Call for papers: New Job Opportunities in Translation and Interpreting: Challenges for University Programmes and Language Services Providers

New Job Opportunities in Translation and Interpreting:

Challenges for University Programmes and Language Services Providers

Provisional dates - 25-27 March 2015

Venue – University of Porto, Portugal

Few professions have been so radically changed by globalization in the last twenty years than that of language services providers (LSPs) and, although the pace of change is different from one country and/or language to another, it is not slowing down.

The last 20 years have seen LSPs embrace the Internet for information and publicity, welcome translation memories and terminology databases to accelerate their work, and react ambivalently to machine translation and other language technologies. The universities have struggled to innovate their curricula in order to meet demands that their graduates should be qualified for a job.

However, the market continues to change, driven by technology, the recession and the laws of supply and demand. As with other industries, large international organizations and companies subcontract smaller ones or freelancers, and all are becoming the beneficiaries (victims?) of the videoconference, the virtual office and the ‘cloud’. Besides, LSPs often feel their work is being threatened by amateurs, volunteer collaborative networks, crowd sourcing, and fan-subbing.  

How can LSPs react to all this imaginatively and turn it to their advantage?

How can universities prepare their present students for the future, and what kind of specialist or life-long learning programmes can be provided?

This call for papers asks for new ideas and research on the following:

Language Service Providers or Intercultural Communicators?

Multilingualism & Language Rights – political, legal, and economic issues

Volunteer networks, crowd-sourcing and fan-subbing – threats or opportunities?

Language services for the media, the Internet, social networks, special needs, and special domains

Diversification – learning new skills and working with multidisciplinary teams

The relativity of the quality of LSPs and their products and the market

English as a ‘bridge’ language – solution or problem?

Working with or for translation and interpreting technology?

New technology-supported forms of interpreting and the changing role of conference interpreters

Public Service translation and interpreting – by and for whom?

Sworn translators and interpreters – a legal necessity?

Professionalization of terminologists – a solution for confusion?

Call for papers

The main working languages for the conference are English and Portuguese, but papers may be presented in other languages if desired. Each paper presentation should be scheduled for 20 minutes followed by 10 minutes for questions.

Individual Papers: Individual papers are invited for presentations of 20 minutes, with a further 10 minutes for questions. Abstracts of 300-400 words, including references, should be sent via the conference website by 25 July 2014. Please do not include your name, affiliation and email address in the abstract itself.

Posters: Proposals for posters of no more than 300 words, including references, should be sent via the conference website by 25 July 2014. Unsuccessful individual paper proposals may be invited for presentation alternatively as a poster, but original proposals for posters will be given priority.

Important dates

Notifications of acceptance will be communicated by 30 October 2014.

Confirmation of attendance – 30 November 2014

Provisional programme online – 31 December 2014

Early bird enrolment – 31 January 2015

Plenary speakers

Dorothy Kenny (Dublin City University)

Nike Pokorn (University of Ljublana)

Yves Gambier (University of Turku)

Scientific Committee

Anca Greere (University of Cluj-Napoca)

Andrew Rothwell  (University of Swansea)

Anthony Pym (University of Rovira i Virgili)

Belinda Maia (University of Porto)

Carmen Valero (University of Alcalá de Henares)

Christian Balliu (ISTI, Brussels)

Daniel Gouadec (University of Rennes)

Daniel Toudic (University of Rennes)

Dorothy Kenny (Dublin City University)

Edite Gromova (University of Sofia)

Federica Scarpa (University of Trieste)

Federico Federici (Heriot-Watt)

Franz Poechhacker (University of Vienna)

Gerhard Budin (University of Vienna)

Jorge Diaz-Cintas (University College, London)

Joselia Neves (Instituto Politécnico de Leiria)

Maeve Olohan (University of Manchester)

Nijole Maskaliuniene (University of Vilnius)

Nike Pokorn (University of Ljublana)

Sonia Vandepitte (University of Gent)

Thomas Husgen (University of Porto)

Yves Gambier (University of Turku)

For more information, contact: newjoboti@letras.up.pt

Website: http://ocs.letras.up.pt/index.php/njoti/