature, specially abouth sign languages, this seems to be the major obstacle (...)

Do we agree on the role of the Deaf interpreter? - Robert Adam

2011-07-15T11:33:00.001+02:00

Several research has been conducted on Deaf interpreters. For example, Ladd (2001) calls it a collective community. Dr. Christopher Stone (2005) states that there are deaf and hearing interpreters in the deaf community and also deaf people have undertaken a variety of translation and interpreting roles (Stone, 2006).
Boudreault (2005) refers to this when deaf people interpret in the classroom.

So in the deaf club situation it means an exchanging of skills. So a person is good at certain skills and another in other skills, that is where the exchange will take place. For example, translating English letters or documents.

Deaf people who have the role of a deaf interpreter are bilingual in the spoken and written language.

People do often not know what deaf interpreters do exactly. What is it that do differently from hearing interpreters? People need to understand where deaf people are from and their background education. People understand the role of the hearing interpreter, but not the role of the deaf interpreter. But now people over the world are starting to realise the importance of a deaf interpreter.

Interestingly deaf and hearing people have different views on the deaf interpreter. Robert Adam provided an overview of the different terminology that can be found in the literature, such as relay interpreters, intermediary interpreters or ghostwriters (deaf people performing translation taks for other deaf people...).

What is a deaf interpreter?

A Deaf bilingual with skills in a spoken and asigned language
Deaf people wo work between two sign languages
Deaf people work with one sign language (ie deaf interpreter mirroring, working as a facilitator, working with deafblind persons)

There are many situations a deaf interpreter can be used. Such as written translation, tv translations, working with deafblind persons, etc.

According to MJ Bienvenue it is sometimes difficult for the hearing interpreter to ask for support of a deaf interpreter. But deaf interpreters are needed for a number of reasons such as when required by law, particularly in legal and medical settings, or for example mental health. Or you could use a deaf interpreter with a not yet qualified hearing interpreter.

A deaf interpreter must also learn the skills and the ethics wich are needed to carry out the profession.

We must acknowledge that deaf and hearing interpreters have different roles but that we must work closely together.

Netherlands country report

2011-07-15T10:40:00.001+02:00

The situation in the Netherlands is quite well organised. The only major issue is that we do not agree on all issues with governmental policy makers. For example on team interpreting. The interpreter must now work for two hours, and then be exchanged by a second interpreter, who then knows nothing about what just occurred in the first two hours. We are trying to change this situation, but this is quite challenging.

The cooperation between the deaf and interpreter association can still be improved, so there is still work that needs to be done.

One of the improvements is that in the last few years the society has become more aware of sign language interpreters.

Currently we are undergoing a system change in the funding where the budget for interpreting services in primary and secondary education will be handed over from the semi-government agencies to the deaf schools.

Mozambique country report

2011-07-15T10:37:00.003+02:00

In Mozambique the spoken language is Portuguese. We have a population of 20 million people of which 12 percent is deaf.

The Finnish Association of the Deaf supported us in setting up the deaf association in 1990. Before that there were few interpreters working in Mozambique. The situation is difficult because there is no training in sign language or in interpreting. Many deaf persons have received oral education.

In 2000 the interpreter association was established and currently there are 15 interpreters working. The aim of our association is to get a higher education for sign langauge interpreters.

Country report England, Wales, Northern Ireland

2011-07-15T10:37:00.000+02:00

The situation in the UK is quite good compared to other countries. We have a registration system, such as having a certain level of education and a criminal check.

The registration system is that you can be registered with a registration body. The standards are very similar to spoken language interpreters, the education can be obtained at university or at vocational level. Currently there are 1000 interpreters registered. If you are in training you can also be registered. But registration is not a requirement, so you can work as an interpreter without being registered.

ASLI is seperate from the registration body. We offer for example mentoring services, and represent the interpreters at governmental level. There is no language policy, but it goes through a disability act.

Recently the UK have improved the situation for deaf interpreters, such as training and registration. We also have continuing education as one of the requirements for all the interpreters.

One of the challenges is that educational programmes are closing, but we feel confident that we can make change happen.

Hong Kong country report

2011-07-15T10:22:00.000+02:00

The Hong Kong country report is presented by one of the deaf interpreters from Hong Kong.

The interpreter association was established 2 years ago in 2009. We work together with the deaf association in Hong Kong and we have now 4 centres.

In June 2010 we had discussions on how to recognise sign language and how to formalise interpreter training. After that discussion a DVD was produced, which explained the different legal regulations and how to get interpreting services or other services.

The government with the deaf association and deaf people discusses how to recognise sign language within education. We previously had four schools of the deaf in Hong Kong, but have closed due to mainstreaming of deaf children in hearing schools.

In June of this year, the WFD president, came to Hong Kong and explained the importance of education in sign language to deaf children.

Our organisation just had their first general meeting and seminar.

Spain country report

2011-07-15T10:16:00.000+02:00

In Spain there are 150.000 signing deaf people according to the national deaf association. The number of qualified interpreters is 5000 and there are training courses running in about 50 centres. But in fact there are around 750 - 1000 interpreters actually working.

There is a two year vocational training course and the interpreters are working in a variety of settings. The main problem are the working conditions: unsufficient pay and no steady contracts.

The deaf association is very active and very well organised. FILSE has a good cooperation with the national deaf association.

There is media level of services, not so much services in sign language interpreting or in subtitling. Even though
the law in 2007 was passed to recognise sign language, not much has really changed.

The general population is becoming more aware though of sign language interpreting, especially in the media.

The main challenges are to improve the working conditions, such as decent pay, and the transition from a vocational to a university training programme.

EUD & efsli presented on "Joint cooperation the only way forward"

2011-07-15T09:35:00.000+02:00

Mark Wheatley, EUD director, and Maya de Wit, efsli president, just presented on the joint cooperation that efsli and EUD have established. Unfortunately Mark could not be physically present, but presented via video.

WASLI conference officially opened!

2011-07-14T17:06:00.003+02:00

Deb Russel, new WASLI president, opened the conference introducing briefly the guests of the opening ceremony:

Nomvuzo Shabalala (Deputy Mayor of Durban / eThekwini)
Liz Scott Gibson (former WASLI President)
Markku Jokinen (WFD President)
Bruno Druchen (National Director, DeafSA)
Colin Allen (Director of Services, Deaf Society of NSW, Australia)

After the country call, calling all participants by country. The Deputy Mayor Mrs. Shabalala gave her opening speech. She quoted Nelson Mandela: "If you talk to a man in his own language that goes to his head, if you talk to a human in his own language it will go to his heart"

We have a language policy in South Africa: there are sign language interpretation at all important council meetings, because it is important to empower the citizens. An important day for us is Monday 18th of July when we celebrate Nelson Mandela's birthday..

Liz Scott Gibson then introduced Markku Jokinen, WFD president. She pointed out that she has enormous respect for Markku. Markku has supported WASLI for many years and the developments of sign language interpreters internationally.

Markku commemorated that WASLI and WFD signed the common agreement in 2007: "Not only is that a formal agreement our hearts are in there as well." Markku continued with explaining the importance of the UN Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNCRPD).
Until now 100 countries have ratified the UNCRPD. But not only is it important that WFD and deaf people use the UNCRPD, but als the interpreters must use this as a tool. "For the first time the UN is now hiring sign language interpreters and are asking us for advice. We must use this opportunity and use the tools that the UNCRPD gives us."

Markku finished by saying that the WFD general assembly is expecting 85 countries, of which 30 are African countries and the congress is expecting 2000 people.

The new WASLI general secretary, Awoii Patrick Michaeal, introduced Bruno Druchen by thanking Bruno for all he has done for sign language interpreters in South Africa. Even though there is no association for sign language interpreters Bruno has given a lot of support in organising the WASLI conference.

Bruno Druchen welcomed all participants to South Africa. He commemorated that this is the second time that WASLI is in South Africa. The first time in 2005 when WASLI was established in Worchester near Cape Town. He pointed out that as a deaf association we can not work alone. We work together with other deaf associations, but also with WFD and WASLI. Such as in Lesotho where they worked on a human rights project and how to educate deaf persons in the best way on this topic. And how interpreters and deaf persons can work together. Following Lesotho they went to Mozambique, where they had problems with how to work with sign language interpreters since there is no association for sign language interpreters there. The Deaf Association South Africa then supported them in this.

Bruno continued by saying: It is essential that the deaf association cooperates with the interpreter association, that is the only way to go forward. We must educate ourselves and others on how to work best together. Deaf persons need to understand that interpreting is not advocating. Interpreting is hard work in itself. It is important that deaf persons and interpreters are both educated on what the role of the interpreter is.

Zane Hema, former WASLI secretary, then introduced Collin Allen, keynote speaker. When doing some background research Zane found that Collin has such an extensive list of achievements that it was impossible to sum it up in an introduction.

Collin Allen, was then invited to commence his keynote speech. Collin Allen started by saying that Deaf people need the UNCRPD because the current human rights are not reaching persons with disabilities. There is also a paradigm shift from a medical to a human rights model of disability.

The UNCRPD came in to place through a whole process. There were first 8 ad hoc sessions from 2002 till 2006. They would take days to discuss all the issues at hand. In addition, the WFD met with different representatives throughout the world to discuss the issues especially in regard to deaf people and the use of sign language.

As of 8 July 2011 there are 149 signatories to the convention. And till today 102 of those have ratified the convention. Sign language is mentioned 8 times in 5 different articles.

After explaining the UNCRPD, Collin Allen continued with explaining an international project he is involved with. The goal of this global project is to collect information about the lives of deaf people in various countries. The survey was provided in several languages, including international sign. In many countries the use of sign language is forbidden which is worse for their educational situation. There are also deaf people throughout the world who have no idea that they have human rights. The project collected information from seven different regions: Mexico, South America, Eastern South of Africa, Western and Central Africa, the Arab nations, the former Sovjet Union, the Asia Pacific. This was published in seven different reports, which gave valuable and up to date information on the country. The information from the reports were then summarized and brought it together in one document. This was mostly worked on by Hilda Haualand from Norway.

The document covers information from 93 different countries. We found in the report four different overlapping areas that are central in human rights for deaf people: the need for sign language, the need for a bilingual education (written and signed language), the need to access information through sign language interpreters and to have professional trained sign language interpreters.

Of the respondents only 44 recognised sign language and 49 have not done so until today. Of the 44, 10 countries have sign language recognised in their constitution, 19 in some kind of legislation. Still there are over 100 countries in the world who did not recognise sign language until today. So now countries can use the UNCRPD to lobby for sign language recognition. Sign language dictionairies can help in getting this recognition.

In article 9 of the UNCRPD professional sign language interpreters are mentioned. But depending where you are in the world the word 'professional' has different meanings. For us in WFD it means that you have completed a training and that you are qualified.

A total of 80 countries responded they have professional sign language interpreters. But only 43 countries replied that there was a qualification system in place in their country. In regard to training only 9 countries have a 4 year training programme, 11 countries have less than a one year training. And only 32 countries fund sign language interpreter services and 33 have a code of ethics. We must be working together: deaf and interpreter associations.

From the international perspective, now to more national examples.

Albania
In the 1950s there was the Communist Regime, so the first deaf school did not open till 1963. In1990 the communist regime collapsed and in 1996 the Finnish Association of the Deaf wanted to establish a project. This did not come into place till 2000 because of the financial scheme collapse of Albania in 1997. This project was to support deaf people in Albania to lobby for their needs. When deaf people realised their rights, such as signing on the streets, they became more aware and used these rights to develop more projects. Following the research on sign language in Albania, a training for sign language interpreters could be established.

Cambodja
Another example is from Cambodja. In 1997 the first deaf school was established and in 1999 the Basic Education Project and Sign Language Work started. In 2004/5 the sign language interpreter training project was established. In 2010 the first 8 interpreters qualified and last year a sign language service was set up.

Kosovo
The war ended in Kosovo in 1999 and in 2001 the Finnish Association of the Deaf and Kosovar Working Group decided to establish a project. A sign language network and interpreter training project were established. In 2008 the Kosovar Association of Sign Language Interpreters was established. Since 2010 they have 7 certified interpreters, but there are 25 to 30 interpreters working. Now there are also 17 deaf sign language instructors working.

The WFD has a policy on how to cooperate with other countries in setting up for example a deaf organisation. Setting up a deaf organisation will help in many ways such as the recognition of sign language in the country.

WFD thinks it is vital to recognise sign language and respect the deaf culture and identity. In addition, bilingual education, accessibility and sign language interpretation. These four factors must be implemented otherwise the human rights of deaf people cannot be maintained.

There is still a lack of sign language interpreter training, and this means that deaf people cannot enjoy basic human rights. Collin's message is not just to think globally but also to act locally. It is important to make the link between the local and the global context. This can be achieved by unity: deaf and interpreter associations must work together to achieve global development and local action. Unity between the deaf and interpreter community is one of the keys to accessibility.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Liz

2011-07-14T13:31:00.001+02:00

Deb Russel, new WASLI president, thanked Liz Scott Gibson, former WASLI president, for all her dedication and hard work for WASLI during the last four years.

The WASLI general meeting was closed by Deb Russel.

19 interpreters sponsored to come to WASLI

2011-07-14T13:21:00.000+02:00

Jack Callon thanked the sponsors who supported the 19 delegates from:

3 countries in Asia
1 from Europe
15 countries from Africa

The funding came from a variety of sources:

USA & Canada individuals and groups of interpreters
Australia (individuals) and New Zealand (association)
ASLI
SASLI
Many other individuals
Special thanks to OSISA who sponsored 8 interpreters and to WFD

New WASLI regional representatives presented

2011-07-14T13:12:00.000+02:00

New WASLI regional representatives:

Sheena Walters (Australia): Australasia & Oceania
Jose Ednilson (Columbia): South America
Igor Bondarenko (Ukraine): Transcaucasia & Central Asia
Nigel Howard (Canada): North America
Stuart Anderson (Scotland): Europe
Selman Hoti (Kosovo): Balkans
Samuel Begumisa (Uganda): Africa
Emiko Ichikawa (Japan): Asia

New WASLI board

2011-07-14T12:59:00.000+02:00

The new WASLI board was presented:

Deb Russel (AVLIC, Canada): president
Awoii Patrick Michaeal (UNASLI, Uganda): secretary
Jose Luis Brieva (ANISCOL, Columbia): vice president
Susan Emerson (ASLIA, Australia): treasurer