WASLI 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005

THE WORLD ASSOCIATION OF INTERPRETERS Country Reports WASLI is committed to the advancement of sign language Interpreting world wide November 2005 WASLI Country Reports Issue 1 - November 2005 by Nigel Cleaver

In readiness for the inaugural WASLI Conference in South Africa 2005 coun- Country Reports tries were asked to provide a report telling the world about the situation in their Arab Federation of the Deaf 2 country. Information that was thought to Argentina 4 Australia 5 be useful included- what was the popula- Austria 4 tion? How many Deaf people are there? 13 Is the indigenous sign language recog- Cameroon 14 nised as an of the coun- Canada 15 try? How many sign language interpreters Denmark 16 are there? Is there a National Association England, Wales & N. I. 16 of Sign Language Interpreters and what Estonia 17 training facilities are there? 17 Germany 19 As WASLI is committed to advance sign Hong Kong 21 language interpreting world wide this in- 21 formation is important as it provides not Kenya 22 only an accurate picture of where we are 23 today but enables us to plan partnership Madagascar 23 work, share resources and later identify 24 growth and development. 25 Nigeria 26 As you will see not every country was Palestine 26 able to respond in time though those Scotland 28 that did provide a fascinating picture of South Africa 28 the sign language interpreting profession Spain 29 in the world today. Some reports came Tanzania 31 from Interpreter Associations, some from Uganda 32 Deaf Associations, others from both indi- USA 33 vidual hearing and Deaf interpreters. It is hoped that in ensuing years more countries can contribute to this valuable resource and begin to take part in the fur- ther dissemination of good practice.

1 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 ARAB Federation for band. Many deaf prefer to marry a deaf lished standard rules for institutions and spouse for easy communication. Saudi programs of special education to pro- the Deaf By Hend Al Showaier Sign Language was influenced by other tect the Deaf and hard of hearing peo- Arab sign Languages like Egyptian Sign ple. These standard rules include modi- Language. Egyptian teachers used to fications and changes to suit Deaf and work in Saudi Deaf schools; therefore, hard of hearing environment, various they have spread Egyptian Sign Lan- method of communication with the guage which has become mixed by Deaf and hard of hearing people, assis- Saudi Sign Language. Nowadays, Saudi tive listening devices, individual educa- November 2005 This report is a reflection of my own teachers have replaced Egyptians in tion program, … etc. TS personal information and experience teaching the Deaf in Deaf schools. Disabled protection code which include about the situation of sign language Finger spelling is also used in Deaf all aspects of psychology, social life, interpreters and Sign Language schools. Arab countries started to use educational, medical, … etc. in Saudi Arabia and the Arab countries. Finger spelling system in 2001 (Dr. Al Providing jobs to the Deaf and hard of Based on my work with the Deaf and Turki); therefore, old Deaf people do hearing just like hearing people. Ac- Y REPOR hard of hearing people at the Saudi not know it, so they do not use it. This cording to the Saudi law, each govern- Association for the Deaf as well as vari- system is usually used by young Deaf mental administration is required to ous discussions with many Deaf and especially in Deaf schools. Some Deaf, assign at least 2% of its employment to hard of hearing people and sign lan- especially hard of hearing people rely disabled people. In Saudi Arabia there guage interpreters from different Arab on in addition to signs that is a legislation that promotes the hiring COUNTR countries. I would like to thank all those are established within each individuals of individuals with disabilities. The who provided me with valuable infor- home setting. three-for-one legislation, that hiring an Arabic language is the spoken language individual with disability counts as three

ASLI mation regarding the Deaf and Sign in Saudi Arabia and all over the Arab Saudis in the Saudiazation scheme.

W Language Interpreters in the Arab countries. Although all the Arab coun- world: tries speak the same language, Arabic Laws about interpreters, language, but each country has its own In Saudi Arabia as well as in all Arab A. Arab Deaf: Hanan Mohsen (Egypt). . countries currently there are no laws Amal Wali and her colleagues: Sanaa Al about interpreters. Ghoul, Rasheed Alhashmi, Monsif Az Types of education available to Aldeen, Abdul Ghani Al Zaazaa, and Deaf people: Overview of what is happening in Reem Al Zaazaa (Tunisia).Ali Al Qa- In Saudi Arabia as well as in the Arab the Arab countries: treefi (Yemen). countries in general there are eight dif- Saudi authorities as well as Arab coun- ferent types of education available to tries realized the importance of sign the Deaf and hard of hearing people language in Deaf education. The Arab B. Hearing people: Dr. Yousif Al Turki, Director of the these include: Federation of the Deaf has accom- Deaf department – Ministry of Educa- plished a study about the Arabic Sign tion (Saudi Arabia). Residential schools. Language, finger spelling, and numbers Day schools. in Arabic which was approved by the Sameer Semreen & Naji Zakarenah, rd sign language interpreters Special program classes in mainstream 3 Educational Symposium of the Arab (Jordan).Mohammed Al Banaali, schools. Federation of the Deaf in 1984. sign language interpreter (Qatar). Full Integrated Program. Resources room program. In 2001 the Arab Federation of the Ambulatory teaching program. Deaf approved the Unification of the Facts about the Deaf in Saudi Ara- Advisor teacher program. Arabic Sign Language Dictionary to be bia and the Arab countries: Saudi Deaf are estimated to be more Studying in colleges and universities. used by all the Arab countries. 16 Arab than 80,000. Unfortunately, I do not countries contributed to this Unified have the exact number of the Deaf and Types of jobs Deaf people hold: Arabic Sign Language Dictionary in- hard of hearing in the Arab World. Deaf education is mostly vocational cluding Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia training, thus, Deaf and hard of hear- the CD for the Unified Arabic Sign There is a need for a concerted efforts by the research community and gov- ing people in Saudi Arabia and in the Language Dictionary is distributing for ernments to assess the state and/or Arab countries as well hold different free by the institute of Al Amal for the numbers of the Deaf and hard of hear- types of jobs. They work as systems Deaf to encourage hearing people to ing people in the Arab world. analyzers, librarians, air conditioner learn sign language. In Saudi Arabia Deaf people use Saudi maintenance, administrative workers, Sign Language. Signs differ from region manual labor, arts, crafts, … and the Training sessions in Arabic Sign Lan- to region, also some signs used by the like. In 2001 the Saudi government guage are held from time to time in the male Deaf community are different issued a decree to allow the Deaf and Arab countries to encourage hearing than the ones the female Deaf commu- hard of hearing people to enroll in col- people to learn sign language. There nity use, because our society is conser- leges and universities. In 2004 Deaf are some good and qualified Sign Lan- vative, and males and females are sepa- and hard of hearing enrolled in the guage Interpreters, yet, they are few rated. In spite of these differences in colleges officially for the first time. and scattered around the Arab coun- signs, Deaf people can communicate tries. Most of the interpreters do not with each other without any problem Protection of Deaf rights: get proper training. They mostly learn using sign language, body language Saudi Arabia as well as Arab countries sign language through their deaf family gestures, and facial expressions. When a did not overlook Deaf services. The and relatives, or through their work male deaf marries a female deaf, the Ministries of Education in Saudi Arabia with the Deaf. wife learns the signs used by her hus- and the Arab countries have estab-

2 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 Our future plan is to set a code for sign have future plans to make a four years Saudi Arabia is working on a new pro- language interpreters to abide by the training program at the university level. ject that will benefit the Muslims all laws, as well as set professional training Prince Salman Center for Disability over the world. This project is interpret- programs to prepare and train hearing Research will conduct in the near future ing the Holy Qur’an in Sign Language. people to be qualified interpreters. I a survey, and then write a proposal to King Fahad Complex for the Printing of the have written a code for sign language Saudi authorities to indicate the impor- Holy Qur’an is the one responsible for interpreters and sent it to Shaikha Ja- tance of establishing such a program. this project. meela Al Qasimi of United Arab Emir- ates, the first supporter for the Deaf in Testing system for qualified inter- The second workshop for Unified Ara- the Arab world, to present it to the preters: bic Sign Language Dictionary will be Arab Federation of the Deaf to approve Unfortunately, in all Arab countries held in Qatar after few months. Several it in its next meeting. there is no testing system to decide who Arab countries will participate in this Tunisia is considered the first Arab is qualified to interpret. important event and work on creating country to establish a curriculum of new signs for Arabic words which do four years training program for sign Most important events for the not have a known sign. language interpreters. situation of sign language: In Saudi Arabia we have future plans to The most important events for the Goals for the coming years: establish a National Association of Sign situation of Sign Language are: Saudi Arabia is planning to establish an Language Interpreters. The Arab Fed- association for sign language interpret- eration of the Deaf may establish a The Arab Federation of the Deaf ap- ers. Arab Federation of the Deaf is committee or an association for profes- proved the Unified Sign Language Dic- working on setting the code for profes- sional and sign language interpreters tionary. sional interpreters and improving inter- which will include in its membership pretation services and interpreters qual- well educated Deaf from the Arab Approved Sign Language Dictionary ity. countries as well as qualified sign lan- for the Names of Countries & Cities. guage interpreters. This committee will What is needed for sign language work toward improving the services of Sign Language is recognized by Saudi interpreting to develop? the interpretation as well as the quality authorities and all the Arab countries. We have to encourage researches in sign of the sign language interpreters all language, and provide funding for these over the Arab countries. More and more hearing people want to researches. learn sign language. Workshops in Sign Country Report: Language have been conducted fre- The Deaf must be participated in these There are no statistics about the num- quently all over Saudi Arabia and all researches. ber of the interpreters who work part- the Arab countries. time/full-time. Most of the interpreters The Deaf must do the signs not hearing are volunteers. They are either from a Workshops in Sign Language in Saudi people, because sign language is the first deaf family, have deaf relatives, teach- Arabia are sponsored by the General language for the Deaf. Let the signs ers and employees who work in Deaf Secretariat of Special Education, Minis- come out from the Deaf naturally. schools, or hearing people who have a try of Education, and the Saudi Asso- deaf spouse. Some of them work part- ciation for the Deaf. They encourage Conduct national and international time, and some work full-time. applying the Unified of the Arabic Sign workshops in sign language to exchange In Tunisia there are about 16 hearing Language Dictionary and distribute it experiences and share information students enrolled in the interpretation for free. among the participants. program in the university, and the number of the students will increase in Deaf schools in Saudi Arabia also have As for the Arabic Sign Language, we the future (Amal Wali). efforts in conducting training sessions in need to do researches and benefit from At present, there are no Associations for Sign Language for the teachers and the experience of the advanced coun- Sign Language Interpreters in the Arab parents of Deaf students. tries in order to set the rules and gram- countries, but hopefully in the future mar of Arabic Sign Language. When each country will establish one. Saudi Arabia has a plan to establish a we set the rules, grammar, and struc- job with the title: “Sign Language In- tures of the Arabic Sign Language, we Interpreter Training: terpreter”. can begin writing curriculums in Arabic As mentioned earlier, Tunisia is consid- Sign Language supported with educa- ered the first and the only Arab country Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia tional video tapes and DVDs performed to establish a four year program for has prepared guidelines for Sign Lan- by real Deaf. training sign language interpreters at guage Interpreters and testing system to I suggest these researches be on a na- university level. The program is based decide who is qualified to interpret. tional level, so the authorities provide on the Unified of the Arabic Sign Lan- We have interpreters work in TV inter- support and facilitate our work. guage Dictionary, Tunisian Sign Lan- pret some programs in sign language. guage Dictionary, French Sign Lan- Also Saudi Arabia has interpreters work Each country has to select at least 1 – 2 guage Dictionary, and Canadian Sign in educational setting. Deaf persons from each part of the Language Dictionary (Amal Wali). In Country, so we can study the different Sultanate , there is a two year There are diligent efforts in improving kinds of signs used by the Deaf in each sign language interpreters training pro- the interpretation services by the Saudi region. As it is known, signs are regional gram. As for Saudi Arabia and other authorities and the Arab Federation of not unified. Arab countries there are some efforts to the Deaf. set training programs in sign language, but they are mostly short terms. We

3 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 Conduct researches and workshops do not have even qualified interpreters; Arab Federation of the Deaf to approve regularly to create new signs for words therefore, they do not have sign lan- it in its next meeting. I also sent it to the that do not have known signs. guage training programs. Such interna- General Secretariat of Special Educa- tional organization will work to set rules tion, Education Ministry – Saudi Ara- Participate in national and international and codes for professionals conduct. All bia. workshops and conferences in sign lan- the organizations/associations, and guages. individuals who join this international Arab Federation of the Deaf is also association are required to follow its very interested in this international as- Professionals and researchers from ad- statutes. This will benefit the Deaf not sociation. As their representative, I am vanced countries have to collaborate only in the Arab countries, but also all responsible in providing them with all and share information and experiences over the globe, and will improve the the information regarding this interna- regarding sign languages with the coun- quality of the interpreters as well as the tional association and write reports to tries that have less experience in this interpretation services. the president of the Arab Federation of field. the Deaf in order to establish an Arab I can help others by: Association of Sign Language Inter- My expectations of a world body As the representative of the Arab Fed- preters. and how can they support the eration of the Deaf (AFD), and the Arab countries? representative of Saudi Arabia I will Argentina By Juan Druetta In Saudi Arabia and in all the Arab work closely with both AFD and the countries sign Saudi authorities to establish an Arab services are not up to our expectations. Association of Sign Language Inter- Sign Language training programs need preters, and a Saudi Association of Sign to be improved. Currently there are no Language Interpreters. laws to determine if the interpreters are The General Secretariat of Special qualified or not. Any person can apply Education, Ministry of Education – This is a report about my country: for sign language interpreter position Saudi Arabia is planning to establish a Argentina is in South America and the even if they have not completed their Saudi Association of Sign Language spoken language is Spanish. Our Sign education and have never been trained Interpreters. They have made the first Language is not yet recognised by the or taken sign language courses. step toward this goal by submitting a Government. Having a Deaf family member alone request to the Ministry of Civil Service We do not have a National Association without getting proper training and to establish a new position with the title: of Sign Language Interpreters and I good education do not make applicants “Sign Language Interpreter.” don't know how many there are. How- qualified for interpretation. Such inter- I will work closely with the General ever, I do know that most people work- preters make many mistakes and over- Secretariat of Special Education to set ing as interpreters are CODA, Teachers step all bounds. They usually interfere the statutes of this national new associa- of the Deaf and Parents of Deaf chil- in the conversation and speak out on tion. dren and have no formal interpreting behalf of the Deaf taking advantage of My position as the Coordinator of the qualifications or skills. their deafness, besides they do not in- Deaf and Sign Language Program at In one State we have a Sign terpret every thing. Prince Salman Center for Disability Language Interpreting Course which I have noticed that interpreters from Research www.pscdr.org.sa will facilitate has been recognised and is certificated. Deaf parents are much better than my task. The research center strongly However, it does not consider the Na- those interpreters who have a deaf supports such researches and proposals. tional Constitution or Law. member in their family like a Deaf It provides financial and technical aids Most of those working as In- brother, Deaf sister, or a Deaf spouse. needed for such researches. Also by terpreters do not liaise with or work We have to set rules and force such in- joining WASLI, WASLI can support my together with the National Association terpreters to abide by them. We have to goals in improving the interpretation of the Deaf or any local associations or encourage hearing people to enroll in and the interpreters’ quality in Saudi clubs. sign language training programs and Arabia as well as in the Arab countries. Best wishes from Argentina train them to interpret in small groups The Saudi Deaf as well as the Deaf and and large groups as well to make them hard of hearing people all over the confident. Some interpreters are shy. Arab countries will benefit a lot from They refuse to interpret in symposiums this international association. and conferences, but they are willing to I have outlined a sign language training interpret in small groups, classes, and program. I am in the progress of devel- the like. oping it. I am also collecting informa- By joining an international organization tion and references to start a research of sign language interpreters I will have proposal on Saudi Sign Language. As a the opportunity to learn from the ex- member of the Ad Hoc committee of perts and professionals from advanced Unification of Saudi Sign Language I countries and all over the world. Share will do a research to set the grammar information, get experiences, and sup- and rules of our sign language. When port from the associations of sign lan- we are done, we will work on preparing guage interpreters which will help me in sign language curriculums to be taught my goal toward improving the interpre- in the universities, colleges, associations, tation in all the Arab countries. There is educational centers, … etc. Also I have a shortage in the number of qualified written a law and set a primary testing sign language interpreters in all the system to decide who is qualified to Arab countries. Some Arab countries interpret. I have sent this law to the

4 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 Estimated children born with hearing successfully with an /English Australia By Karen Bontempo, impairment: 15,900 (1 in 1,000 interpreter until they develop suitable Jemina Napier and Marcel Leneham births) Auslan skills. This is necessary because Prevalence: there is no formal accreditation system for Signed English interpreters and the 6,996 ÷ 15,900 = 0.44 signing system is not used widely within the adult signing community. As such, Given that the Australian population is Signed English “transliterators”∗ work somewhere around 20 million, using the almost exclusively within primary and 1. The Australian context range of prevalence rates from the secondary education. above table (0.19 – 0.89), an estimate of 1.1 Deaf population the signing deaf population in Australia In addition, there has been some discus- The estimates of the number of signing would be somewhere between 3,800 to sion in the literature about traditional deaf people in Australia vary greatly. 17,800. Based on his research using Indigenous Sign Languages in Aborigi- The following table from Johnston school enrollments and National Acous- nal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) (2003) provides a summary of published tic Laboratory records, Johnston (2003) communities. A recent publication by estimates. estimates the signing deaf population in Suzannah O’Reilly (2005) discussed Australia to be approximately 6,500. some issues surrounding interpreting for Source [Aus- Signing Im- deaf individuals from ATSI communi- tra- deaf plied .1 Australian languages ties, and highlights the unique nature of lian] com- preva- English is Australia’s national language, their indigenous sign languages. Popu- munity lence but due to cultural diversity in the lation rate [in population, over 200 languages are spo- .3 Education for deaf people in in mil- 1/1000 ken in the community. Languages other Australia lions of than English are not only spoken by Deaf education in Australia has fol- popu- migrants who have settled in Australia lowed similar trends to those in the lation] from all over the world, more than 60 , United Kingdom, and Flynn, 1987 15.8 >9,500 0.57 different languages are spoken by Abo- other Western countries, ranging from (1985) riginal and Torres Strait Islander Aus- an oral-only approach to Total (simul- taneous) Communication with the use Power, 1986 15.9 7,000 0.44 tralians. (source: Australian Bureau of Sta- tistics.) of an Australasian Signed English sys- Johnston, 16.0 <10,000 0.58 tem and spoken English (Johnston, 1989 (1987) .2 Australian Sign Language 2002; Leigh & Hyde, 1996) and deaf Deaf Soci- 16.6 >15,000 0.89 The sign language used within the Deaf students integrated into mainstream ety of New community in Australia is Australian schools with support from interpreters South Sign Language (Auslan). Across Austra- and note takers (Bowman & Hyde, Wales, 1989 lia there are several distinct dialectical 1993). All of these educational ap- Hyde & 17.2 >15,400 0.89 differences to be found within Auslan. proaches are still present in different Power, 1991 + However, these dialectical differences parts of the country, depending on the Deaf Soci- 6.3 >1,261 0.19 to do not impact greatly on successful policy of the Education Department in ety of New (1997, to 0.39 communication between signers from each state. South NSW) >2,522 different regions. Generally the dialecti- Wales, 1998 cal differences are at the lexical level of There are, however, bilingual programs Ozolins & 18.9 >15,000 0.79 the language and common sign varia- in the states of New South Wales Bridge, 1999 tions are quite familiar to signers from (NSW) (Paterson, 1996), Victoria different regions. (Komesaroff, 1996, 2001), Tasmania (Gifford, 2000), and Queensland (Baker, Note that the prevalence rate is calcu- An artificial sign system, Australasian 2000), with the schools in Queensland lated based on the statistic that in de- and Tasmania adopting a co-enrollment veloped countries 1 in 1,000 babies are Signed English, has wide-spread usage approach whereby deaf and hearing born with a hearing impairment. How- in schools where deaf students are mainstreamed. As such, some signs students are educated in the same class- ever, Johnston (ibid.) recognises that a room through a team of a regular class- large percentage of these children will from this system of signing have gained common usage in the adult signing room teacher and a qualified teacher of be educated orally. Therefore, the num- the deaf using both sign language and ber of signing deaf children is a subset community. While there is still much debate about the use of artificial signed English (Kreimeyer, Crooke, Drye, Eg- of this 1/1000 of the population. That bert, & Klein, 2000). is to say, in the statistics above from systems in deaf education its continued use means that a large proportion of Power (1986), can be calculated in the As a result of a review of best practice following way: deaf children do not begin to acquire Auslan until after leaving school. in deaf education (Beattie, Toe, Leigh, & Napier, 2003), the NSW Department Australian population: of Education established what they 15,900,000 This late exposure to Auslan under- mines the individual’s ability to work called a bilingual program for primary- and secondary-level deaf children in

∗ The term “transliterators” is used because these practitioners are not accredited and it can not be strictly said they are working between languages – which is the traditional definition of an interpreter. The intention of Signed English is to visually represent written English. By referring to these practitioners as “transliterators” we can more clearly distinguish them from Auslan/English interpreters who have achieved formal accreditation.

5 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 two state schools, but they are, in effect “(d) appropriately sourcing, trade agreements etc, inclusion programs using interpreters in trained support staff, whilst information processing the classroom. This is very common in such as specialist and retail industries are on the Australia, with more and more deaf teachers, interpreters, rise (retail, education, health children being educated in integrated note-takers and care and the like) but these settings with interpreters in the class- teachers’ aides, are industries are not as accessible room (Potter & Leigh, 2002). made available to to Deaf people, and also re- students with dis- quire a higher level of educa- Australia has Federal anti- abilities.” tion discrimination legislation, which has • Superfluous requirements in enabled deaf people to demand equal It will be interesting to see the impact of job descriptions often disad- access to education. However, while this this legislation on the provision of vantage Deaf people, who legislation has existed for more than a Auslan/English interpreters in educa- might be able to perform the decade, there is still a great level of ine- tion, specifically within the K–12 sector. actual job task competently, quality in educational sector. One concern is that the demand, which but an additional and not inte- already out-strips the level of supply, gral job description require- One potential for improvement are the will be unable to be met, which could ment (such as ‘good verbal impending amendments to the (Disabil- result in: a) maintaining the status quo, skills’, when it is not actually ity Discrimination Act, 1992), which will or b) greater attention to appropriate necessary for the position) ex- introduce “Disability Standards for training needs for interpreters. cludes their ability to perform Education” (2005). One purpose of this competitively in the applica- new legislation is outlined below: In summary, in theory, deaf people tion process across the country have access to all • Deaf people proportionally “The Act seeks to levels of education – from early inter- experience unemployment and eliminate, as far as vention through to tertiary study. How- underemployment at more possible, discrimina- ever, the extent to which this demand is significant rates than hearing tion against people adequately met is arguable. The im- people, with promotions and with disabilities. plementation of the new Standards may career paths not easily ac- Under section 22 of allow deaf people improved access to a cessed the [Disability Dis- wider range of educational opportuni- • There are also some serious crimination] Act, it ties, with broad-reaching benefits to the deficits in supporting Deaf is unlawful for an Deaf community, and serious implica- school students transitioning to educational authority tions for interpreting practitioners. the workforce (those who do to discriminate not go on to higher education) against a person on .4 Employment - particularly students that the ground of the The vast majority of employed Deaf drop out of school are at risk person’s disability or people work in open employment situa- of juvenile delinquency and a disability of any tions in Australia and have the same get lost in the system – this is associates of that employment potential as their hearing particularly a problem in re- person.” peers, but experience significant barri- gional Australia ers to full participation in the workforce. • Interpreters are not provided These amendments to the Act will now In summary form, the key concerns are for the full range of require- protect the rights of individuals with as follows: ments a Deaf employee or a disabilities in the following areas: en- • Deaf workers tend to be more Deaf applicant may have in rollment; participation; curriculum de- adversely affected than work- maintaining or seeking em- velopment, accreditation and delivery; ers in general in periods of ployment, thus disadvantaging student support services; and the elimi- economic decline the Deaf person. Professional nation of harassment and victimisation. • Deaf people tend to earn less development and training op- than their hearing peers portunities are limited, and As mentioned above, currently Austra- • Whilst Deaf people are repre- opportunities to participate in lasian Signed English is used widely in sented across many work in- OH & S activities, perform- the education of deaf students. Fur- dustries, and they can, and do, ance appraisals etc on a fully thermore, there is no standard require- perform many responsible jobs equitable basis may be limited ment across the nation that interpreters in society, Deaf people con- also working in K–12 education have ap- tinue to be proportionally bet- • The lack of interpreting sup- propriate accreditation. And, as previ- ter represented in ‘blue collar’ port for Deaf employees and ously mentioned, there is not accredita- jobs (manual trades such as job seekers are a critical bar- tion process for Signed English “trans- carpentry, manufacturing rier to full economic participa- literators”. As such, with the implemen- work, printing, leather work, tion for Deaf people in the tation of these Standards, may impact baking, tailoring and dress community. There is little gov- on this standard of service delivery. In making). This is largely due to ernment funding in the states Section 7.3 of the Standards, it states communication difficulties and and territories for employment that the service providers have a respon- educational deficits which have specific interpreting; the cost of sibility to ensure that students with dis- not been ameliorated by prac- interpreting is considerable; abilities have access to specialised sup- tices and policies to date in and in many cases the demand port services, such as: Australia. This is also the sec- for interpreters is not met by tor of industry that is declining the current supply available in due to automation, out- most states and territories

6 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 • Workplace modification and modifications for Deaf em- .5 Legal provisions subsidy schemes initiated and ployees that smaller businesses Although not legally recognised, Auslan conducted by the federal gov- and employers cannot or will has been acknowledged as a valid lan- ernment do not currently ac- not bear the costs of, despite guage by the Australian Federal Gov- commodate the need for Deaf federal legislation such as the ernment in the Australian Language job seekers to have on the job DDA which should favour the and Literacy Policy: interpreting support and inter- employment of Deaf people in view support. With communi- the wider community. The It is now increasingly recognised that cation in the workplace a key reality of the employment signing deaf people constitute a issue for a new employee/a job situation however is that most group like any other non-English- applicant, this oversight in the Deaf people in the workforce speaking language group in Austra- current framework is astonish- actually work in small to me- lia, with a distinct sub-culture rec- ing and continues to cause dium sized businesses who are ognised by shared history, social life Deaf job seekers and workers often unaware, or unwilling, or and sense of identity, united and anxiety, frustration and distress incapable of providing appro- symbolised by fluency in Auslan in seeking, obtaining and priate support to Deaf em- (Dawkins, 1991). maintaining employment ployees • Employment agencies that are • Many well educated Deaf pro- ASLIA National firmly believes in and not specifically targeted to fessionals work in Deaf owned promotes the Deaf person's right to meeting the needs of Deaf businesses or in social service appropriate communication access. clients are often unable to agencies that provide services This means not just providing any Aus- meet the special requirements to Deaf people. Career options lan (Australian Sign Language) inter- of Deaf clients, cannot com- can be limited due to the lack preter in order for a Deaf person to municate directly with their of access, opportunity and attend a class or a meeting, but to en- clients, and are unwilling in career path in mainstream sure the correct interpreter is provided many cases to provide expen- employment, but also by virtue that meets the needs and individual sive interpreting support for of the fact that remaining in requirements of the service users. case management and inter- ‘cottage industries’ such as view purposes. This sets up a deafness resources organisa- Appropriate interpreter matching is no negative service framework tions that are typically small easy task. It is not simply a matter of which is continued by case organisations, they are also Deaf people being choosy or particular managers into interviews with limited in terms of career op- about only wanting a small pool of in- employers and new employ- portunities by the size, scope terpreters to work with them. The Deaf ment environments, where the and organisational culture of person has many and varied needs and communication needs and these cottage industries that means interpreters need to be care- interpreting support require- • Much of the literature on the fully selected to match each and every ments of Deaf people are economic impact of deafness assignment. This means that one inter- overlooked or ignored points to the additional costs preter who may work for a Deaf client • Those employment agencies incurred by deafness itself on a regular basis in a classroom may that are geared to provide (purchase of technology, am- not be the right interpreter in a differ- good services to Deaf clients plification devices etc), plus the ent situation requiring different skills, are often disadvantaged by compounding factor that fam- for example, interpreting at a staff their choice of target group as ily incomes for Deaf people meeting, or in a medical appointment. case based funding and other are typically below those of the block individual funding allo- general population. The eco- The Deaf person is incredibly depend- cations for employment sup- nomic penalty attributable to ent on the interpreter to ensure com- port services are at a rate that deafness is therefore very high plete communication access. Although does not allow for additional NAATI qualified interpreters are bound communication support ex- The Deaf community is a sector of the by a code of ethics, many workplaces penses, meaning Deaf-specific Australian demographic who are very that employ interpreters do not monitor employment agencies are un- capable citizens of society and can be their interpreters to ensure they abide fairly burdened with additional competitive job-seekers, however, they by the appropriate code of practice, nor costs not incurred by other are frequently underestimated and do many employers have in place qual- agencies under-resourced by employers and case ity assurance measures to ensure inter- • The range of the employment managers of employment services; face preters are working to an appropriate opportunities for Deaf people communication constraints in negotiat- standard that is acceptable to their serv- should be broader, given the ing the labour market; fall prey to igno- ice users. scope and potential in a mod- rance, prejudice and economic condi- ern society that celebrates di- tions; have restricted social contacts that In fact, many agencies and individuals versity, however the fact re- might limit job networking; and are at who book interpreters for Deaf clients mains that the larger employ- the whim of government policies that have no understanding, or only a lim- ers of Deaf people that pro- do not provide this population with the ited knowledge, of interpreters skill vide an accessible work envi- appropriate range of access and support levels and abilities, and the needs of the ronment for Deaf employees required to compete in the modern Deaf client requesting an interpreter are government departments Australian labour market. and how these issues impact on each and large corporations. This is other. Asking the consumer their opin- due to the costs of interpreting ion and encouraging them to stipulate expenses and other workplace their preferences is a vital way of ensur-

7 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 ing consumer satisfaction and is a basic equitable than non-Deaf people. The tralian context of sign language inter- courtesy that should be extended to cost of providing such a service cannot preting (Napier, 2004b; Spring, 2000). Deaf people who are accessing a com- be raised as an issue or an excuse for Ozolins and Bridge (1999) and Flynn munication service. denying the service, or for providing a (1985) provide historical information on service of lesser quality unless "unjusti- the development of the profession in Deaf people do not select interpreters fiable hardship" can be demonstrated as Australia, as do historical records high- purely on their specific skills and abili- a legitimate argument. lighting the evolution of Deaf Societies ties in interpreting or in either target in Australia. Deaf Societies have been language, although these play a major This means agencies and organizations the main provider of community-based part in choice of appropriate inter- must ensure that at all times, an appropri- interpreting services to the Deaf com- preter. Additionally, issues such as inter- ate, good quality interpreting service is provided munity in the last one hundred years in personal skills, professionalism, presen- to Deaf people. In fact, the Disability Dis- Australia, initially in an ad hoc manner, tation, educational background, knowl- crimination Act (1992) clarifies that and in more recent years within a more edge of the subject, relationship with providing an actual physical interpret- formal service delivery framework (Bon- the client, work history, gender and the ing service to a Deaf person is not the tempo & Hodgetts, 2001). clarity/ease with which the interpreter only consideration, but also that such a is able to successfully make him or her- service cannot be provided in an unfair Sociological accounts of early Deaf self understood to the Deaf individual manner, or on unfavourable terms and lives in Australia also allude to the work concerned, are all significant considera- conditions. A Deaf person should at no and contributions of pseudo- tions in allocating an interpreter to an time be expected to pay for their own interpreters (Branson & Miller, 1995). assignment. This is why Deaf people interpreter when accessing goods or Additional published research on Aus- should be given the right to choose an services, and many agencies, such as lan interpreting and related issues by interpreter who meets their needs in a Commonwealth, State and Local Gov- Madden (2001), Napier and Adam specific setting. ernment services, have a clear legal and (2002), Leneham and Napier (2003); moral mandate to provide interpreters Napier and Barker (2003; Napier & Although at all times NAATI accredited to Deaf people and to incur the costs of Barker, 2004); Banna (2004); Conlon interpreters should be used in interpret- such a transaction. and Napier (2004); Napier and Cornes ing situations, it is not sufficient to sim- (2004); and Leneham (2005); as well as ply provide an interpreting service. In- A Deaf person's entitlement to an in- numerous individual contributions by terpreters are human beings and their terpreter, then, is more complex than it Napier (2002, 2004, 2005) and a region skills vary markedly from one to an- initially appears. An inappropriate in- specific textbook soon to be published other, as do their personalities. Match- terpreter can ultimately prevent or in- Napier, McKee & Goswell (2005) have ing an appropriate interpreter to an hibit effective communication access, strengthened the knowledge and under- assignment is critical to the success of and therefore participation for the Deaf standing of the local context in recent the assignment and the satisfaction of person. Accommodations provided un- years. all parties. It is not possible for Deaf der the DDA must be effective. people to participate fully and equally This growing body of research has in a situation when an inappropriate The Department of Crown Law states, shaped the academic development of interpreter has been booked. Inappro- "It would be generally correct to say that the field in Australia in recent years. priate should not be read to mean in- where a formally accredited interpreter The academic endeavour of the sector competent — the person may have all is used, the Government agency has has been significantly influenced by the the requisite linguistic and interpreta- taken all due and reasonable care". To establishment in 2002 of the first post- tion skills to perform the duties ex- this end, use of an accredited inter- graduate University degree program pected of him/her in that assignment, preter at all times, as a minimum meas- specifically for accredited Auslan inter- but still may not be an appropriate in- ure is a must, however the most appro- preters, to further advance their skills terpreter due to other factors as noted priate communication access via the and qualifications, at Macquarie Uni- above. most suitably qualified interpreter is the versity in New South Wales, Australia best option. The simplest way to ensure (Napier, in press). A sea-change is oc- It could be argued that it in some in- this occurs is by negotiating directly curring in the interpreting field in Aus- stances it might be preferable to not with the Deaf service user and recog- tralia as we move from primarily a provide a service at all than to provide nizing that they have a far more inti- community based interpreting industry an inadequate/inappropriate service, mate understanding of their specific with little academic foundation support- which can negatively impact on partici- needs in different settings and are able ing and guiding members, to one that is pants, or lead to false assumptions by to recommend the interpreter which increasingly requiring higher standards one party that all is well with the com- best suits them in that environment. in training and greater academic munication exchange. However, agen- Respecting individual difference and knowledge and research to support in- cies not providing interpreters at all, will the right to choose is a basic human terpreting practice. incur vicarious liability, and therefore right, which should not be denied to ASLIA promotes the use of suitable Deaf people. Auslan interpreters are accredited by and well-qualified Auslan interpreters in the National Accreditation Authority all interactions where comprehension 2 The interpreting profession for Translators and Interpreters of communication is desirable. (NAATI) – a body which accredit trans- 2.1 Where are we at? lators and interpreters in spoken lan- Australians have a legislative responsi- The field of sign language interpreting guages, as well as in Auslan/English - bility and a requirement to ensure Deaf has been described as an “emerging” and testing has taken place since 1982 people can access goods and services, profession (Scott Gibson, 1992; Witter- in Auslan/English (Flynn, 1996). Inde- and participate in employment and Merithew & Johnson, 2004) and this is pendent testing of skills still takes place education in a manner that is not less certainly an apt description of the Aus- today, and interpreters do not have to

8 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 undertake formal training if they do not today. Practicing qualified interpreters in sign language interpreting. Whilst wish to, instead choosing to sit a video are estimated to be in the region of some regions in the world are consid- examination consisting of questions on 250-300, although it is impossible to erably in advance of Australia, such as culture and ethics, and two dialogues accurately pinpoint this figure. Also, North America and parts of Europe, between Deaf and hearing people (con- unqualified interpreters are working in the role of the sign language interpreter tent of paraprofessional level test only) some states and territories due to in- is effectively the same in these regions to gain their accreditation. creasing demand for interpreters out- and the challenges presented by an stripping the supply available, particu- evolving Deaf community; the need for Interpreter training courses have been larly in the educational interpreting better training; and significant demand available in various Technical and Fur- sector. and supply issues for the profession gen- ther Education (TAFE) colleges around erally, appear to be common threads in Australia since the first interpreter A demographic survey of 125 NAATI our sector irrespective of region. trainer course at Central TAFE in accredited Auslan interpreters by Perth, Western Australia in 1986 (Bon- Napier and Barker (2003) found that 2.3 Interpreter training tempo & Hodgetts, 2001), and many most respondents were female (83%); TAFE colleges conduct language acqui- practitioners now undertake training accredited at paraprofessional level by sition and paraprofessional interpreter rather than just sitting a NAATI test. NAATI (70%); and predominantly aged training courses in Auslan/English na- between 26-45 years. The majority tionwide (mostly at Diploma level, with Interpreter associations such as the Aus- (77%) held post-secondary qualifica- Advanced Diploma level (Interpreter) tralian Sign Language Interpreters As- tions of some type, however less than courses previously conducted in Perth sociation (ASLIA) have been in exis- half of those held University qualifica- (2000) and Melbourne (2002-2005). tence in various forms at state level for tions (48% completed, or working to- Macquarie University (in Sydney, NSW approximately 20 years, and the current wards). Less than half the respondents on the eastern coast of Australia) is the national membership stands at 250. had undertaken formal interpreter only University in Australia offering The formalized roles of an accredita- training, largely due to the lack of training at postgraduate level for tion authority for Auslan interpreters availability of courses in Australia. NAATI accredited interpreters with and an association for practitioners Courses have only been available since significant experience and employment have supported the professionalisation 1986, and even then, not in all 8 states history to advance their skills. of the field in Australia in recent years. or territories, and not in every year. Despite these various developments A little fewer than half the respondents Most interpreter training courses and however, the fact remains that there is a reported working mostly in education institutions operate autonomously and paucity of research on Auslan interpret- settings as interpreters, with the major- have developed their own assessment ing; the linguistics of Auslan (Johnston, ity of the accredited Auslan interpreters strategies in determining the suitability 2000) and the community and culture working in educational interpreting of prospective candidates for interpreter of Australian Deaf people in general. qualified at the paraprofessional level. training. Exchange of information and Napier and Barker (2003) expressed knowledge by interpreter trainers them- 2.2 A profile of the profession concern that a large number of respon- selves appears to function on an indi- A total of 722 Auslan interpreters have dents to their survey (41%) reported vidual and ad hoc basis, rather than in been accredited by NAATI between working in University settings interpret- any systemic or formal manner. No November 1982 and June 2005 (Bell, ing for Deaf people, without having training is formally made available to personal communication, 2005). Of University qualifications themselves. interpreter trainers in Australia, and these, 630 were accredited at parapro- any undertaken is at individual whim fessional level and 92 at Interpreter Those not working in educational con- and often at individual expense. In- level. Auslan interpreters in Australia texts typically work in a casual capacity struments for assessment and materials are currently accredited by NAATI as as community interpreters, with most of to resource students are typically de- Paraprofessionals (formerly known as the work again being undertaken by signed by trainers, often in isolation, level 2) or Interpreters (formerly known paraprofessionals due to sheer numbers with little networking or peer review. as level 3), and the competencies and (Ozolins & Bridge, 1999). Domains of work contexts differ for each level of work as a community interpreter in- Australian courses are however based accreditation. Whilst Auslan interpret- clude health and welfare; legal; meet- on a national competency based cur- ers typically work in simultaneous ings; finance and real estate; public riculum and therefore contain a degree mode, we do not as yet have NAATI events and media; politics; mental of consistency and standard in regard accreditation available at an elite level health and counseling; employment; to exit competencies and learning out- of practice as Conference Interpreters. and theatre interpreting. There can be comes, even if there is variation ‘on the A conference interpreter level as high- considerable variation in form of inter- ground’ in terms of operational factors lighted in spoken language interpreting preting (requirement for oral support; and logistics, such as student recruit- research is a higher and more skilled individual versus group interpreting; ment, course delivery, actual content level of practice than that recognized team interpreting; inclusion of a Deaf and material, sequencing of skill devel- currently in Auslan interpreters, even if relay interpreter) as well as participants opment stages, qualifications and qual- some are currently functioning at that (deaf-blind; those with minimal lan- ity of teaching personnel, availability of elite standard. guage (various reasons) and those from suitable resources and equipment and culturally and linguistically diverse so on. The curriculum for TAFE level The aforementioned figure of 722 in- backgrounds), all of which add different courses essentially focus on content such terpreters does not take into account dynamics to the work of the practitio- as interpreting practice; ethics of the deceased accredited practitioners or ner. profession and language extension (spe- those who are now living overseas, nor cialized vocabulary for various inter- is it representative of the number of The fore-mentioned profile appears preting settings). practitioners working in the industry representative of the international scene

9 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 The only University course available in unlike previous years, the planning tories across the nation, a recent deci- Australia is open to accredited practi- committee focussed on providing ap- sion to appoint up to two representa- tioners with experience, and contains propriate learning opportunities for tives from each state and territory as core units on discourse analysis of Aus- participants by introducing concurrent liaison points between the national body lan; linguistics of Auslan; interpreting sessions that would cater for both expe- and state branches, has been imple- techniques; interpreting practice; and rienced and beginning practitioners mented. The national representative electives – advanced Auslan interpret- alike. The majority of participants council was appointed in response to a ing (specialized categories such as edu- commented that the program was en- need for ASLIA National to become a cational, legal or conference settings); gaging and informative, and had more nationally representative associa- theory and practice of translating and “raised the bar” for future professional tion, both geographically and in terms interpreting; social, language and cul- development programs for the sign lan- of our practitioner accreditation profile. tural studies in deafness; community guage interpreting profession. interpreting and translating; language 2.4.3 Short-term future plans and cultures in context; and cross- The number of participants in 2005 In terms of the year ahead for ASLIA, cultural pragmatics. Upon completion was 111, appreciably above the target in the short term, we are focussing on of the Postgraduate Diploma in for this year and certainly near the limit strategic planning to direct our associa- Auslan/English interpreting, students for the chosen venue. 77% of partici- tion over the next year and into the can transfer to the Master of Arts in pants were Auslan/English Interpreters, immediate future; seeking funding to Translating and Interpreting. Other 13.5% were Deaf Relay Interpreters establish a secretariat position for AS- options at University level in Auslan/ and the remainder were consumers, LIA National to allow for more effective English interpreting include Postgradu- students, teacher aides, a Japanese/ functioning as an association; re- ate Certificate in Linguistics Research, English Interpreter and invited guests. branding the association to raise the and Doctor of Applied Linguistics. profile of our association and to posi- Participant feedback was strongly posi- tion ourselves nationally and interna- The time limitations of current TAFE tive, with many aspects being described tionally to be clearly recognisable as the level interpreter training courses, which as “good” to “very good” (4/5 on a body representing the needs and inter- are typically one year part-time (entry range of poor to excellent). A significant ests of practitioners; establishing a da- level paraprofessional interpreter train- number of participants indicated that tabase of local research on Auslan and ing, typically after completing 2 years they have gained information that they interpreting; and we will be drafting full time, or 4 years part time, Auslan will be able to use in their employment. more policies on specific work condi- language acquisition classes at TAFE or Many participants highlighted the value tions for practitioners. We anticipate other similar registered training organi- of informal networking (information being extremely active in regard to ad- sations) in Australia, prevent trainers adapted from Final Report - vocacy for our membership. from being able to allocate time and Fayd’herbe, 2005). resources to those students that don’t As the practitioner association repre- meet certain degrees of competence in A similar annual event is in the plan- senting the needs and interests of Aus- various domains at the time of course ning stages for 18-20 August 2006, to be entry. held in Perth, Western Australia. The lan interpreters in Australia, ASLIA international keynote presenter at the National has put forward a number of The struggles ill-equipped interpreter next Winter-school will be Dr Elizabeth specific proposals, or developed projects students face upon course entry and Winston, the Director of Project TIEM in regard to specific aspects of training during the transition phase from ‘lan- (Teaching Interpreting Educators and and accreditation. We are constrained guage acquisition course’ to ‘interpret- Mentors) at Northeastern University in from detailed comment at this point, ing course’ are not unique to Australia, Boston, MA, USA. A teacher of linguis- however, we are confident our current and are well documented elsewhere tics, interpretation, and educational and further proposed partnerships, if (Shaw, Grbic, & Franklin, 2004). interpreting nationally and internation- successful, will be mutually beneficial ally, Dr Winston is also a well-published and will allow benchmarks of best prac- 2.4 Recent achievements and author on educational interpreting and tice to be developed nationally in terms future goals on mentoring issues for sign language interpreters and it is an honour to have of training and accreditation. The main 2.4.1 Annual Winter-school her join us at Winter-school 2006 in objectives of our various proposals and A traditional annual event of ASLIA, Perth, Western Australia. projects are as follows: the ASLIA National Winter School, • To provide consultancy and feed- was held this year from 29-31 July 2005 Other features of the next Winter- back on training modules in Cairns, Queensland. The conference school will be: Interpreter trainer work- covered an impressive range of issues in shops; the JW Flynn address; Papers on • To develop a certification process Auslan interpreting, addressing individ- interpreting research; Practical work- for evaluating and accrediting Deaf ual interpreting techniques, occupa- shops and activities for interpreter skill Relay Interpreters and conference tional health and safety issues, inter- development; the ASLIA National level interpreters preter training, technical aspects, in- AGM; and networking opportunities for cluding: emerging technologies, inter- delegates. preting in the arts, ethics and legal is- At this stage we are awaiting further sues, team building, indigenous sign advice regarding some of our projects language culture and diversity and underway, and our current proposal to 2.4.2 National Representative another body is under consideration. small business practices. Council In addition to the national executive of In a separate issue, we were recently The program of this conference can ASLIA which consists of 7 individuals certainly be described as innovative and invited to sit on the national reference hailing from 6 different states and terri- group of a newly established National

10 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 Auslan Interpreter Booking Service for issues of mutual concern and inter- service provision, ethical conduct, medical interpreting, and we look for- est. and—in particular— research agendas. ward to having input into interpreting • An emphasis on research effort in Research is the key to furthering the services in this way. the sector to draw together empiri- profession. cal and rational data to support In these ways, ASLIA National repre- best practice in the field in Austra- WASLI can play an important role in sents members at a national level and lia the dissemination of information on deals with systemic issues affecting prac- • Better entry level recruitment interpreting research and publications, titioners. strategies to reduce attrition rate including the translation of various re- from courses and the profession search into English. 2.4.4 Long-term future plans generally. In terms of long-term future plans, AS- • Accreditation issues - an enquiry In effect WASLI could operate as a LIA National has identified the follow- into the current situation regarding ‘clearing house’ for information from ing key issues requiring attention: the serious over representation of national associations. With more re- Paraprofessional interpreters, to search and information sharing, more • Need not only a greater pool of address concern over current in- nations would be able to reflect on and practitioners to meet the current dustry practice that favours the use review their own training, testing, and supply and demand problem; but of Paraprofessionals over Inter- accreditation systems. also a greater pool of competent preters because it's more cost- practitioners within that group able effective and cheaper. Countries with less established systems to handle the diversity and the • Indigenous Auslan/Relay Inter- could be supported in the development challenge of the more complex preters Recruitment of their own professional infrastructure. work (i.e., currently we have a large • National mentoring program for (Although Australia, the United King- number of accredited practitioners interpreters dom, and the United States have in theory, but few who are still in • Recognition and lobbying by Deaf adopted similar models, these will not the industry, and competent to organisations for higher standards necessarily be suitable for all nations, manage the extent of work avail- of training and service. and members of the interpreting com- able with confidence (regardless of • Government recognition regarding munity in those three countries should self-perception in ability). Even the need for appropriate training be mindful of not imposing existing amongst those in practice, the vast and pathways from school to TAFE systems on other cultures). Developing majority are paraprofessionals not to University and even from 'expe- countries in particular should be sup- Interpreters) rience' to formal training and ported by WASLI in the establishing • Strategies to increase capacity to qualification. sign language interpreting associations, meet increasing demand in the • Career paths established and ap- training programs, assessment proce- education sector - across primary, propriate remuneration for qualifi- dures and regulation of the profession. secondary and tertiary levels. cations and experience. This may include applications for fund- • Corresponding training to practice • Public recognition for the need for ing, lobbying of local governments, and in the fore-mentioned education professional interpreters. ‘train the trainer’ courses. fields. • Spoken language and sign language • Training tailored to meet the interpreter associations working 2.6 Support for others emerging demand for interpreters together. • working in employment settings, • Enquiries into: ASLIA National would be happy - National Pay Rates to share their guidelines policies, particularly in the professional/ and protocols with other sign corporate sector - domains previ- and Working Condi- language interpreting associa- ously not accessed due to barriers tions tions and WASLI. faced by Deaf people in education - Agency Code of and employment. Conduct and em- • Unfortunately due to the youth • Establishment of Conference In- ployment processes of the organisation and its small terpreter accreditation level. - Complaints/ membership, ASLIA National • More geographically accessible grievance procedure are currently not in a position to University based Interpreter level & investigations for provide financial support to training (via satellite campuses in allegations of official other countries. However, if this different states if from current Uni- misconduct or a situation changes in the future, versity provider; or via alternate breach of Code of then ASLIA National would be providers in each state if neces- Ethics. pleased to support emerging sign sary). language interpreting professions • Proper consideration given to licen- wherever possible. sure of interpreters, leading to abil- ity to strike off practitioners in 2.5 Expectations of a world • ASLIA National recognises the body for SLIs potential for delivering training cases where warranted. The establishment of a worldwide pro- • Professional development man- workshops and mentoring to sign fessional association has the potential to language interpreters (especially dates. affect the further professionalisation of • in the Asia-Pacific/ Oceania Greater strength and increased sign language interpreting, in terms of membership of the practitioner region), and to to share profes- standards for training, testing, and ac- sional development resources, association (i.e. ASLIA). creditation. The day may come when • such as: videos of workshops, Greater collaboration with the spo- there are international guidelines for ken language interpreting sector on training resources, etc. interpreter education program content,

11 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 2.7 References Johnston, T. (2003). W(h)ither the Deaf ers. Australian Journal of Educa- Baker, M. (2000). Bilingual/ bicultural community? Population, ge- tion of the Deaf, 9, 19-32. education: A Queensland model. netics and the future of Auslan Napier, J., & Barker, R. (2004). Sign Paper presented at the Con- (Australian Sign Language). language interpreting: The gress 2000: Achieving in the American Annals of the Deaf, relationship between metalin- 21st Century. CDROM Pro- 148(5), 358-375. guistic awareness and the pro- ceedings of the 19th Interna- Komesaroff, L. (1996). Removing the duction of interpreting omis- tional Congress on Education barriers in deaf education. sions. Sign Language Studies, 4(4), of the Deaf, July 2000, Sydney, Australian Journal of Education of 369-393. Australia. the Deaf, 2(1), 40-44. Napier, J., & Cornes, A. (2004). The Banna, K. (2004). Auslan interpreting: Komesaroff, L. (2001). Adopting bilin- dynamic roles of interpreters What can we learn from trans- gual education: An Australian and therapists. In S. Crocker & lation theory? Deaf Worlds, school community's journey. S. Austen (Eds.), Deafness in 20(2), 100-119. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf mind: Working psychologically with Beattie, R. G., Toe, D. M., Leigh, G., & Education, 6(4), 299-314. deaf people across the life-span (pp. Napier, J. (2003). Literature re- Kreimeyer, K. H., Crooke, P., Drye, C., 161-179). London: Whurr view of good practice in the delivery Egbert, V., & Klein, B. (2000). Publishers. of educational outcomes for children Academic and social benefits O'Reilly, S. (2005). Indigenous Sign Lan- who are deaf or hearing impaired. of a co-enrollment model of guage and culture: The interpreting Sydney: Renwick College, inclusive education for deaf and access needs of Deaf people who are Abo- University of Newcastle & and hard-of-hearing children. riginal and/or Torres Strait NSW Department of Educa- Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Islander in Far North Queensland. Unpub- tion and Training. Education, 5(2), 174-185. lished manuscript, Cairns. Bontempo, K., & Hodgetts, J. (2001). Leigh, G., & Hyde, M. (1996). Teacher's Ozolins, U., & Bridge, M. (1999). Sign Heritage WA: A Deaf Community use of fingerspelling in simul- language interpreting in Australia. Project - History of the WA Deaf taneous communication with Melbourne: Language Austra- Society 1921-2001. Perth: West- deaf students. Australian Journal lia. ern Australian Deaf Society. of Education of the Deaf, 2, 24- Paterson, J. (1996). ’s impact on Bowman, J., & Hyde, M. (1993). Man- 29. educational programs ual communication as support Leneham, M. (2005). The sign language for the Deaf in Australia. Paper presented for deaf students in the regular interpreter as translator: at the Annual Convention of classroom. Australian Teacher of Challenging traditional definitions of the Council for Exceptional the Deaf, 33, 32-46. translation and interpreting. Children, Orlando, Florida, 1– Branson, J., & Miller, D. (1995). The Deaf Worlds, 21(1), 79-101. 5 April 1996. story of Betty Steel : deaf convict Leneham, M., & Napier, J. (2003). Sign Potter, L., & Leigh, K. (2002). An inves- and pioneer. Petersham NSW: language interpreters' codes of tigation into issues surrounding Deafness Resources Australia. ethics: Should we maintain the the Conlon, C., & Napier, J. (2004). Devel- status quo? Deaf Worlds, 19(2), efficacy and use of educational inter- oping Auslan educational re- 78-98. preters for deaf students in the sources: A process of effective Madden, M. (2001). The incidence and mainstream setting. Australian translation of children's books. impact of occupational overuse syn- Journal of Education of the Deaf, Deaf Worlds, 20(2), 141-161. drome on sign language interpreters 8, 47-60. Dawkins, J. (1991). Australia's language: in Australia. Unpublished doc- Power, D. (1986). Australian Sign Lan- The Australian language and liter- toral, Griffith University, Bris- guage. In J. V. Cleve (Ed.), The acy policy. Canberra: Australian bane. Gallaudet Encyclopedia of Deaf Government. Napier, J. (2002). Sign language interpreting: People and Deafness. Washington, Disability Discrimination Act. (1992). from Linguistic coping strategies. Cole- DC: Gallaudet University http://www.hreoc.gov.au/com ford, UK: Douglas McLean. Press. plaints_information/guides/in Napier, J. (2004a). Interpreting omis- Scott Gibson, L. (1992). Sign language fo_sheet_dda.html sions: A new perspective. Inter- interpreting: An emerging pro- Flynn, J. (1985). Accreditation of inter- preting: International Journal of fession. In G. H. S. Gregory preters in Australia. Journal of Research and Practice in Interpret- (Ed.), Constructing deafness (pp. Interpretation, 2, 22-26. ing, 6(2). 253-258). Milton Keynes: Gifford, F. (2000). Co-enrollment for cultural Napier, J. (2004b). Sign language inter- Open University Press. and linguistic equity in a regular preter training, testing and Shaw, S., Grbic, N., & Franklin, K. school. Paper presented at the accreditation: An international (2004). Applying language Congress 2000: Achieving in comparison. American Annals of skills to interpretation: Student the 21st Century. CD-ROM the Deaf, 149(4), 350-359. perspectives from signed and Proceedings of the 19th Inter- Napier, J. (in press). Training sign lan- spoken languages. Interpreting, national Congress on Educa- guage interpreters in Australia: 6(1), 69 -100. tion of the Deaf., Sydney, July An innovative approach. Babel. Spring, M. (2000). Evolution of language 2000. Napier, J., & Adam, R. (2002). A com- services: From infant to teenager. Johnston, T. (2002). The representation parative linguistic analysis of Paper presented at the Interna- of English using Auslan: Im- BSL and Auslan interpreting. tional Society for Justice Re- plications for Deaf bilingual- Deaf Worlds, 18(1), 22-31. search Social Justice and Social ism and English literacy. Aus- Napier, J., & Barker, R. (2003). A Exclusion VIII, Rishon tralian Journal of Education of the demographic survey of Austra- LeZion, Israel. Deaf, 8, 23-37. lian Sign Language interpret-

12 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 Witter-Merithew, A., & Johnson, L. Since July 2004 the daily news All types of Education, from kindergar- (2004). Market disorder within is presented in sign language once a day. ten through University level; master and the field of sign language in- In Austria we have no deaf sign lan- PhD programs with interpreters, at terpreting: Professionalisation guage interpreters. public and private universities. implications. Journal of Interpre- However, Brazil government educa- tation, 19 - 55. Brazil By Ricardo Sander tional systems adopted recently the in- clusive educational system, which com- Austria From ÖGSDV prehends deaf students in regular class- rooms, mostly in public elementary and high schools, and some with interpret- ers. However deaf people and the ma- jority of hearing people who under- stand the reality of bilingualism are Sign Language research in Brazil against the inclusive public system. started in the late 70’s by a linguist Some inclusive schools have interpreters The Austrian federation of Sign lan- name Lucinda Britto, with a native in- for their deaf students and others the guage Interpreters (ÖGSDV) was digenous group called Urubu Kaapor, teacher use broken Brazilian sign lan- founded in 1998. Today we have 61 full up from the north of the Amazon area, guage. members in seven regions of Austria. which use sign language to their deaf In the southernmost states of the Coun- The majority are working as freelanc- people. As well she researched deaf try, public and private schools for the ers. In most parts of Austria there are people sign language in urban areas, deaf use Libras as their first and more no companies managing interpreting like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. After important language. The Brazilian Fed- assignments or supplying sign language the years of confusion of Total Com- eration of the Deaf (FENEIS) is work- interpreters. The organisation of the munication from 1980 – 1990, Brazil’s ing towards the acceptance and respect appointments is made by each inter- deaf communities started a new era. to Libras, bilingualism, identity and preter. With the inclusion of deaf people in the deaf rights in all Country. Also, because of the recogni- Universities, in 1992, with interpreter, tion of our sign language in June 2005, as well the first national meeting of in- • What types of jobs do Deaf people there is a growing acceptance, interest terpreters from all Country, in that year, hold in your Nation? and need for interpreters. For that rea- in Rio de Janeiro and with the support son we see, that there are not enough of the Brazilian Federation of the Deaf The majority works manual types of interpreters working full time right now. (FENEIS), was given the start of a bet- work, because of little study. But you At the moment there are three ter live for the deaf in Brazil and for the can find a good number of deaf people ways to become a sign language inter- interpreter. in all kinds of professions like engineer- preter in Austria: However only in April 2002, LIBRAS - ing, computing programmers, and spe- - becomes cially in the area of teaching in deaf University of Graz (Styria): study sign official and legal in our Country. schools. We have several deaf who language and a second language as an Today life for deaf people becomes bet- completed their Masters and or PhD interpreter. This lasts for a minimum of ter every day, not only for the legal sup- program with the use of interpreters. four years. port they have because of Libras, but also because of the increase of courses • Are there laws in your Nation to College to become a sign language in- for sign language interpreters. protect, and/or provide services to terpreter in Linz, which takes three I muss say that deaf people are being Deaf people? years (began 2 years ago) more and more respected for their lan- guage, their identity, their culture and Yes. Since 2002, when the Brazilian “Individual way”: For people with high their needs, and consequently the same sign language was officially recognized sign language skills (CODAs) the for the interpreters. many other laws towards people with ÖGSDV tries to offer workshops and specials needs were also created. traineeship possibilities to prepare these • What is the Sign Language of people for the job. your Nation? Do you have • Are there laws about interpreters in more than one Sign Lan- your Nation? If yes, please explain After the completion of one of guage? them. these three “curricula” it is necessary to pass the “profession amplitude exam” Brazil has officially one sign language, Yes. Brazil has a law on accessibility, held by the ÖGSDV in cooperation named LIBRAS – Brazilian Sign Lan- where in is clear about the used of sign with the University of Graz. This allows guage. However the indigenous tribe language and/or interpreter always the individual to work as sign language Urubu Kaapor have their sign lan- when needed. However, there is no law interpreter and possible for them to guage. about curses for interpreters in Univer- become a member of ÖGSDV. sity level. Members have a ÖGSDV • What is/are the spoken language/s The first sign language interpreter card, which guarantees quality and va- of your Nation? courses in University level started this lidity for three years. After three years Portuguese. Brazil is the only Portu- year, one in Sao Paulo and another in the member has to show that he/she guese spoken Country in the entire Rio de Janeiro. has done 15 hours of further training, America Continent. Brazil is a huge Country and there is a has worked actively as a sign language great need for more Universities to offer interpreter and has participated at a • What type of education is available courses for sign language interpreter. certain amount of meetings of the to Deaf people in your Nation? ÖGSDV.

13 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 • Current overview of what is hap- No. However the Brazilian Federation Cameroon By D.W.C. Penn pening in your country. of the Deaf (FENEIS), in their regional offices offers a very basic exam for all I would say that finally the new inter- the future official interpreters. preters would have the opportunity to go to a university to be able to study all Most important events for your the apparatus of knowledge and praxis association/etc. in the past year? on interpreting. The first and only time interpreters’ However, I think that the Brazilian Fed- nation wide ever meet was in 1992, in REPORT ON DEAF COMMU- eration of the Deaf should and could Rio de Janeiro, with the support of the NITY AND SIGN LANGUAGE have done more support and under- Brazilian Federation of the Deaf, and INTERPRETATION IN standing about interpreters and associa- only then. After that, the interpreters CAMEROON tions for them. would meet only restricted in their state There are approximately 20,000 deaf or city they live. people living in Cameroon. • The number of Sign Language Given the multilingual nature of Cam- interpreters (part-time/full-time) Most important events for the situation eroon, there are of Sign Language interpreters in your mainly 3 sign systems being used in The total is just an estimation of my country (for example the recognition of Cameroon at the moment: The Ameri- own. There are not official numbers. the national Sign Language, of the pro- can Sign Language, the French Sign In Sao Paulo state we have around 200 fession, Particular Training courses, Language and the Natural Sign System interpreters, at least, but in the whole etc.) also called the Cameroon Sign Lan- Country I could easily come up to a guage (CSL). thousand. This would include all kinds April 2002 the official recognition of of interpreters (oral and sign language the Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS). THE AMERICAN SIGN LAN- interpreters), all in educational setting We don’t have yet the official recogni- GUAGE and situations. tion of the sign language interpreter’s The was Most of the interpreters started in their profession. brought to Cameroon by Dr. Andrew Churches, and still do volunteering also Jackson Foster, a Deaf African Ameri- in all the social area, where is need. Goals of your association/etc. for the can Missionary who founded the Ep- More and more interpreters are having coming year/s phatrha institute for the Deaf in their income by interpreting only, like Kumba, Cameroon in 1977. me. The Association of Sao Paulo will have There are officially only four sign lan- their first Congress in February 2006, THE guage interpreter associations in Brazil. and in 2007 a national meeting of all The French Sign Language which is We meet only virtually. interpreters of Brazil. used in the Fracophone part of Camer- The Association of Sao Paulo will have oon was introduced by the French who their first congress next February 2006. What is needed for sign language inter- founded the Ecole specialisee pour en- preting to develop? fants Deficiants Auditifs (ESEDA) in The Association of sign language inter- Yaounde, Cameroon. preters of Sao Paulo is named APILS- Understanding and support from the BESP – Associação dos Intérpretes e Brazilian Federation of the Deaf THE NATURAL SIGN SYSTEM Guia-intérpretes da Língua de Sinais (FENEIS), to incentive and support the ALSO CALLED CSL Brasileira do Estado de São Paulo. (As- creation of associations for sign lan- The Natural Sign System also called sociation of Sign Language Interpreters guage interpreters. The Cameroon Sign Language (CSL) is and Guide blind Interpreters of Brazil- used mostly by Deaf people who did ian Sign Language of the State of Sao What are your expectations of a world not have the chance to attend school Paulo). We have also interpreters for body and how can they support you? for one reason or the other. This natural deaf blind in our Association. We have Sign language is also used by parents around 120 members. All can be possible when different peo- and relatives of the Deaf who do not ple, from different places, and different know any standardized sign system. Interpreter training: At what level is the cultures aim the same goals. Everyone The Cameroon Deaf Empowerment training if any (University or lower) has something that can make the differ- Organisation is currently working to How many centres are there in your ence for somebody else in this world. standardize the CSL as the language of Country? all the Deaf in Cameroon. We believe Brazil is a huge Country. We have that the CSL will facilitate communica- There are today (2005) two Universities 8.523.000km² and we are almost 180 tion among the Deaf and their families only, which offer a course of University million people living in this rich Coun- and relatives and also facilitate the work level, to train interpreters. Those try. Please do not under estimate what I of the interpreters. courses are new and nobody have many say. We do have a rich culture, lan- experience yet. But the majority of the guages, natural resources and a people There is no government schools for the interpreters who work today had none with an open heart. We can help in Deaf yet, but with the sensitization or very few training. many ways so that WASLI becomes campaigns that are being carried out by effectively a solid international entity for the Cameroon Deaf Empowerment Do you have a testing system to decide the benefit of many interpreters. Tell us Organization and the National associa- who is qualified to interpret in your what we can do, in what way we can tion for the Deaf, there are hopes that Nation? help and how. the situation will change. In fact [email protected] for some time now, when the Head of State addresses the nation there is

14 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 someone who interprets for the deaf as Canada has two official spoken lan- The most important issues for inter- a result of these sensitization. guages: English and French preters in Canada include the: recognition by employers with regard to SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETA- Education for Deaf Canadians is cov- the importance of requiring interpret- TION IN CAMEROON ered by government up until the age of ers to be trained and to be members of There are few well-trained Sign Lan- 19. College and university tuition is the professional association, guage interpreters, and of course there paid by the individual, unless funding is funding to pay for interpreting services, is no association for sign language in- found to cover cost of tuition, books, terpreters in Cameroon. Most of those etc. Accessibility (e.g., interpreters, note access to quality interpreter education who interpret for the deaf in various takers, etc) is provided at no cost to programs, circumstances are actually teachers for Deaf and hard of hearing students who the Deaf who know how to sign. qualify for Disability Support Funding. demand and supply issues such as une- Some of the professional interpreters If the student is not eligible for funding, qual access to enough quality interpret- we have are not well-paid and some- the cost for these services is covered in ers in one region, and too many inter- times are not paid at all for the services different ways depending on the prov- preters for the amount of work in an- they render because those they interpret ince and the specific institution. other region, for simply cannot afford the cost of this Deaf people hold a variety of profes- service. Because of this situation, some sional (teacher, lawyer, counsellor, etc.) challenges of inclusive education for of the interpreters end up choosing positions as well as non-professional Deaf people, and the demands for in- more lucrative professions or carriers. (secretary, mechanic, clerk, etc.) posi- terpreters in the education setting, But we think that this situation can tions. However, Deaf people are either change if the interpreters come to- unemployed or under-employed at a lack of definition of qualifications for gether to form an association where significantly higher rate than hearing interpreters in inclusive settings, they can sensitize the general public and Canadians. our government even more on the need working conditions and standards, and for sign language interpreters in various Canada has the Canadian Charter of administrative units. This could also Rights and Freedoms that protects per- the implementation of Video Relay improve on the financial situation of the sons with disabilities from discrimina- Services and the impact that will have interpreters. tion. Although discrimination still ex- on our field. After attending the WASLI conference ists, the Charter has been used to de- in S.A. I came back home to Cameroon fend Deaf people’s rights to interpreta- AVLIC’s goals include implementation to see how we can work in partnership tion. of the revised CES and DRP. We are with other Interpreters associations in also focused on revising membership the world to form The Cameroon Asso- Canada's current major political chal- categories, encouraging increased num- ciation of Sign Language Interpret- lenges are meeting public demands for bers of interpreters to join AVLIC, and ers(CASLI). With such an association in quality improvements in health care working collaboratively with national place we will provide training for more and education services. associations representing Deaf people. interpreters, campaign for the Title protection and legislated member- Deaf,(many of whom are marginalized Country Report ship in AVLIC are needed for signed even in their own families) and improve AVLIC has approximately 450 Active language interpreting to further develop on the situation of the Deaf and the members. AVLIC is aware that this in Canada. If more working interpret- interpreters themselves. Whatever assis- does not reflect the entire number of ers are required by law to be members tance from the WASLI or any organiza- people working as interpreters in Can- of AVLIC, more revenue can be gener- tion working for the deaf is welcome. ada, especially at the primary education ated by the national organization to level. spend on important initiatives to further Canada From AVLIC develop the field of interpreting. AVLIC is the national professional in- terpreting association with eight re- AVLIC’s expectations of a world body gional chapters across the country. and how it can assist us include creating There are currently four interpreter links among all countries, shared discus- education programs in Canada ranging sion and support on issues of common in duration from two to four years. concern at the national and interna- tional levels. Facts About Canada Our national testing system, the Cana- dian Evaluation System (CES), is cur- AVLIC can help others by the: An estimated ten percent of Canadians rently being revised and will be made have some form of hearing loss and an up of four stages: Written Test of Sharing of expertise regarding lobbying estimated two percent of Canadians use Knowledge, Preparation Phase, Test of for quality interpreter education pro- a form of signed language to communi- Interpretation and Certification Main- grams, cate. Canada is the second largest coun- tenance. Canada currently has 46 cer- Sharing of expertise regarding lobbying try geographically in the world, and has tified members. of employers of interpreters, a total population of 32 000 000 peo- Development of standards of practice ple. The most important events for AVLIC and of education, in the past year were the revisions of Sharing of our current knowledge base Canada has two official signed lan- the CES and the Dispute Resolution in the form of position papers and re- guages: American Sign Language Process (DRP). source documents, (ASL) and Langue des Signes Quebe- coise (LSQ)

15 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 Consultation on screening and testing using their power to play off one com- Scotland: The population is 59, 595, issues, pany against the others. 900 over an area covering 241 752 km. Consultation on effective collaboration The currency is £ Sterling (GBP) with Deaf organizations, The students don’t get to decide them- Sharing of our documents as models, selves what interpreter agency they pre- INTERPRETERS AND access to a wide base of talented inter- fer. Price is all that matters. So the user INTERPRETER TRAINING preters, of the system and the payer is not the Number of Sign Language Interpreters Experience with two signed languages same therefore quality is not the focus as members of ASLI (England, Wales within one country and how to work point. and Northern Ireland) together in this diverse climate. ASLI Licensed: 232 Goals of your association for the com- ASLI Associate: 82 Denmark From FTT ing year: (Other categories: 147) The goals for the coming year in our Total 461 association in Denmark is: Figures correct as of September 2005 Improve communication amongst the members working for different employ- Number of Sign Language Interpreters ers. (2004) registered by the Independent Registra- Improve the awareness on interpreters tion Panel (England, Wales and North- working conditions among the new in- ern Ireland) Facts about Denmark terpreters and the new agencies. (2004) MOR: 214 Population: 4,7 mill. ~ 4.500 Deaf Get more members among the new Trainee: 40 Size of the country (km): 44.326 km2 interpreters. (2004) Junior Trainee: 67 The number of Sign Language inter- To increase the portion of assignment Total Registered 321 preters (part-time/full-time): 138 full where we work in pairs by interpreters Figures correct as of July 2005 time, 32 part-time and employers agreeing nationwide on The interpreter organization: how what we define as a “2-interpreters- Legislation that affects Deaf People and many members: 138 interpreters (26 assignment”. (2004). Interpreters: Disability Discrimination only freelance) Act 1995, Broadcasting Act 2001, Interpreter training: One year of basic Now it should be to counteract the de- Communications Bill 2003, Special training, learning sign language. After crease in the number of “2- interpreter Education Needs and Disability Act that 2,5 years interpreters training in- assignments”. In many situations public 2001 cluding 6 weeks practice with the inter- authorities refuse to pay for more than preters as mentors. one interpreter. Very sad since we have Interpreter Training Centres and worked for years to increase the number qualifications Country Report in order to reduce the work-related in- University of Wolverhampton There are now several different inter- juries (2005) BA BSL/English Interpreting (3 years) preter agencies throughout the country. FTT has a new role in keeping an eye Create a volunteer register for inter- University of Central Lancashire on the working conditions in all these preters so that customers can check who Graduate Diploma BSL/English Inter- agencies and keeping us together as one is fully qualified and have passed the preting (1 year) group despite the competition. (2004) exams after the 3 ½ years education) Post Graduate Diploma BSL/English Interpreting (2 years part time) The most important events for the MAKE SURE THAT WE STILL situation of Sign Language Interpreters REPRESENT A PROFESSIONAL University of Bristol in Denmark: PROFESSION WITH A GOOD BSc BSL/English Interpreting (3 years) The labour market for interpreters is REPUTATION AND KEEPING more unstable with all the different GOOD STANDARDS SO THAT WE University of Leeds agencies some of them with out an CAN STAY PROUD OF WHAT WE MA BSL/English Interpreting (2 years agreement with the trade unions. (2004) DO. part time) The extra competition between the agencies puts pressure on the price and England, Wales & Sign language International Ltd. the working conditions for the inter- Northern Ireland Post Graduate Diploma BSL/English preters. (2004) A lot of the new inter- Interpreting (1 year part time) preters are only offered freelance jobs. By Zane Hema Interpreter Assessment Centres The Deaf are starting to complain and National Vocational Qualifica- about some of the consequences of the tions changes in the interpreter field. It is Durham University more expensive now to order an inter- NVQ Level 4 Programme preter if you live away from the larger cities. This can make it even harder to Sign Language International Ltd convince the local authorities that they NVQ Level 4 Language Units should pay for an interpreter. It is diffi- NVQ Level 4 Interpreting Units cult to ensure the quality of the inter- preters. We should explain that the STATISTICAL INFORMATION Holton Lee largest customer in Denmark paying for The following information is for the NVQ Level 4 Language Units interpretation related to education is United Kingdom, which includes Eng- NVQ Level 4 Interpreting Units land, Wales, Northern Ireland and

16 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 City Lit Centre for Deaf People ASLI in conjunction with the Royal Estonia From EVKTU NVQ Level 4 Language Units National Institute for the Deaf and the Community Fund launch their report “Abandoning the Profession” University of East Sussex NVQ Level 4 Language Units Plans for 2005/2006 Our plans are dictated by the ASLI ASLI Calendar October 2004 – business plan 2002 – 2005. The busi- September 2005 ness plan was drafted in May 2002 and is informed by National Executive There are 27 qualified sign language ASLI is one of several organisations to interpreters in Estonia and the number support the SENDA Conference in Committee and membership consulta- London – the Special Education Needs tion. There are a number of important of Deaf people is approximately 1500. Disability Act Conference plans for 2005 /2006: There is an association for sign lan- guage interpreters – Eesti Viipekeele ASLI works with the Independent Reg- ASLI will host its own conference (1-2 Tõlkide Ühing (EVKTÜ, Estonian As- istration to develop policy on Registra- sociation of Sign Language Interpret- tion Maintenance by completing a re- April 200) in Durham, England. The port on ‘Hours an Interpreter works’ theme of conference is ‘Contemplating ers), which has currently 25 members. and ‘Should Reassessment be part of Interpreting’. EVKTÜ is a full member of EFSLI. Registration Maintenance?’ ASLI will set up its own Secretariat in Interpreting services in Estonia are pro- The ASLI Mentor Training Pro- collaboration with the Institute of vided by the local government and by gramme kicks off in Brighton. This is educational system; the interpreters the first of 3 weekends, the ‘taster’ Translators and Interpreters (ITI) weekend and those wishing to go on to usually work in the interpreting centres train will complete the remaining 2 ASLI will continue to develop its rela- at the Deaf Association or at the local weekends. tionship with the Deaf community. Deaf societies. ASLI continues to develop its involve- Interpreter qualifications is provided ment internationally with people sitting ASLI will continue to support its Deaf on the EFSLI Board and on the Work- Interpreter Network in the further de- according to the National Qualification ing Group for the World Association. velopment of training and the registra- Standard for Sign Language Interpret- tion of Deaf interpreters. ers. More information about sign lan- The ASLI Professional Development guage interpreters in Estonia available Programme (APDP) continues to be a on our website: www.evkty.ee success and runs a successful weekend ASLI will continue the training of in- on ‘’ in Durham terpreters to become Mentors as part of the ASLI Mentoring and Mentor Train- Finland By Jenni Laine The ASLI Regional Programme con- ing Programme. ASLI are working in tinues where the National Chair visited conjunction with the Welsh Assembly to members in the more distant regions - in Belfast, Northern Ireland and in Exe- provide mentor training to ‘apprentice’ ter, Devon. interpreters. The ASLI Continuing Professional De- ASLI continues its own training pro- velopment Programme (CPD) gets un- gramme for interpreters (APDP). derway for the first time and Licensed Facts about our country: Members submit documents to demon- The population of Finland is 5,2 mil- strate their commitment to CPD ASLI are working with the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister exploring inter- lion. The percentage of Deaf people A record number of delegates attend preter provision to Government de- 0.001. There are some 5000 Deaf Sign the successful ASLI AGM Conference partments. Language users, 750 Deafblind people by the Tower Bridge in London. The and 3000 Deafened people. National Chair, National Vice Chair and National Treasurer all step down. ASLI will be represented at the Interna- tional Conference for Interpreters in The Sign Language of our nation is . Due to our ASLI launches its special fund, GIV- South Africa in 2005. ING UP A DAYS PAY with the aim of history we have a Swedish speaking raising money to support interpreters ASLI will be represented at the EFSLI minority. As a result there are Swedish from developing countries to attend the Conference in 2006. speaking Deaf people as well. This mi- International Conference in South Af- nority within the minority of Deaf peo- rica in Nov 2005. Work will also be happening in other ple uses Finnish-Swedish Sign Lan- The Annual National Executive Com- areas, by all accounts 2005/2006 looks guage. The community of Deaf Swed- mittee Away Weekend takes place in to be another busy and exciting year. ish speaking Finns agree that their Sign Wolverhampton. ASLI looks at work- Language is separate from Finnish Sign ing informally with Signed Perform- Respectfully submitted. Language. Nevertheless, so far there no ances in Theatre (SPIT) official opinion whether their Sign Lan- guage is separate from Finnish Sign First group of Interpreters trained as ASLI Mentors graduate and the ASLI Language or not. APDP launches its 2005/2006 Pro- gramme The spoken languages of our Nation are Finnish, Swedish, Same and Roman (language of the Gypsy minority)

There are Deaf schools which provide education in Finnish Sign Language in

17 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 all major towns. The schools are not services, leisure time activities, active - how do we teach proactive interpreters residential. Most pupils attend the involvement in the society, studying, in Europe? Reflection on action - how school that is closest to their hometown. court, police and dealing with authori- do we teach interpreters to evaluate There is one high school which in ties. When a Deaf person is in contact interpreting in which the courses are taught in Finnish with the issues or authorities mentioned Europe? SL. In addition there is a institute for above the law guarantees the right for Deaf people which offers senior secon- interpretation. Master of Arts Degree in Sign dary vocational level training. Other Language educational possibilities in SL include: Country report: Started for the first time in The Univer- vocational training for social services, The number of Sign Language sity of Jyväskylä. The degree requires Master´s Degree in elementary school interpreters (part-time/full-time) 2,5 years of full time study. teaching, MA and BA in Finnish SL, There are 650 registered Sign Lan- MA in Finnish SL subject teaching, guage Interpreters, some 400 actively Training for Sign Language Inter- Bachelor´s Degree in Finnish SL trans- working. preters in Open Polytechnic lation and interpreting. These days The interpreter’s organization is Short training modules on several topics more and more Deaf students study Suomen Viittomakielen Tulkit Ry. The dealing with SL interpreting(3-5 days) with hearing students via SL interpreter Finnish Association of Sign Language provided by the Interpreting Training especially after having finished compre- Interpreters. We have approximately Units. Open to all interpreters. hensive school education in Deaf 400 members. schools. Sign Language Broadcasted on Interpreter training: Digital TV Channel Through the recognition of Sign Lan- The training is in Polytechnic level and The digital TV channel YLE 24 guage as an official language and, the the Degree is equivalent to Bachelor´s launched a signed program on current status of the Deaf people has improved Degree. There are two training institu- affairs broadcasted twice a week (10 and the educational and work related tions that provide training: Diaconic minutes). The news in Sign Language opportunities have enhanced. Tradi- Polytechnic (Diak) and Humanistic are broadcasted every day on analogical tionally Deaf people worked in manual Polytechnic (Humak). It is possible to and digital channels (5 minutes). The labour settings such as in factories. study SL interpreting in three different Association of the hard of hearing re- These days more and more Deaf peo- towns, Helsinki which is the capital of cently advocated for having more subti- ple have academic professions. Nowa- Finland (Humak), Turku on the west tling on TV. At the moment commercial days in addition to manual labour jobs coast (Diak) and Kuopio in eastern Fin- TV broadcasters don´t provide any Deaf people hold jobs in kindergartens, land(Humak). The duration of the subtitling at all. in Deaf schools as teachers or in other training is four years. The contents in- training institutions providing education clude Finnish Sign Language, Theory The Finnish Deafblind Associa- in Finnish SL, in The Finnish Deaf and Techniques for Consecutive and tion`s Communication Project Association, as translators or interpret- Simultaneous interpreting, Translation Provided new information on tactile ers, in retirement homes for Deaf peo- skills, Ethical issues, Deaf culture and Sign Language: Johanna Mesch, 2004, ple or in other service and care institu- history, service provision for Deaf peo- Viitotaan yhdessä. Tietoa taktiilista viit- tions such as rehabilitation centres for ple, communication and performance tomakielestä. (Lets sign together. In- Deaf people with multiple disabilities. skills in , foreign lan- formation on tactile Sign Language.) guages such as English and Swedish and Riitta Lahtinen, 2004, Sujuva tulkkaus kuuro- The Finnish constitution (1995) protects issues related to professional conduct. sokeille. Selvitys kuurosokeiden tulkinkäytön the needs of Deaf people. Finnish Sign The only qualifications needed are kokemuksista. (Fluent interpretation for Language is recognised in the constitu- Degree in Sign Language interpreting, the Deaf Blind people. A study on the tion. Section 17 Finnish Constitution, in other words the training program for interpreting experiences of the Deaf- Right to one´s language and culture: SL interpreting and passing the exam of Blind people. “The rights of persons using sign lan- a national interpreting registry, which is guage and persons in need of interpre- normally included in the Degree Pro- Due to Finnish and European Union tation or translation aid owing to dis- gramme for SL interpreting. legislation the producers of public serv- ability shall be guaranteed by an Act.” ices nowadays need to be selected The law also states that the rights of SVT – Finnish Association of Sign through bidding. The best bid in terms people using SL are guaranteed in so- Language Interpreters 2004 of quality and price effectiveness wins. cial services, medical care, education, in Main aim for 2004 was to successfully For many years the public authorities court issues and while a Deaf person is organize EFSLI AGM & Seminar with have failed to comply with the legisla- dealing with authorities. In addition the the theme: “Interpreting – Co- tion. Currently neglecting the bidding law states that Finnish SL needs to be operation and Team Work” which also instructions is no longer an option. This researched and promoted in national served as the theme for SVT in 2004. In development affects the field of Sign broadcasting. Each Deaf individual has order to achieve the goal above exten- Language interpreting a great deal as in 120 hours (minimum) or interpreting sive cooperation among Organising Finland the municipality pays for the per year. Deaf-Blind people have 240 Committee, members, Sign Language interpreting service required by their hours per year. In educational setting field organisations such as Interpreting Deaf habitants. there is no limit in the amount of inter- Agencies and relevant Associations was preting granted. The student gets as required. The outcome is that municipalities are many interpreting hours as she/he re-structuring their Sign Language serv- needs. Working Seminar for Sign Lan- ice provision and setting up joint bodies guage Interpreter Trainers that take the responsibility of organising SL interpretation in mentioned in law September 23 - 24, 2004 in Helsinki, Sign Language interpreting services for while considering broadcasting, social Finland. Themes: Reflection for action a set area. The body is responsible for

18 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 organising the bidding and purchasing - Several statements have been ex- We are considering the possibility of quality interpreting services for reason- pressed by the board of SVT. starting to look for ways of adopting able price. The body itself does not testing system for interpreters. produce interpreting services but it buys - The Member Newsletter Kielisilta was them from service providers such as redesigned and updated. It now has a What are your expectations of a world private or commercial interpreting fine professional approach. By the re- body and how can they support you? agencies. quest SVT has started marketing the Newsletter to other partners. We expect dissemination of informa- First interpreting service body is starting tion, research material in SL interpret- off in the capital area this autumn and - A workshop for spoken language in- ing and knowledge in professional mat- another one will start in Tampere in the terpreters and sign language interpret- ters linked to SL interpreting. We wish beginning of 2006. Other areas have ers was held. As a result the interpreters to learn from other countries situations similar plans. The main impact of this agreed to organize a nationwide confer- in SL interpreting field and promote development is that as the interpreting ence for interpreters in Helsinki, spring international cooperation. We believe in services are bought from agencies inter- 2006. The theme of the conference will sharing information and experiences. preters need to be employed through deal about securing the profession title agency. In other words freelance inter- interpreter. - Spring meeting decided What do you have that can help others? preters need to make contracts with about the SVTs strategy for interna- agencies or set up their own agency of. tional affairs. We have experience in organising the This is a new situation in Finland. Pre- SL interpreting service provision, in viously an interpreter could be self- - A Three day training Cruise for SVT’s training interpreters and providing employed without being required to set contact persons was held in June 10th to quality interpreting services. Our pro- up an interpreting business and simply 12th. Local groups were active this year: fession is well established. Therefore we send his/her bill directly to the social training, field trips and other events have knowledge in ethical dilemmas service office of the Deaf person she/he were arranged. affecting our work and in professional- had interpreted for. In the future inter- - We have also provided our members ism and professional conduct. Likewise preters either work for an agency or run legal assistance in the form of training. we have experience in setting up and their own agencies. This means that the running interpreting agencies. labour market situation is more straight- Contact Person for international affairs: forward. SVT Goals for 2006 - A four day field trip to some European Jenni Laine Interpreters hope that the new structure country to visit the interpreter commu- will be more effective and that it will nity there will be hopefully arranged by diminish the time spent over the phone SVT for the members. bargaining for reasonable salary condi- - Conference with the spoken language Germany From BGSD tions. The interpreting service bodies interpreters will be held in Helsinki in may prove to create more stabile work- March 25th - 26th ing conditions for an individual inter- - The work with the Trades Union will preter as she/he will be able to focus in be started in order to negotiate the the core of the interpreting instead of labour market disputes. terms and conditions of employment for the Finnish Sign Language Inter- preters. More information provided on Facts about Germany: SVT – Finnish Association of Sign Germany comprises an area of 357.000 Language Interpreters 2005 this in the attachment. km2 with a population of about 80 mil- - Valentines Day campaign, “For your lion people. Given a percentage of 0,01 mate as well” funded EFSLI’s Special At the moment within the field of Sign % of congenitally deaf people, it is as- Attendance Fund. Language interpreting there is a strong sumed that about 80.000 deaf people - The salary revision for the period Feb- shift from freelance based work towards live in Germany. By a wider definition, ruary 16th 2005 to September 30th more stabile working conditions. Inter- the number of hearing impaired people preters are encouraged to set up their 2007 introduced some major improve- probably amounts to about 180.000 own agencies or work for already exist- (not including those who suffer from ments to free-lancer fees: ing interpreting agencies. The result of hearing impairment due to old age). - The interpreter will be paid accord- more reliable working conditions hope- Most of the Deaf tend to live in bigger ingly what s/he was booked for, not by fully is that instead of bargaining for cities like Hamburg, Bremen, Han- how many minutes/hours s/he actually pay the interpreters have the opportu- nover, Berlin, Cologne, Essen, Leipzig, interpreted. nity to focus and develop the essential Dresden, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Mu- interpreting skills which might lead into nich. The largest deaf population is said - The Demanding interpreter situation deeper understanding and appreciation to be in the capital, Berlin. and the tactile interpretation were sepa- of the profession. rated. Earlier the tactile situation was There are approximately 460 sign lan- always paid as a complex interpreting We are in a process of defining our field guage interpreters working in Germany, situation so in case the situation itself of work. The aim of this work is gain- some full-time, some part-time, we don’t was exceptionally challenging (confer- ing stronger influence towards authori- have exact data about the percentage ties while matters linked to our profes- ence, theatre etc.) there was no extra yet. As legal changes have been imple- sion are being decided. We believe that mented, deaf people’s demands for in- pay for that. Now the extra pay for the defining our work assist in achieving terpreters have increased. More and tactile interpretation is +25%. recognition for our profession. more interpreters complete a formal interpreter training course, so the num-

19 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 ber of full-time interpreters (most of different departments (Interpreter- PRESENTATION TOPIC OF THE them free-lance) is likely to grow every training and retraining; working condi- YEAR: year. tions & taxes, law, payment and social “European policies, guidelines security; Public Relations; mediation) and awareness about sign lan- The Federal Association of Sign Lan- were newly elected. As the former guage interpreters” guage Interpreters (BGSD) represents Board had been in charge for a long about 350 interpreters, about 75% of time, there is quite a lot of work for the What does it mean in your country all sign language interpreters in Ger- new crew who up until now struggle to be a “sign language inter- many. Interpreters in 13 of 16 Federal bravely through every day’s email flood. preter”? States are organized in their own re- For the first time since BGSD has been It still means that you have to be the gional associations, some Federal States founded, there will be money for ad- one in charge: see to get assignments have two regional associations. We still ministration work done at our office. (most of our interpreters work as free- have individual members who are not This is a big step. lancers as the State or other institutions regionally organized (over 30), but there BGSD has an EFSLI representative are rarely willing to employ us, this also is strong debate about how much longer again now, so hopefully, German mem- due to the financial situation Germany individual membership should be up- bers will get to know more about EFSLI finds itself in), find out who will pay, do held. In Germany there are four full- in future. a lot of PR work concerning deaf peo- time training programmes for sign lan- ple and our work. guage interpreters at degree level, (Uni- Most important events for Ger- It also means that a lot of people aren’t versity of Hamburg, University of Ap- man sign language interpreters in aware of our work and requirements, of the past year plied Sciences Magdeburg, University In most Federal States new legislation those of the hearing impaired clients, of Applied Sciences Zwickau, Hum- concerning deaf people’s right to use and that there are a lot of situations boldt University of Berlin (new)), other Sign Language when dealing with where our service either isn’t paid for or part-time courses allow interpreters, authorities has been implemented, but not found necessary or if it is found who already have some work experience there still is a lot of diversity about how necessary, it can’t be provided due to to prepare for an interpreting exam, the these guidelines are used and how well the insufficient number of interpreters. so-called “Staatliche Prüfung”. By pass- they are known. This also differs from That said, this varies greatly from State ing the exam they obtain a certification State to State. So interpreters still have to State, as there are large numbers of as Sign Language Interpreters by the to fight and inform customers continu- interpreters in some cities meanwhile State. ously to obtain - still insufficient - fees. there are States where there are only The same is true for the mentioned some few interpreters altogether. We University programmes run for four to contract and guidelines BGSD has hope to improve the overall situation five years full-time starting from scratch, worked on. through the publication of recommen- part-time training programmes run over dations on e.g. working conditions and two or three years, but include the pre- Goals of our association for the the already mentioned paper on quality requisite of good Sign Language com- coming year standards. petence. Contents of training pro- The goals for the BGSD for the coming grammes cover a wide range of issues, year are to What are the general principles often the same as Sign Language inter- - go on discussing our positions adopted in your national associa- preter curricula in Scandinavian coun- in dealing with working condi- tions’ Code of Ethics? tries. It is not possible to give a short tions and payment of sign lan- BGSD has pretty much the same prin- description of the contents. In case of guage interpreters with rele- ciples as most countries with university further interest contact our Board. vant institutions, training, such as professional behaviour, - distribute our paper “Quality neutrality and impartiality, discretion, Most important events for our as- standards for the training and duty of retraining, working only in as- sociation in the past year examination of sign language signments one is capable to deal with, One of the most challenging tasks was interpreters” dealing with in- the rewriting of our statutes, including correct behaviour towards colleagues, terpreter training programmes and so on, but at the moment, there is a several guidelines and internal rules. in Germany approved by the Besides the normal AGMs, we offered discussion going on whether we need BGSD to a wider audience, something more like “the associations’ our members a platform called working with the aim that only inter- court”, in case somebody acts against conference, where we controversially preters providing good quality discussed guidelines and contracts the our statutes and/or Code of Ethics. So get assignments, far, there aren’t any sanctions if anyone association had negotiated in 2004 with - discuss opinions concerning important bodies and representatives acts against the Code. A special team “adequate fees” on this year’s will look at this issue in the future. (concerning the area of interpreting working conference in No- fees for doctors’ appointments and as- vember, signments in the workplace). What is the situation of Deaf In- - review our Code of Ethics, terpreters in your country/ In cooperation with the National Deaf - offer mediation services to Association, we formulated and pub- association? members and customers if We don’t have a Deaf member so far, lished a paper on the quality require- financially possible, ments and standards of Sign Language but are aware of the possibility that a - establish stronger networking Deaf interpreter could apply for mem- interpreters (“Quality standards for the bonds between us and AIIC training and examination of Sign Lan- bership. As we now have quite strict (International Association of guidelines concerning membership, the guage Interpreters”), in order to secure Conference Interpreters) (dele- good practice for our customers. person would need to be qualified at gates from BGSD being in- university level. vited to their AGM just now). In June 2005, a new Board was elected, Theoretically, it is possible for Deaf which also means that the leaders of the people to study sign language interpret-

20 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 ing in Germany, but so far and to our Sign Language Interpretation (Zent- Japan From Zentusken knowledge, there has emerged only 1 suken), Japan has a membership of person from such a training (but is not 11,000. The Japanese Association of working as a Deaf interpreter) and we Sign Language Interpreters member- haven’t any knowledge about Deaf ship is 1,200. people actually working as Deaf Inter- preters on a regular basis in Germany. Interpreter training: The National Deaf Association with 8 colleges and junior colleges have whom we usually get together at least Facts about our country: training courses. The term is 2-4 years. once a year in a formal meeting hasn’t About 500 students are enrolled. The addressed this topic so far. This might You are judged by a doctor to be contents are and change in the future, as there will also hearing-impaired during your infancy. Japanese sign language interpreting. be a new Board elected in October this Before starting school at the age of 6, year. you can go to a local deaf school or a We have a testing system to decide who day-care center. When you are 6, you is qualified to interpret in your Nation go to a deaf school(about 100 in the and it is in two parts: Hong Kong From HKAD country), a hard-of hearing class in a local school, or a local school where 1)Local level sign interpreters ex- most of the pupils are hearing and no amination sign interpreting is provided. After fin- Tested on knowledge of sign language ishing (12 years of age)school, most of and interpreting as well as ability to the graduates get jobs for an income interpret between Japanese and Japa- and/or can apply for a pension for the nese sign language based on the cur- disabled, while about 200 people a year riculum set by the national government. go on to college. Hong Kong Association of the Deaf People who pass the exam are to be (HKAD) has an Executive Board of 10 registered as an interpreter by the local The spoken language of our nation is government. Deaf volunteers who are elected by the Japanese and there is Japanese sign lan- general assembly of Deaf members. guage too. Education that is available to The Executive Board is responsible for 2)National level Japanese Sign Inter- Deaf people in our Nation is in schools preters Examination all the administrative and management for the deaf, in schools for the hearing, duties performed by the staff. There is Tested on knowledge of sign language and higher institutions( colleges, univer- and interpreting as well as ability to also an Advisory Committee of 10 pro- sities and graduate schools). fessionals who volunteer their time and interpret between Japanese and Japa- nese sign language on a higher level. professional skills as advisors to the Ex- The types of jobs Deaf people hold in ecutive board and the Association. our Nation are half in manufacturing Last year we celebrated the 30th anni- jobs and the others are in a variety of versary of the establishment of our HKAD aims and objectives are as fol- jobs. lows: organization, Zentsuken. 1. To promote mutual trust, mutual There are laws to protect disabled peo- Two years ago, Japan National Sign aid and mutual love among the ple in general. Deaf people are pro- deaf and to encourage the deaf to Language Research Center was estab- vided services within the framework of lished in Kyoto. Our organization is a contribute to the society; those laws. 2. To provide appropriate and rele- member of the Steering Committee. vant services, such as sign interpre- There are no laws about interpreters in A bill in session in the Diet(the National tation and training, to the deaf. our Nation though there are some ref- 3. To encourage the deaf to partici- Legislative Body) includes a plan to im- erences to interpreters in such laws as plement sign language interpreting serv- pate in service development and Code of Civil Procedure, Code of improvement, and to petition for ices starting next year in all the local Criminal Procedure. and Law for the autonomies throughout the nation. reasonable rights. Welfare of Physically Disabled Persons. Goals of our association: The first of “Assessment of Qualified A current overview of what is happen- HK Sign Interpreter” was held by The membership of 20,000 within 10 ing in our country is that the population years; Hong Kong Council of Social Service is 120 million. We are one of the big- in June of 2005. It is a good com- A meeting of Asian sign interpreters gest economies in Asia with certain within 5 years. mencement to raise up the quality of educational and social welfare sys- sign interpretation services and to pro- tems,which are not as good as those of What is needed for sign language inter- mote the concern of professional skills Europe and the U.S.A. of sign interpreters in Hong Kong. preting to develop is the establishment And, HKAD is planning to fight for the of a firm sign interpreting system based Country report: establishment of a independent Sign on the understanding of the people; About 1,500 interpreters are employed, to obtain enough funding from the na- Interpretation Association which can do of whom 70 percent work part-time on research on sign language and to im- tional budget to implement nation-wide a year-to-year basis and find it difficult, sign interpreting services; prove the qualified assessment in the if not impossible, to make a living. future. There are 3,000 registered interpreters the establishment of education inter- and 13,000 volunteer(non- preters; You are welcome to visit HKAD web- professional） interpreters. site www.hongkongdeaf.org.hk to search the establishment of professionalism for more information. The National Research Association for among sign interpreters

21 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 Our expectations of a world body are are however no specific policies regu- Liaise with the national examination for them to help exchange a wide range lating interpreters for the deaf. Kenyan council (KNUT) to develop a national of information enough to accelerate the interpreters are not recognized by the testing service for interpreters for the development of the world body and to government. Certain areas of the gov- Deaf – by offering specific certification provide and encourage research among ernment though try to in cooperate programmes and defining the eligibility the members. interpreting e.g. the judiciary has em- requirements and exam process. ployed a number of K.S.L Interpreters. We would like to do whatever we can to These interpreters cannot really be said Organize periodic training and work- help develop sign interpreting activities to be professionals. They are people shops for professional development of and services in Asia. who learn K.S.L and through constant certified interpreters. interaction with deaf people became Kenya From KSLIA very fluent and end up being used for Set standards for interpretation purposes of interpretation. Most of these go through the Kenyan This effort by Deaf Aid is highly com- Sign Language Research Project mendable and may actually be what CKSLRP) basic K.S.L training and Kenyan interpreters have been longing interpreter training which are very in- for. The problem with Deaf Aid pro- adequate. gramme is that it has ignored the main stake-holders in all this KSLIA and The Kenya Sign Language Interpreters Some of the major obstacles facing in- went straight ahead to deal directly with Association (KSLIA) was established terpretation in Kenya include: other organizations such as Kenya Insti- and registered in 2000 its main objec- tute of Education (KIE), Kenya Na- tives in a nutshell are: -Lack of funds to run KSLIA tional Examination council (KNEC), Kenya Society for Deaf Children To secure official recognition by the -Lack of adequate training for inter- (KSDC) etc Little mention or recogni- government of KSL interpreters preters and room for professional devel- tion is made even of Kenya National Improve the standards of KSL inter- opment. Association of the Deaf (KNAD) or the preters and interpreter training Kenya Sign Language Research Project -Lack of proper records/ register for (KSLRP). Deaf Aid also starts from the Cooperate with other organization that interpreters country wide. premise that there are already many deal with the deaf on the providing interpreters in Kenya which is a falla- interpreter training -Lack of corporation with national ex- cious premise. Maybe the right enter- aminations certification body so as to ing point would have been to do situa- Create awareness on Deafness and KSL recognize interpreters certificates. tional analysis. Start a training pro- interpreters gram that will lead to the certification. -Lack of recognition from the govern- Raise funds through various methods ment of the important role interpreters One of the issues Deaf Aid raises in its to facilitate the running of the associa- play in he lives of the Deaf. white paper is that it will organize pro- tion visional workshop for purpose of pro- In Kenya today, interpretation is more viding some basic training to certified To maintain and administer a register of a vocation than a profession. De- interpreters and will award a certificate of KSL interpreters. spite all these hurdles, it is important to of attendance that will act a provisional note that the few interpreters that are certification of interpretation Since its inception it has managed only working with the Kenyan Deaf have Most practicing interpreters in Kenya a membership of about 20. This is a managed to keep communication going have a KSLRP certificate. Deaf Aid pointer to the kind of inactivity that has thus their contribution cannot be un- does not indicate what will happen to characterized KSLIA. Despite this derestimated. these certification. state, interpretation work has been go- ing on. KSL interpreters in Kenya are Recently a Norwegian association called All in all the Deaf Aid Program if well involved in various interpretation activi- Deaf Aid Presented what it call a implemented would give a fresh impe- ties. “Write Paper on Kenya Registry of tus to interpreter training and inter- Recent events in Kenya have however Interpreters/Translators for Deaf ” preter morale. given hope to not only to the deaf but also to the interpreters. The persons Among its objectives in summary are: with disability act, 2003 laid down the rights of persons with disabilities there Maintain an updated registry of is also the Draft Equity Bill and a draft interpreters/translators for the deaf affirmative action Bill. The draft new nationwide and make it accessible to the constitution to go through a referendum public. on 21st Nov. also goes a step further but no further enough to recognize sign Come up with a code of ethics together language and not KSL as the third lan- with corrective and or punitive strate- guage in Kenya apart from English and gies for any infringements. Kiswahili. If passed if will be a step in the right direction. Liaise with Kenya Institute of Educa- tion (KIE) to develop appropriate cur- All the above legislative frameworks are ricula for KSL interpreters. actually geared towards the deaf. There

22 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 ment grants. Employers are encouraged Education that is available to Deaf Lithuania By Dainius Jakutis to employ deaf people as the Employ- people in our Nation is by both meth- ment Fund compensates the adjustment ods: Total Communication and sign of their workplaces. language as Bilingualism.

1996 Law on Social Services provides Jobs that Deaf people hold in our Na- for the following general services to the tion are based on handicrafts: sewing deaf: interpreting into sign language, and embroidery for deaf women and SOCIAL INTEGRATION OF THE provision with compensatory equip- woodwork like carpentry for the deaf DEAF IN THE REPUBLIC OF ment, services of assistance, guiding, men. LITHUANIA housing adjustment, transportation, Currently, in our school in Antanana- In 1995, the Lithuanian Government information provision and consulting, rivo, the capital, we have a computer passed a resolution that acknowledged assistance and care at home, care allow- class and now there is a deaf secretary sign language as the native language of ance, catering, provision of the essential that works in publicity & commercial. the deaf, which was in 1996 consoli- items. Unfortunately, the interpreting dated in the Law on the Social Integra- into sign language is accessible to the There have been laws in our Nation to tion of the Handicapped Persons. Ac- deaf with certain difficulties due to the protect and provide services to Deaf cording to the population census data, lack of sign language interpreters. Now, people since 1998, but it’s written laws about 9,000 Lithuanian citizens are one interpreter has to serve about 160 only because our Government hasn’t a deaf and their native language is deaf persons, which of course limits clear policy towards handicap person. . As many as their right to receive full information. Now, we make up Malagasy decade for 1,000 of this figure are children up to Quality of interpreting is also rather handicap people 2003 to 2013. This 15 years of age. The disability of the low because the majority of the inter- committee tries to do the National Pol- deaf was inborn or was causes by ill- preters are self-taught. There are no icy for handicap people. ness, professional hazards or mutilation. interpreters who can translate into in- 30,000 people in Lithuania suffer from ternational sign language. No interpret- The Malagasy Lutheran Church has hearing disability. ers’ qualification testing system has services for the Deaf persons. All the been developed so far. school for deaf are under their author- At the moment, 2003-2012 Programme ity. They have 6 schools for whole of the National Social Integration of The Government also approved 2005- Madagascar. the Handicapped Persons is underway 2008 Programme of Lithuanian Sign in Lithuania. It covers the following Language Usage and Interpreting Serv- And The Federation of the Deaf in areas: rehabilitation, social services, ices Provision aiming at implementing Madagascar (FMM) who defend the accessibility of environment, education, sign language usage programme and Deaf causes and the Deaf Rights. They employment, public education, culture, providing handicapped people with have 9 branches in total. sports and recreation. interpreting services. It is expected that Now, they launch projects with the in 2008, when the programme is ac- Norwegian Deaf Federation (NDF) in In 1996, there was founded the Surdol- complished, one interpreter will serve four fields since 2004, like in: ogy Institute, which was commissioned about 70 deaf people, which will make with research into Lithuanian sign lan- the availability of interpreting services Education guage and its standardisation. The Insti- about 50% higher. The expected value Sign language Dictionary tute publishes dictionaries, and arranges of the programme amounts to LTL 11 Visiting courses of Lithuanian sign language. million. Training new interpreters

All deaf people insured by the manda- Madagascar By R Theodoric There are no laws about interpret- tory health insurance are entitled to ers in our Nation receive compensatory equipment for Madagascar report: hearing for free once in five years. The Now, Madagascar has 5 interpreters in adults can get deaf-aid for one ear, total since 1998, who working part time. while children up to 12 for one or two Because they have their own work: ears. Within the period of 2000-2005, - 01 Reverend 1,833 cell phones were distributed to - 02 Teachers the deaf. Computers have been started Facts about our country: - 01 Webmaster to be also donated to them from 2005. - And me 01 Social Worker. All this is fully state-funded. For Madagascar with 17,000,000 popu- lation, we estimate the number of deaf - We have no interpreting organisation In 2004, Lithuanian Government person around 170,000. It’s the last statistic from WHO, but we yet. However, now we are considering adopted the Programme of Special creating an association. We may call it Education Service Provision aimed at know 1,500 deaf person educate and understand sign language since 1950. “Madagascar sign Language interpreter increasing the availability of education service” MSLIS for people with special needs, and to Our sign language is called MALA- develop environment favourable to We haven’t a Centre for the interpreter them. GASY SIGN LANGUAGE. It’s the one sign language for whole Madagascar. training in our Country. For us, it’s a special courses for 2 years The legislation in Lithuania enforces training (1996-1998) organised by the the privileges for the deaf in the em- The spoken languages of our Nation are MALAGASY AND FRENCH. Malagasy Lutheran Church. ployment field. They have priority in Theoretical and practical courses. the Job Centres and receive unemploy-

23 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 Now, we become teachers at the FMM To be full time working and work as Education Philosophy/System/Mode of project to teach 20 new interpreters interpreter with reasonable salary. delivery or communication: Total (2005-2007) in a special course too. Communication (Komunikasi Seluruh), use What we have that can help others of BIM, KTBM, SE, etc. We have exam (theory and practice) in Ideas and suggestions. the end of training with a book of re- Employment for Deaf people ranges search in sign language. Thank you from blue-collared to white-collared positions, semi-skilled, and skilled types No Association, but we work together Malaysia By Ms. Rose Ng Yoke of work. Some Deaf people who have with FMM : Federation of the Deaf in Yang & Ms. Lucy Lim a college/ degree certificates are able to Madagascar and NDF to set up a pro- secure jobs of higher positions. A ject to teach 20 new interpreters. handful of them hold jobs at the execu- tive and decision making positions. Most importantly: ( Types of jobs- some examples: cash- We was start to translate the National ier/ data entry clerk ,teachers of the TV news in simultaneous since on 2000 Deaf, graphic designers, programme (once a week at Saturday noon TV coordinators, IT Programmers etc..) news). Facts about Malaysia There are approximately 23,000 deaf There are no current laws to protect We work in Church every Sunday people registered with the Department and provide services for Deaf people morning during the worship at the Lu- of Social Welfare Malaysia. but the draft on the Malaysian Disabil- theran church. ity Act has been submitted to the Minis- The sign language that is used is Bahasa try of Women, Family and Community We interpret too at the Deaf school Isyarat Malaysia - BIM Development, and has yet to be tabled with the teachers (or lectures) who don’t ()- used at Parliament to the Cabinet. practice sign. largely by the Deaf Community in Ma- laysia however it is yet to be recognized There are only three ( 3) Sign Language We teach sign language for the parents by the Ministry of Education and the Interpreters who have undergone a of deaf children and teachers at the Government. formal training in Sign Language In- Deaf School. Deaf Social events (train- Kod Tangan Bahasa Malaysia – terpreting and has received their certifi- ing, wedding, meeting,...) KTBM (Coded Bahasa Malaysia) & cates( 2 in US & 1 in Canada). Those Signed English is being used as the who are currently “interpreting” in Ma- We do all this as volunteers in part time mode of communication in schools for laysia are those who work with NGO’s/ because we have our own job. the Deaf, there are Smatterings/ schools for the Deaf. This includes Scattered usage of ASL Teachers of the Deaf who does “inter- Indeed currently, Malagasy populations preting” on an ad-hoc basis. Sign Lan- start to understand the Malagasy sign The spoken languages are Bahasa Ma- guage profession is not a recognized language. They accept it as deaf com- layu () which is the the field and those who interpret are merely munication but we haven’t laws about official language of the country. English recognized as “social workers” for the it. We have only natural recognition. Language, (Manda- Deaf. rin, and all other major ), In- The number of interpreters in our Goals for the coming year/s dian Language (Tamil, , etc.) and country by States (Part-time and Full- Set up a Legal Association of sign lan- Indigenous Languages time) is: guage interpreter. Education that is available to Deaf Kuala Lumpur 6 6 Make recognition of sign language people in our Nation is the Malaysian Kedah 0 2 whole our big Island. National Curriculum; there is no cur- Penang 3 riculum specially designed for Deaf and Sabah 3 Defend the interests and causes of sign Hard of hearing people. Deaf students Sarawak 1 or 2 language interpreter. enrolled in public schools as well as pri- vately run institutions and centres, Malaysia is made of 13 states and the For our Country, we need: which predominately are NGOs. These Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and International training and skills to have students are being prepared to sit for all Labuan, Kuala Lumpur being the Fed- diploma to training sign language and the major National Examinations, after eral capital of Malaysia. The above new interpreter. which they are streamed, either to con- figures are estimates. No data is avail- tinue in the academics or vocational/ able from the other states. Technical aid and financial support. technical setting. Centre managed by NGOs are day school or centres. The interpreting organisation is The Society of Interpreters for the Deaf in How can WASLI help us? Create a school for Malagasy Sign Lan- Education Programmes available are: Selangor and the Federal Territory. guage. ▪ residential (SID) (Persatuan Penterjemah Untuk ▪ mainstreaming/inclusive Orang Pekak Selangor dan Wilayah Set up “DEAF MEDIA” for deaf TV ▪ special classes within the regular Persekutuan) news, teach sign language in TV, deaf school programme film/movie and documentation in sign There are 30 members but only a hand- ▪ few Deaf people qualify for admission ful are actively involved in interpreting. language,… to colleges/universities

24 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 There are some “Interpreters” who are seminars to advance the recognition of support, uphold and preserve the pro- currently working with other Deaf or- Sign language Interpreters fessional standards and ethical conduct ganizations are not registered with the Society of Interpreters. gain recognition and advocate for the having an active Deaf Community to profession of Sign Language interpret- support the growth of Sign Language Interpreter training has yet to be im- ing, the role of the interpreter in the Interpreters plemented. However the Majudiri ‘Y’ country and the related needs of the Foundation for the Deaf (MYF) is cur- Deaf and Hard of Hearing consumers. Our expectations of a world body and rently working on a partnership with Interpreter education/advocacy pro- how can they support us are networking the University Malaya and the Institute gram (training on how to use interpret- and sharing of resources/materials, i.e. of Translators Malaysia on an Inter- ers) offer support to one another. Offer edu- preter Education and training program cational, technical and consultative as- in Malaysia. The Foundation has se- develop a mandate and ways to enforce sistance related to the field of Interpret- cured the support of Dr. Debra Russell, financial responsibility for payment for ing and Deafness through professional chair of Deafness, University of Al- interpreting services, interpreter acces- networking and support berta, Canada as it’s external consult- sibility paid for by the provider ant. The Foundation has also carried Netherlands By Maya de Wit out various Sign Language courses to provide ongoing consultation and train- prepare the students who may be keen ing workshops to consumers, Deaf and in this area. In addition to that it has Hearing to remove environmental, carried out several weekend workshop communication and attitudinal barriers. on Sign Language Interpreting for the Community in some states in Malaysia. promote a constant growth of Sign lan- guage interpreters education/advocacy The most important recent event for us program in Malaysia and demand for Country facts: was when members participated in a quality interpreting services Population: 16.300,000 Sign Language Interpreting Workshop Size of the country: 33,783 sqkm organized by the Majudiri ‘Y’ Founda- to have consistent and uniform stan- tion for the Deaf which was held over 5 dards for Sign Language interpreter Deaf people and the law: days, conducted by Dr. Debra Russell, education program to ensure the avail- Number of Deaf people: 15,000 – Chair of Deafness, University of Al- ability of quality interpreting services 25,000 sign language users. berta. Sign Language: establish and accredit Interpreter Train- (Nederlandse Gebarentaal, NGT) Various organizations of/by/for the ing Programs to ensure they have the Spoken languages: Dutch and Frisian Deaf are in the process of lobbying for highest standards possible to train in- the recognition of the National Sign terpreters. There are five institutes and schools for Language. Also looking into recogni- the Deaf. In addition many deaf stu- tion of Sign Language interpreters as a What is needed for Sign language in- dents are being mainstreamed. profession. terpreting to develop in our country is: The Majudiri Y Foundation for the Deaf people have all different types of Deaf has embarked on a training pro- a need to recognize that Interpreters are jobs, ranging from manual labor to gramme for Deaf Sign Language In- an important member of the Deaf management level. structors to be trained as BIM Instruc- community and is a profession. tors. (Sign Language Instructors) The laws in our Nation to protect, and/ place emphasis on improving interpret- or provide services to Deaf people are The goals for our Association are: ing skills especially in parts where there the Law for equal treatment (no matter is a thriving Deaf community and have what disability you have), the Law for to advocate for the communication a clear understanding of our roles and the provision of interpreting services rights and access of Deaf and Hard of the ethics and the Law for the provision of special hearing people in the use of Sign lan- needs of people with disabilities guage interpreters and to develop and advocate on communication access encourage a greater awareness of the Law for the provision of interpreting basic rights among both Deaf and hard have a platform where interpreters services: All people with a hearing loss of Hearing people and the general pub- could get together to share information are entitled to interpreting services in lic. and concerns that would provide oppor- the Netherlands. This can be the service tunities for professional growth of a sign language interpreter, oral in- commitment to the goal of establishing terpreter, palantypist or a note taker. minimum standards for professional Develop a network of interpreters to The provision is divided in interpreting interpreters in the country. protect the rights of interpreters services in education, employment, and private situations. The deaf person is to enhance the quality and standards offer to mentor those who are newer to entitled to a 100 percent interpreting of interpreter . the profession or those who have an services in educational settings, 15 per- immediate need for bolstering and nur- cent of the work time in employment to promote the profession of interpret- turing. situations, and 30 hours a year for pri- ing and to provide training as well as vate settings. The latter can be any professional development in the forms network to find out about other role situation where the deaf person is in of in-service activities, workshops, and models need of interpreting services, ranging or support to attend conferences and from a doctor visit to a meeting with a

25 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 real estate agent. Additional interpret- New implemented format within the We are looking up to WASLI to assist ing hours, if needed, can be requested. NBTG board. Board members are now us in establishing our association. How- responsible for specific tasks and issues. ever, in the mean time plans are under- Interpreters: The board hopes to achieve a more way to establish the Nigerian National Number of Sign Language interpreters: efficient way of working in the rising Association of Sign Language inter- 184 (part-time & full-time) amount of board work. preters (NNASLI). The interpreter’s organization: Neder- Goals of the NBTG for 2006: landse Beroepsvereniging Tolken Ge- Improving the involvement of members Hopeful contributions to WASLI barentaal (NBTG), that is the Dutch with the NBTG We hope to contribute our cultural sign Association of Sign Language Inter- PR: providing information on the pro- language heritage. preters. (www.nbtg.nl). The NBTG has fession of sign language interpreters We hope to share our experiences, and a total of 463 members: 172 interpreter and increasing (supporting) members to the sharing of research work in sign members, 163 student members, 11 the NBTG language. sponsors, and 117 supporting members. Continuing education: increasing the Interpreter training: In the Netherlands number of workshops organized by the We hope to provide interpreters to work there is one interpreter training pro- NBTG and sharing expertise and sup- internationally for WASLI conferences, gram. Four-year Bachelors program port on an international level workshops, etc. (part-time and full-time) at the College Improving the working conditions of of Utrecht. The program is a combined interpreters, e.g. formal recognition of Needed support from WASLI program for teachers and interpreters in two interpreters on an assignment We need WASLI to assist in establishing Dutch Sign Language. The program where this is required. and providing needed support to officially started in 1998. Main subjects NNASLI. in the program are Dutch Sign Lan- Expectations: Mentorship and the training of quali- guage, Interpreting or Teaching Skills What are our expectations of a world fied and accredited International Sign and Deaf Culture. body and how can they support us? Language Interpreters. Sharing our experiences and provide Sharing of researched work in sign lan- The NBTG has established in 2001 an support to each other in the profession guage. independent foundation: the Registry of of sign language interpreters. The providing of training materials and Sign Language Interpreters the sharing of code of ethics and profes- (www.stichtingrtg.nl). The Registry de- Working together to form a greater sional guidelines for interpreters. mands that registered interpreters have power in achieving a higher status of Assistance in creating awareness with graduated from the formal interpreter the profession. the Nigerian governmental institutions training program and hold a diploma. e.g. court ,TV, etc to acknowledge sign In addition interpreters have to obtain A large international organization will language, to the benefit of the deaf and six continuing education units (equals have a greater impact in society. hard of hearing. 60 hours) every three years. If these criteria are not met, the interpreter will What do we have that can help others? For more information please feel free to be removed from the Registry. Only Experience in setting up a well working contact me: [email protected] registered interpreters are paid through organization of sign language interpret- government funding. ers and the establishment of a Registry. Palestine By Shukry Mahmoud & Khalil Alawani Most important events for the NBTG Nigeria By Josiah Arinze Edmond and the sign language interpreters in the past year: Cooperative working day for all parties in the field of Sign Language interpret- ing: topic was the continuing lack of interpreters in the Netherlands. All par- ties presented their view on the lack of Shukry Mahmood, who is Deaf, re- interpreters. The presentations were POPULATION ESTIMATED at 127 ceived his Master of Science Degree in then discussed in a forum and with the MILLION. The DEAF POPULA- Deaf Studies/Deaf Education from audience. This resulted in an extensive TION is ESTIMATED at 6 MIL- Lamar University, Texas, USA in 2002. report and a plan of action on how to LION He currently resides in Al Bireh, West resolve the issues. The NBTG held a Nigeria is a west African country. In Bank, Palestine, and is working as an survey amongst its members as a basis Nigeria there is the National Associa- independent Educational Consultant for their presentation. The survey ques- tion of the Deaf and other deaf asso- and a member of Benevolent Society of tioned the interpreters on the number ciations, but there is no cooperation due the Deaf. of hours they had available to work and to personal interests. Khalil Alawani received his Bachelor of how many hours they in fact did work. Science Degree in Chemistry from Os- Publication of completed research on In Nigeria there are no courses in sign mamia University. in 1992. He the work-rest schedules of sign language language offered in schools, though sign currently resides in Ramallah, West interpreters (in Dutch: language is formally recognized. Basi- Bank, Palestine, and is working for the www.nbtg.nl/nbtg/Onderzoeksresultaat cally we use American SIgn Language Ministry of Education as a Head of %20werkrustschema%20tolken.PDF) here in Nigeria. Programming. He is an interpreter for Continuing negotiations with govern- Benevolent Society of the Deaf since ment agencies on the regulations and Unfortunately, there is no National As- 1996. payment of sign language interpreters. sociation of Sign Language

26 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 BACKGROUND INFORMATION Palestinian Territory 26.0 within each club are only vaguely de- Palestine, which is divided into three West Bank 30.4 fined, and regular meetings may occur anywhere from once a month to four main geographical regions (the Palestin- Gaza Strip 17.8 ian Territory, the West Bank, and the times per year. Few individuals involved Gaza Strip), has been occupied by Israel As can be seen from this chart, the inci- with the deaf clubs have any knowledge since 1950, and this has affected all dence of hearing-related disabilities in or skills related to advocacy or political aspects of life within the country. For all three regions of Palestine exceeds lobbying. Events of any kind are rarely example, with the country’s attention the commonly-held “rule of 1%” often held and, when they do occur, atten- being mainly focused on the political applied within European countries and dance is generally poor. For example, arena, little time and effort has been the United States. Additionally, except the Deaf women within a club may directed toward developing a social in Gaza, hearing-related disabilities gather once or twice a week to do em- service infrastructure. Similarly, with within the Palestinian population ap- broidery or artwork. Last month, for occupation-related regulations such as a pear to be equally distributed between the first time in five years, the Deaf curfew, the ability to travel, interact, three main causes: congenital disability, Club in Ramallah managed to hold a and socialize has been significantly disease, and injuries due to accidents or fundraising event to sell the women’s circumscribed. Social isolation has the war. crafts. been especially severe since 1987, with Palestine’s spoken language is Arabic; DEAF EDUCATION IN the start of the Intifada, and this has its sign language is Palestinian Sign PALESTINE resulted in many young deaf adults Language (PSL). The recognition of going outside of Palestine to study. Af- PSL has been one of the most signifi- The Palestinian Red Crescent Society ter completing their studies, and return- cant events to impact on Palestine’s operates four day-program schools for ing to Palestine, these young adults re- Deaf community within recent years. deaf and hard of hearing children, with turn home, integrating their adopted In 1992, the Benevolent Society of the programming beginning in kindergar- cultures and languages into that of Pal- ten and generally extending to the 7th to Deaf, in Ramallah, along with the first th estine’s Deaf community. In general, representative of this delegation, Shu- 10 grade. Additionally there are a however, deaf individuals are isolated, kry Mahmood, researched the sign be- number of Islamic and private schools from each other, from the larger Pales- ing used in our country and developed which also run day programs for deaf tinian community, and from knowledge the first Palestinian Sign Language and hard of hearing students in West of their language and culture. Bank and Gaza. These programs begin book. In 2000, with support from the th Palestinian Red Crescent Society, a in kindergarten and go through the 6 THE PALESTINIAN DEAF COM- or 7th grade. In Bethlehem, within the MUNITY book of PSL was developed for educa- tional purposes. Currently there are no West Bank, there is also a residential The Palestinian Central Bureau of Sta- training programs nor certifying stan- school, operated by the Vatican. A tistics 2004 report described the distri- dards for interpreters in our country; dorm is provided and both boys and bution of persons with hearing-related girls are educated through the 4th grade, most deaf people rely on family mem- th disabilities as follows: bers when an interpreter is needed. with girls continuing on through 8 . Finally, in Hebron, a day program for TYPE OF DISABILITY Similarly, there are no laws pertaining to interpreters, nor to any rights related deaf and hard of hearing students is Hearing and Speaking to the use of interpreters, and there are run by the local Deaf community and, Palestinian Territory 5.0 no associations for interpreters. There Qalqilya has a vocational training cen- ter for the deaf and school for the deaf. West Bank 3.3 also are no laws pertaining specifically to the rights of individuals with disabili- In general, then, education of deaf and Gaza Strip 8.3 ties or deafness, nor are there any spe- hard of hearing students begins at kin- th th Hearing cific social services or supports available, dergarten and ends around 6 or 7 although the Atfaluna Society for Deaf grade. Only less than one thousand deaf Palestinian Territory 6.0 Children, in Gaza City, is a registered and hard of hearing students attend the West Bank 6.3 NGO which has been providing educa- schools. Some deaf/hard of hearing tion, audio logy, speech therapy, voca- students also attend regular hearing Gaza Strip 5.3 tional training and other services within classes, but without any supportive serv- Congenital a limited basis since 1992. ices, such as interpreters or tutors. Cur- rently, application is being made by Palestinian Territory 32.5 Although the social isolation which has been present in Palestine has so far pre- MuEHE, the Palestinian Educational West Bank 30.1 vented the formation of an organized, Authority, to establish regional special Gaza Strip 36.9 united, national association of the Deaf, education resource centers in several there currently are five clubs of the areas by the year 2007, and consultants Birth-Related Deaf. Each club is estimated to have and observers from outside of Palestine Palestinian Territory 6.9 approximately 125 dues-paying mem- have provided input on ways to improve education for deaf students, although West Bank 6.7 bers, with annual dues being (US)$14.00. However, many deaf peo- these recommendations have not yet Gaza Strip 7.4 ple cannot afford to pay these annual been put into practice. Overall, there are few professionals adequately trained Disease dues, and travel to each deaf club is often difficult, since roadblocks and the in special education, audio logy, or Palestinian Territory 34.6 curfew prevent many deaf people from deafness, and little technology available for use. As stated earlier, some deaf West Bank 32.8 traveling outside of their village or farm. Despite this, each club generally individuals go outside of Palestine to Gaza Strip 37.9 has seven to nine board officers, led by a obtain higher education but, in general, president and vice president. Duties deaf adults are usually unemployed or Other (Accidents, War-Related) work in manual, unskilled labor.

27 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 HOPES FOR THE FUTURE PALESTINE’S NEED AND PO- Current issues: There are a number of needed goals for TENTIAL CONTRIBUTION There is a great deal of work being Palestine’s Deaf community, but all of The world body of interpreters and the done to increase the number of inter- these are contingent on the Deaf com- world Deaf community could best help preters in Scotland and to establish munity first finding one, unified voice. Palestine in achieving these goals stronger systems for selection, training Towards this end, it is hoped that a Pal- through providing consultation, interac- and monitoring of the provision. estinian National Association of the tive models, advice, training, and Deaf will be established within the next funding. Once Palestine’s Deaf com- Organisations working in the field are several years, complete with bylaws and munity has unified and developed a being encouraged by the government to regularly-attended meetings. The Nor- sense of Deaf pride and awareness of work more closely together to make wegian National Association of the rights, and obtained skills in self- provision for deaf people better Deaf (Norges Deveforbund) helped us advocacy, negotiation, lobbying, and planned and to increase awareness of in the past and has indicated that they conflict resolution, Palestinian Deaf can deaf issues across society. might be interested in helping with this. begin to work towards improving edu- cation for deaf and hard of hearing Included in this are initiatives to train As part of the agenda for the newly- deaf people as tutors of BSL. forming Deaf Association, the Deaf children, increasing employment op- tions for deaf and hard of hearing community needs to learn skills for Country report leadership, self-advocacy, public adults, and decreasing dependence on hearing family and relatives. , This, in There are currently 48 registered BSL/ relations/awareness training, conflict English interpreters in Scotland. resolution, and Deaf pride. Once these turn, would lead to increasing the need for qualified, trained, interpreters, skills are in place, the Deaf community They are registered with SASLI, the can then begin to assert the need for which would then provide economic incentive for hearing Palestinians to Scottish Association of Sign Language interpreters, and educate the hearing Interpreters and are joined there by community on the value of interpreting support the establishment of interpreter training programs, and for hearing Pal- around 12 trainee or associate inter- in terms of a profitable career as well as preters. a means to fulfill a societal need. estinians to pursue interpreting as a career goal. Guidelines, a code of ethics, training Interpreters are trained by means of a curriculum, and testing materials will Once these strengths begin to develop two year, part-time university course need to be developed, in order to begin within Palestine, the Palestinian Deaf followed by professional, in-service to produce a body of trained, profes- community, and its emergent body of training and development, operated by sional interpreters. A standardized interpreters would be able to expand SASLI. method to identify who is qualified to the services for the deaf and hard of teach interpreters and assess and certify hearing people and also send the deaf The only University in Scotland offer- them is also needed. Additionally, con- and hearing interpreters to other coun- ing this training is Heriot-Watt in Edin- crete items, such as office space with tries for training. We will also input the burgh. access to needed communication and information on what do we need to office machinery, is also needed, as is so improve the services. The most important development over much more. the past year has been the introduction Baseline data would need to be Scotland From SASLI of the “Training of Trainers” course, obtained. For example, information run by Heriot Watt University, SASLI regarding the number of potential deaf and the Scottish Council on Deafness, consumers for interpreting services is aimed at training Deaf people as train- needed, as is knowledge of their demo- ers in BSL. graphics (i.e. where are clusters of Deaf individuals located, what are their ages, Aims of the Association over the next few years include: and their specific interpreting needs, Estimated 7000 sign language users in such as educational or work-related). Scotland (population around 5 million), ¬ Doubling the number of regis- The Deaf community needs to be edu- using . cated regarding their rights to obtain tered interpreters ¬ Developing professional devel- interpreters, the dangers of having rela- Main spoken language is English, tives interpret, how to use interpreters, opment of interpreters though there are many other language ¬ Increasing awareness of deaf and how and where to obtain certified groups in the country. interpreters. Confidentiality needs to issues and interpreting services be discussed, tried, and proven. Education for Deaf people is mainly in All of these demand political commit- Extensive education and public rela- mainstream education with support, but ment and funding to progress. tions with the hearing population would some specialist education exists. also need to occur. As in the Deaf Our expectation of a world body would community, hearing people would need Deaf people often work in less well-paid be to: to be made aware of the need for inter- jobs, but there are those who work in preters, the dangers of having relatives professional roles as well. Share ideas, resources, practice interpret, and their responsibility in Be a source of political pressure to raise regard to providing equal access to There are no specific laws about inter- issues of deafness at international level information. They would also need to preters in our country, but there is rec- be made aware of interpreting as a pos- ognition of the need for them and they Our contribution would be in all of sible career choice, and be informed are available for employment support, these areas. regarding where they could obtain re- health issues, legal situations and so on. quired training.

28 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 lished, and welcomes any partnership Our 1990 General Law concerning the South Africa From SASL with the objective of development and educational system says that some ordi- training of South African Sign Lan- nary schools have to have special classes guage interpreters with trained teachers for the hearing impaired. As a result of this law, special- WAY FORWARD ist schools for the deaf are gradually Collaboration of existing structures is disappearing, as more deaf children are important and the sharing of resources. integrated into standard schools. HISTORY At the first World Association of Sign In the last few years, as is happening 1989 A formal-trained British Sign Language Interpreters conference, generally in Occidental countries, the Language interpreter South Africa would like to teach/share number of school offering bilingual- was introduced to South Africa. with the first world countries the pro’s bicultural education is increasing. But and con’s of interpreting into and from this is happening rather slowly, since we 1990 Deaf Federation of South Africa different languages in a country with have no law to encourage this. (DeafSA), previously known as the diverse cultures. South Africa wants In secondary schools and universities, South African National Council for the WASLI to assist on how to lobby and more and more Sign Language Inter- Deaf, elected a Deaf Chairperson for engage government to support SASL preters are translating the lessons for the first time in history. interpreter training programmes and Sign Language users. professionalism of our SASL interpret- 1995 DeafSA appointed more than ers. What type of jobs do Deaf people 50% Deaf National Executive Commit- hold in Spain? tee members. Previously this Deaf asso- Spain From FILSE The answer to this question depends on ciation was administered by a majority certain factors: prelocutive or postlocu- (100%) of hearing people. tive hearing loss, the level of hearing loss, etc. Partially deaf people and 1996 The first Deaf National Director postlocutive deaf people have more was employed by DeafSA. academic success, so they tend to hold better jobs than prelocutive or pro- 1997 The first SASL interpreters foundly deaf people. The majority of training programme was first Facts About Spain people join professional courses and introduced by University of Free State. only 1% of the deaf population go to This programme was dissolved due to a How many deaf people are esti- university. As a result, the jobs they hold lack of funding. The SA Government mated to live in your nation? tend not to be in areas where high provided no support. 1,000,000 have some form of hearing qualifications are required. impairment, but of this total, no more Gradually the situation is improving 2003 Pan South African Language than 70,000 are with the new educational methods men- Body (PanSALB) provided a short users. tioned above and with the fact that SASL interpreters training more interpreters are working within with collaboration of the University of What is the Sign Language of the educational system. Witwatersrand. South African Spain? Do you have more than one Translators Institute (SATI, This Sign Language? Are there laws in Spain to protect, institute accredits all 11 South African We have two Sign Languages: Spanish and/or provide services to Deaf spoken languages including 4 European Sign Language for the whole Spanish people? languages) established the first territory and the Catalonian Sign Lan- We have a legal framework. First of all, accreditation system for the SASL guage, which is only used in Catalonia. the Spanish Constitution says that con- interpreters. Both languages are going to be legally ditions for individual freedom and regulated in the near future. equality shall be promoted. It declares 2004 The SASL interpreter that each Spanish person is equal before accreditation was implemented. At this What are the spoken languages of the law, and protects against discrimina- time, four SASL interpreters passed. Spain? tion. Also, the Constitution promotes The Health & Welfare Skills Education Spanish for the whole territory and we policies to assist people with physical, and Training Authority (SETA) with also have three other languages: Basque sensorial and psychological handicaps. DeafSA and University of South Africa (Basque Country), Catalonian (Catalo- The 1982 Law of Social Integration of funded a comprehensive SASL nia, Balearic Islands & Valencia) and Handicapped People (LISMI) is another Interpreters training course. After Galician (). law which helps to promote better con- numerous interviews and final selection, ditions. 27 SASL interpreters underwent this What type of education is avail- Most of the regional governments of training programme. At the moment, able to Deaf People in Spain? Spain have promoted accessibility laws, more SASL interpreters are interested Historically, Spain has a well-known which include regulations to try to to become professional SASL tradition in education for Deaf chil- break down communication barriers. interpreters, but there is no funding or dren. In the last few centuries there The above mentioned legal texts refer any support from government. have been some famous teachers for the to all people of different handicaps - deaf, whose influence has been felt be- this includes deaf people but is not 2005 South African Sign Language yond Spanish frontiers (e.g. Fray Pedro uniquely for them. Interpreting National Centre Ponce de Leon, Juan de Pablo Bonet, September 16, 2005 saw the approval of (SASLINC) was established. etc.) But also we can consider Spain a the first draft of the Spanish Sign Lan- This company encourages more similar country with an important oral teaching guage Law. Once this law is passed, it associations in South Africa to be estab- tradition for the deaf. will ensure that deaf people can use

29 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 Spanish Sign Language in most aspects All the information about FILSE can be Last year FILSE had various interviews of daily life, which include education, found at our website: with important Institutions with the aim legal settings, health settings, public www.filse.org of becoming recognized as the most media, etc. (which we expect will be translated into representative organization of inter- English in the near future) preters. Are there laws about interpreters in Spain? If so, please explain Interpreter training: At what level We were in Helsinki, at the EFSLI them. is the training if any (University or AGM and the Congress. Although some of the laws described lower). How many centres are above don't mention Sign Language there in Spain? We helped to create one new Associa- Interpreters, it is understood that they In Spain there are many ways to train tions, that now is a FILSE are a vital link necessary to help the as an Interpreter. The principal way is member. breakdown of barriers between deaf the “Ciclo Formativo de Grado people and the wider community. Superior en Interpretación de la We continued the preparation of a list Sign Language Interpreters are, how- Lengua de Signos” (two years dura- of International Sign Interpreters. ever, specifically mentioned in the Sep- tion), which consists of 2000 training tember 16, 2005 first draft of the Span- hours divided into 11 subjects: Modern We attended a few Conferences to in- ish Sign Language Law (mentioned Language: English, Psycosociology of form different Organizations about above) where provision will be made for Deaf and Deaf-Blind people, Body FILSE. SLIs in most public settings. However, Language, Spanish Sign Language, what is not stated is who is going to pro- Interpretation Techniques, Labour We strengthened our contacts with the vide the SLIs. Are they going to be con- Formation and Orientation, Spanish Department of Education with the aim tracted by the state or, as is the situation Sign Language Linguistics, Interpreta- of trying to achieve equality for the now, by deaf associations? tion Contexts, International Sign Sys- different types of SLI accreditations / tem, Guide-Interpretation for Deaf- titles. Current overview of what is hap- Blind People and a practical training pening in your country. period (3 months) in companies which We had a Regional Associations Board We are currently waiting for the finali- employ Sign Language Interpreters members meeting to exchange impres- zation and passing of the Spanish Sign (Deaf Associations, High Schools…). sions and to encourage motivation (De- Language Law. This training leads to an official Sign cember 4). Language title. There are about 25 cen- Country Report tres in Spain which offer this type of We have continued the meetings with training. Another way of becoming a CNSE, State Confederation of Deaf The number of Sign Language In- Sign Language Interpreter is to do a People, to continue with our collabora- terpreters (part-time/full-time) University Masters Course (following 3 tion agreement. In Spain we don't have a register of years of university). It has a similar con- Interpreters, so it's difficult to know a tent to the course we have talked about We had our 2nd FILSE Congress (5- precise answer. We estimate that there but it gives you a Masters Degree 8 December) in Santiago de Compos- are about 1,700 professionals, but of title. In Madrid there is a university tela. More than 120 SL Interpreters this number we estimate that only 400 (Universidad Complutense) which spe- from all over Spain were there for 3 are actually working as SLIs. Most of cialises in training sign language inter- days exchanging and sharing informa- those who are working as SLIs are em- preters for legal settings. tion, attending conferences, etc ployed full-time, mostly by Deaf asso- ciations but with short-term contracts. FILSE is currently involved in the im- We started our web page: HYPER- Only a minority of SLIs are employed provement of the training standards of LINK "http://www.filse.org/" by the state. There are only two private SLIs in Spain. One of FILSEs aims is SLI companies which also employ SLIs. the raising the above qualifications to a Most important events for the Freelance SLIs are almost nonexistent University degree. situation of Sign Language Inter- in Spain. preters in Spain. Do you have a testing system to The most notable event that we are The interpreter's organisation/s: decide who is qualified to inter- currently involved in is the improve- The Name of the Association/ pret in Spain? If you have a test- ment to the status of the Spanish Sign Organisation/Agency in Spanish ing system, can you briefly de- Language and also the status of the SLI and how many members it has / scribe it? profession. We hope the Spanish Sign they have. No, we don't have a testing system. In Language Law, in which the SLI profes- FILSE - Federacion Española de Inter- Spain, to know if the Interpreter is sion is mentioned, will go some way to pretes de Lengua de Signos y Guias- qualified, one asks for his/her official improve the situation. Interpretes. (Spanish Federation of Sign title or another kind of SLI accredita- In addition, FILSE is gradually becom- Language Interpreters and Guide- tion. ing better known, more regularly con- Interpreters). sulted and more often contacted for FILSE only knows for sure the number Most important events for your advice regarding the SLI profession by of interpreters who are members of the association/etc. in the past year. public and private institutions. Sign Language Interpreters Associa- We were one of the patrons of the 2nd tions which are part of FILSE. This Spanish Sign Language Congress. Goals of your association for the year we expect to be about 500 inter- coming years. preters connected to those Associations, We helped to create two new regional To encourage SLI to be members of because two new associations are being SLI associations. research groups in the Spanish universi- created. ties.

30 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 We are continuing to try to standardize which could be distributed throughout year due to the fact that most of the all the various types of professional cer- all WASLI members who in turn could teachers leave as there is little motiva- tificates, accreditations / titles to be- pass them on to a wider public. Another tion. As a result obviously deaf children come a Sign Language Interpreter. proposal would be an updated WASLI do not have as good an education as website containing greater information. they should. To offer Conferences about FILSE in the different Regions to motivate the What do you have that can help METHOD OF TEACHING: SLIs all over Spain. others? Most of the special primary schools of We can offer our experience to every- the deaf and all units use the To join the WASLI as a founder mem- one, as we are already doing with some method of teaching, except one pri- ber and to participate in the WASLI Latin American countries. Sharing the mary school that uses total communica- meeting. same oral language (Spanish), naturally tion . strengthens our ties with Latin America. Continue with the International col- We have already started to help WASLI SIGN LANGUAGE: laboration. to translate WASLI documents into We do have Tanzanian Sign Language Spanish, such as the WASLI Governing but this Language is not officially rec- In March 2006 we have the elections for Document and the emails between ognized by the government as a lan- a new FILSE board for four years. The WASLI and some Latin American SLI guage. We don’t have college for Sign current FILSE board is preparing a associations. Language training. Our training is usu- large scale event called “The Forum” FILSE offers its help for any such col- ally done by the Tanzania Association (El Foro) for January 2006 in order to laborations. of the deaf using seminars for teachers close our four years on the FILSE of deaf children . Some times the board. Tanzania By Geden B.S.Singo Ministry of Education provide training To be consulted by the Ministry of when they have funds though this does Education and the Ministry of Em- not happen regularly. ployment regarding subjects to do with the SLIs profession. SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETERS: To strengthen our links with the Deaf No training college for Sign Language and Deaf-Blind Associations in areas Interpreters in the country, all where we have common objectives. Tanzania is a very big country with a training is done by Tanzania Associa- population over 36,000,000 and it is tion of the deaf. Most of the trained What is needed for Sign Language amongst the poorest countries in the Sign Language Interpreters have Interpreting to develop? world, with more than 120 tribes. The left the profession because there is no We believe greater consultation with national language is Kiswahili . employment for them. They decide to FILSE by the Government is needed as go to other kinds of training where, at regards the new Spanish Sign Language DEAF ASSOCIATION: the end of the day, they may be able get Law after it is passed - to put it into Tanzania Association of the Deaf employment. practice and make it workable in all was officially registered in 1984 , at that areas related to Sign Language Inter- time the population of deaf people was There is only one Sign Language Inter- preters. about 400,000 . Since then no proper preter who is fully employed by the Until now, the real control of most ar- study has been taken in order to know Tanzania Association of the deaf eas of decision-making related to the the population of deaf people in the SLIs profession, has not been in the country today. In short up to this time we can say that hands of the professionals. Instead, im- there are only five reliable Sing Lan- portant decisions affecting the profes- DEAF EDUCATION: guage Interpreters in the country, one sion have been controlled by the deaf Primary Education. The education of female and the rest are male . No Sign community. For this reason, the devel- deaf people started in 1963 , up to day Language Interpreters organization in opment of SL interpreting has been we have only seven special primary the country so far , but for the time be- very limited. We are convinced that, in schools for the deaf in the country and ing we are in the process of construct- the hands of the professionals (repre- several units , whereby all primary ing the constitution of the organization sented by FILSE), much greater im- schools are owned by Missionaries and of Sign Language Interpreters. We do provements can be achieved. units are owned by the Government . hope by March next year the organiza- tion will be already registered so as to What are your expectation of a Secondary Education: In Tanzania we be an active member of WASLI. world body and how can they sup- don’t have special secondary school for port you? the deaf, instead we have integrated Being so new and small , we are able to We believe it can be of great help. Es- schools whereby you may find 43 do all things because we are getting full pecially, we think that greater exchang- hearing students and 2 or 3 deaf stu- support from the Tanzania ing of information between countries dents in the class with no Sign Lan- Association of the Deaf. can be very useful for the improvement guage interpreters , as result deaf of the professional situation of all WA- students end up with failing in educa- Thank you SLI members. We also think that WA- tion. SLI should increase the visibility of the SLI profession throughout the world. A TEACHERS FOR THE DEAF: suggestion on one way to start would be We do have one training college for the to produce a DVD in many different specialist teachers but the number of languages explaining the profession those teachers is decreasing year after

31 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 Language Seminar, the availabilities of established in 2003 as an umbrella asso- Uganda From UNASLI Sign Language Interpreters further ciation for Sign Language Interpreters more demonstrated to the society that in Uganda. The national association of the Deaf people’s live could be im- Sign Language Interpreters is a mem- proved. All these paved way for the offi- ber of World Association of Sign Lan- cial recognition of the Uganda Sign guage Interpreters – WASLI, National Language (USL) in the 1995 Uganda’s Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda constitution (UNAD News 1995) – NUDIPU, Uganda National Associa- The History of Sign Language In- tion of the Deaf – UNAD and many terpreting in Uganda: Training of Sign Language Inter- others working with Deaf people. preters: Uganda is land locked country located In 1993 UNAD then took on the re- in East Africa between Sudan (North), sponsibility of training Sign Language The primary task of the association is to Kenya (East), Tanzania (South) and DR Interpreters (funded by DDL) by initiat- look after the interest of Sign Language Congo (West). Uganda currently has ing basic Sign Language Interpreters’ Interpreters, the Deaf community and about 70 districts with more than 40 (SLI) courses and these were trained to the Hearing community communicat- spoken languages English being the bridge the communication gap between ing in Sing Language to provide serv- official language. Uganda by 2002 had the Deaf and Hearing community. The ices for them and to act as the expert in a population of 24.4 million people training was conducted for a short dura- this area. The association’s activities (11,929,803 males and 12,512,281 fe- tion of 1-2 weeks. Some of the trainees encompasses the dignity, welfare, and males) and one in every 25 person has a who successfully underwent these enhancing the status of the Sign Lan- disability estimating that at least one courses are now practicing interpreters guage Interpreter(s) and improving the disability are 844,841 (2002 Uganda out in the field to facilitate communica- availability of information to the Deaf Population and Housing Census – tion between the Deaf and Hearing community in all spheres of influence. www.ubos.org) people in the society e.g. working in schools, Organizations of Deaf persons UNASLI Mandate: The earliest record got from Uganda like UNAD and other Organizations Establish a bond of unity, love and National Association of the Deaf for/working with Deaf people. transparency in executing professional (UNAD) indicates that the first sign In 2000 UNAD in collaboration with work and to unite Sign Language Inter- Language communicators/Interpreters former Uganda National Institute of preters together for development and (people who facilitate communication Special Needs Education - UNISE in- empowerment. between the Deaf and Hearing people troduced a certificate course in Sign i.e. translate sign language to any spo- Language Interpreting conducted at UNASLI Vision: ken language e.g. English, etc and vice regional level i.e. Eastern region, Cen- Join hands together as a professional versa) emanated from teachers of the tral region and Western region for a body to contribute effectively to social- Deaf and family members who had period of 2 years (UNAD News 2001). economic and cultural development of grown up with a Deaf person(s) in the However due to increased demand for Sign Language Interpretation services early 1990s (UNAD News 1995 Vol. 1). effective Sign Language Interpretation to the Deaf and Hearing community in These people had acquired some service provision by the society, former Uganda. knowledge and skills of signing through UNISE – Kyambogo University with their associating with the Deaf people, the co-operation of the Danish Deaf so they would to some extend facilitate Association (DDL) and UNAD intro- UNASLI Mission: communication between the Deaf and duced a recognized training Pro- To enhance Uganda Sign Language Hearing people as “interpreters”. gramme for Sign Language Interpreting Interpreters to recognition and encour- in 2002. The training is being con- age good practice in the profession. UNAD’s international linkages with ducted for a period of 2 years, were the Values: other organizations in the same struggle successful students will be awarded a Respect of the Deaf and Hearing peo- e.g. Danish Deaf Association (DDL), Diploma in Sign Language Interpret- ple’s cultures World Federation of the Deaf Regional ing. The first group of students quali- Transparency and Accountability (WFD) Regional Secretariat for East fied in August 2004. Diversity in interpretation skills and Southern Africa, etc led for better Information dissemination demand of the Deaf people to partici- UGANDA NATIONAL ASSOCIA- Team spirit pate fully and play major roles in de- TION OF SIGN LANGUAGE IN- Flexibility termining policies affecting them in the TERPRETERS – UNASLI Time management for effective assign- community. ments During that time (1990s) the political General Information: Networking atmosphere in Uganda favored the im- The Uganda National Association of Objectives: plementation of the United Nation’s Sign Language Interpreters – UNASLI Implant and promote Sign Language declaration on equalization of opportu- is a non-governmental and voluntary Interpretation in the country nity for People living with Disabilities. organization bringing together all Sign This exposed the roles of Sign Lan- Language Interpreters and relay Inter- Promote gender equality in training guage Interpreters to the society. preters of the Deaf and other Deaf Interpreters in Uganda In addition to the above UNAD and people with multiple disabilities (e.g. National Union of Disabled Persons of DeafBlind persons) in Uganda. To lobby and build the coexisting pro- Uganda (NUDIPU) played an advocacy grammes so as to work more consis- and lobbying role in the major events of UNASLI is a voluntary social service tently and coherently focusing on the the Constitutional Assembly (CA) in organization registered in Uganda un- need of Sign Language Interpretation 1993. In 1994 when Uganda hosted the der non-governmental organizations as a right for Deaf people. fourth East and Southern Africa Sign statue of 1989. The Association was

32 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 Articulate the needs of Sign Language Registered about 40 sign Language Laws - Deaf: Americans With Interpreters in Uganda at all levels Interpreters Disabilities Act: through the association. Organized structure http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adaho i.e. Board of Directors m1.htm Develop useful data on the situation of Sign Language Interpretation, support A Constitution Laws – Interpreters: Some states in research on Sign Language develop- have laws requiring interpreters to have CONCLUSION ment in Uganda Sign Language. I would like to send my sincere thanks national certification before being to the organizers/working group of allowed to work in the state or a To sensitize the general public and serv- WASLI for having organized this im- particular type of interpreting in the ice providers on the use of Sign Lan- portant 1st International Conference of state. See listing on RID web site: guage Interpreters Sign Language Interpreters to approve http://www.rid.org/lic.html WASLI and share information from To network and work closely with the different parts of the world for the de- Country Report already existing organizations/ velopment of the profession. associations of Deaf people and other Number of sign language disabled persons organizations towards Lastly I would like to thank Uganda interpreters: Estimated at over the recognition of the profession of National Association of the Deaf and 50,000. An analysis of full time and Sign Language Interpreters. Danish Deaf Association (LF) for fund- part time professionals has not been ing me to represent UNASLI in this 1st done. Promote further training of Sign Lan- very important conference for the Sign guage Interpreters in their area of work Language Interpreters. Numbers in the interpreter FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY organization: Registry of Interpreters Public relations: of the Deaf officially has more than To ensure a high degree of awareness of 11,000 members, with an additional USA From R.I.D. Sign Language Interpreters require- approximate 10,000 affiliated through ments, code of ethics and opportunities state and local chapters of RID. amongst organizations/associations of Deaf people and other disability Interpreter training: Over 150 groups. programs ranging from certificate of attendance through masters level To ensure that Deaf people have excel- training. Most programs are two-year lent access to information about the The United States of America / associate degrees. There are society in and out of their country. Registry of Interpreters for the approximately 30 programs offering Deaf, Inc. four-year bachelor degree programs, CHALLENGES FACED BY SIGN and three graduate level programs. LANGUAGE INTERPRETERS IN Population: The United States has a UGANDA population of 267,000,000. Of that Testing System: Undefined/specific roles and responsi- number, it is estimated that there are http://www.rid.org/nts.html bilities for the SL interpreters. Most 10,680,000 Deaf / Hard of Hearing RID has taken a holistic and proactive institutions and offices do not have de- citizens. It is estimated that 2,670,000 approach in developing its national fined job descriptions for the SL inter- individuals are deaf. certification system by using the triad preters because it is a new profession in Size of Country: concept. The components of the triad the country, so interpreters end up do- 9,363,400 sq. km (3,615,200 sq. miles) are as follows: ing other things besides interpretation The Certification Maintenance e.g. interpreter/secretary, interpreter/ Sign Language: Program, (CMP) (an avenue through note taker and or interpreter/guide. American Sign Language which the continued skill development of certified interpreters and Less pay/motivation; because most in- Spoken Language: English transliterators is monitored and stitutions and office do not have defined (for all government and general nourished). The Ethical Practices roles for the SL interpreters, most of business. Many other languages are them also do not have defined pay for System, (EPS) (a vehicle which provides used but not officially recognized as an opportunity for consumers to the SL interpreters. So in most cases languages of the nation.) they are paid less compared to the work address concerns or file complaints they do. regarding the quality of interpreter and Deaf people education: Free public transliterator services). Lack of awareness by other profession- education primary through high als how to use the SL interpreters e.g. in The National Testing System has been school, colleges and universities are an important part of RID since 1970, an office related setting where the in- accessible with interpreters and other terpreters complained of interpreting when RID began preliminary testing of forms of access. The United States is sign language interpreters. Full for along time without rest which can the home of Gallaudet University. be dangerous to their health and also implementation of the national Gallaudet is the world's only university certification system began in 1972. reduces on effectiveness of the service for the deaf and hard of hearing, delivery. Under this program, both full and providing a quality liberal arts partial certificates were offered. The full education for all students. certificates offered were the ACHIEVEMENTS OF UNASLI Acquired an office at UNAD Head- Comprehensive Skills Certificate (CSC), quarters Deaf people’s jobs: No restrictions. and, the Reverse Skills Certificate Deaf people work in every field RSC) which was awarded to imaginable. interpreters and transliterators who are

33 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI Spain 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 Deaf or hard-of-hearing. Partial hearing and who may work in teams Goals for the next year: certificates were also offered for with hearing interpreters and Continued numerical growth expertise in several segments of the transliterators or with other Deaf interpretation/transliteration arena. persons who may require the services of Continued expansion of training for Specialty certificates were developed a Deaf interpreter. The CDI written state chapters and other leaders during 1975-1978, to include the legal test is now available. In addition, any (SC:L), and performing arts (SC:PA) qualified Deaf interpreter may still Planning for 2007 conference, to be certificates. The certification in oral apply to become a Certified Deaf held in San Francisco, CA interpretation (OIC: C, etc.) was offered Interpreter - Provisional (CDI-P). between 1979-1983. Oral Transliteration Certification Continued growth of staff and (OTC), for transliterators who increased pay In 1983, a nationally recognized panel transliterate a spoken message from a of professional interpreters and person who hears to a person who is Continued growth of services to transliterators was formed under the deaf or hard-of-hearing and the ability members name of the National Evaluation to understand and repeat the message System Study Committee (NESSC). It and intent of the speech and mouth Continued development of more new was charged with the task of making movements of the person who is deaf publications for the field recommendations related to the or hard-of-hearing. development and implementation of a Specialist Certificate: Legal (SC:L), for Completion and final implementation national, standardized, valid, and interpreters that are already fully of the interview and performance test reliable test for the certification of sign certified (CI and CT, or CSC) and work portions of the joint NAD-RID language interpreters. The findings and in a legal setting. National Interpreter Certification test recommendations of this committee were approved by the RID membership At a joint meeting in Boston, Increase fiscal reserves and accelerate and became the foundation for the Massachusetts, USA in 1993 then payoff of association-owned building current testing system. Presidents, Ben Soukup (National Association of the Deaf) and Janet Sign Language Interpreting The current RID National Testing Bailey (Registry of Interpreters for the continues to grow and develop: System (NTS), implemented in 1987, Deaf), agreed to work together. From With the wide spread use of video has two components to each test this came the NAD-RID Task Force on interpreting for phone calls and remote offered: a written test and a Interpreting Issues. NAD and RID interpreting the United States is seeing performance test. The current testing formed the National Council on a shift in the type of work sign language system strives to maintain strict Interpreting (NCI) to, among other interpreters are doing. adherence to nationally recognized, things, develop a National Interpreter testing industry standards of validity, Certification (NIC) test. This new test Involvement with World reliability, equity and legal defensibility. will replace the current RID generalist Organization: The United States As a result, an independent test (CI and CT). The NIC is a looks forward to learning from others psychometrician (test development three-part test: written, interview and who are involved in the world body. expert) is retained by RID and oversees performance. We started offering the all test development and revision test in 2005. What we can offer: The Registry of processes. Interpreters for the Deaf has a wealth Most important events for RID of information available on the Internet The two tests implemented in 1988 during 2004 - 2005: http://www.rid.org/ and has many were the Certificate of Interpretation The San Antonio national members who are highly skilled and (CI), and the Certificate of conference attracted over 1700 educated in the field of interpreting. Transliteration (CT). For more participants. The RID members and organization information on these certificates, refer can serve as resources to others. to the Explanation of Certificates in this State conferences were conducted We can also share information about directory. RID currently administers the cooperation that has occurred 2,000 - 3000 tests per year between the Executive members to the Board between the USA’s national interpreter written and performance exams. of Directors elected – Those association and the association of the serving terms for 2005-2007 are Deaf. Over the past several years, RID has President Angela Jones; put significant effort into the Vice-President Jimmy Beldon; development of three new certificates. Secretary Cheryl Moose; These new exams have been recently Treasurer Bruce King and implemented, and the National Office, Member at Large Glendia Boon. various Task Forces and interpreters and transliterators that worked on these Collaboration between RID and NAD exams should be congratulated for all continues. The latest event has been the of their hard work. These three new initiation of the joint test for certificates all follow the same model of certification and acceptance of a new testing as the CI and CT tests, with Code of Professional Conduct. both a written and a performance component. These three new tests are: Membership continues to grow. Numbers talking certification exams up Certified Deaf Interpreter (CDI), for considerably, continuing a long-running interpreters who are Deaf or hard-of trend

34 Please forward this WASLI Document to as many people as possible WASLI SPAIN 2007 WASLI Country Reports 2005 Ready to join WASLI? WASLI membership By Zane Hema

NATIONAL MEMBERS are those national associa- tions of sign language interpreters with goals similar to WASLI. November 2005

TS PROVISIONAL MEMBERS are those interpreters from a country where there is no national asso- ciation of sign language interpreters.

SPONSORING MEMBERS are individuals, businesses, agencies, institutions, or others who wish to support WASLI through membership fees and/or volunteering. Y REPOR Very soon, full details of how to become a WASLI member will be available. There will be an WASLI Application Form, which will come with Guidance. is There will also be the WASLI Membership Fee Schedule and the WASLI List of Countries with committed COUNTR

their GDP. to the You can use these to find out how much to pay. advancement ASLI of W WASLI is also introducing an ASSISTANCE programme where you can indicate that you need sign assistance OR indicate that you can provide assistance. language WASLI Membership Information & Guidance available shortly Interpreting world wide [email protected]

WASLI [email protected]

WASLI SECRETARY [email protected]