‘It depends on the context…’ How many times have you uttered or signed those words? As practitioners, educators and researchers we find that any analyses of our interpretations requires an understanding of the context in which we work. Whether it’s on a macro level in terms of the Australian, Deaf community context; or a micro level in terms of the context (participants, place, purpose and point) of the assignment where we provide interpreting services.

I am very excited that the theme of the ASLIA National Conference (ANC) this year will provide us with the opportunity to ‘unpack the interpreter’ and explore these macro and micro-level contexts that influence the way we work; identify the challenges that we encounter, and discuss strategies that we can employ to ensure the provision of quality interpreting services that meet the needs of all our consumers. The ANC is an incredibly important event which should be in the calendar of all interpreters.

The conference welcomes all interested parties - including Auslan interpreters accredited by NAATI at Paraprofessional or Professional level, educational interpreters, interpreting students, Deaf Relay Interpreters, spoken language interpreters and translators; interpreting service providers, interpreter educators, interpreter researchers; and Deaf and hearing consumers. Our esteemed international keynote speaker for 2009, Robyn Dean, will lead us in the examination of demands and controls in interpreting, and will provide us with a foundation in which to embed the rest of our discussions.

In addition to analysing the work we do, and furthering our understanding of our profession, the conference also presents us with an excellent opportunity for socialising and networking – and anyone who’s been to previous conferences will tell you that we certainly know how to have fun! ASLIA Vic and the ANC09 organising committee are working extremely hard to plan an exciting event on behalf of ASLIA National this year, and I urge you to register as soon as possible so as not to miss out. Places will be limited, so get in quick! I look forward to seeing you all in Melbourne in August.

ASLIA is proud to announce
ANC '09 Keynote Presenter
Robyn Dean

Robyn K. Dean, M.A., C.I/C.T., was appointed to the faculty of the University of Rochester School of Medicine in 1999, in recognition of her scholarship in the interpreting field and leadership in the education of interpreters, medical students, and other health care professionals. She has been an interpreter for 16 years, with particular service experience in healthcare and mental health settings. Ms. Dean holds a BA in ASL Interpreting and an MA in Theology.

Ms. Dean's application of demand-control theory to sign language interpreting, as originally described in the Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education (Winter, 2001), has been the topic of numerous workshops, publications, and grant projects nationally and internationally. Ms. Dean's work is funded by several federal grants, one which infuses demand-control schema curricular materials into fifteen interpreter training programs across the US and another which studies the effectiveness of observation-supervision in mental health interpreter training.

For more information on our notable Keynote presenter Robyn Dean, please click on this link PDF Format
Information kindly provided by CIT www.cit-asl.org

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ASLIA is proud to announce
JW Flynn Orator
Della Goswell

Della Goswell is based in Sydney and works as an interpreter, interpreter trainer and researcher - to her surprise. Although she grew up in the Sydney Deaf Community, with deaf parents, and other deaf relatives, and took on the role of family interpreter, she had no intention of working in the field when she “grew up”.
Possibly because interpreters and Auslan hadn’t been invented yet, but mainly because she wanted to become a professional something in the big wide world.
Della studied photography and architecture and then worked for many years as a conciliator with the NSW Anti- Discrimination Board (no connection whatsoever). For some reason she sat for her NAATI interpreting exams in the late ‘80s, and in 1990, started teaching entry level interpreters part-time with TAFE NSW. She decided she liked teaching, and that it would be a good idea to get some relevant qualifications. Della completed a Master of Education (Adult Education), and has recently finished a Master of Translation and Interpreting. Over that time, she has done freelance interpreting work; predominantly in educational, conference and performance settings. Without realising it, she has slowly but surely moved across to the dark side.
Della now juggles a mix of roles: teaching Auslan/English interpreting at Petersham TAFE and Macquarie University, plus some research and interpreting work. She is still waiting to see what she will be when she grows up.