Sign Language Interpreting and Community Interpreting – Collaboration and Mutual Gains

Abstract

This chapter traces the parallel development of Austrian Sign Language (Osterreichische Gebardensprache – OGS) interpreting and community interpreting (CI) education at the School of Translation Studies in Graz. After a short summary of the history of deaf education and of OGS interpreting in Austria, it describes the various international projects which preceded the inclusion of OGS as a regular language in the school’s curriculum in 2002. The chapter then shows how the close collaboration between OGS and spoken-language researchers and teachers and sharing of theoretical and empirical findings as well as didactic approaches enabled the rapid development of CI training modules to cater for the need for community interpreters in the wake of the war in the former Yugoslavia and conflicts in the Middle East. The chapter concludes with a discussion of professionalisation initiatives of OGS interpreters and their relevance to community interpreters’ efforts to gain recognition and enhance their status.