How Language Variation Brings Us Together
November 21, 2020 1p-4p Eastern
Dr. Bruce Sofinski
Presented through ZOOM
This workshop will present a timeline of the signed/manual communication used in North America from “pre-Hartford School” (18th Century) through present day. Conversation and input from participants will be solicited to share anecdotal accounts of real-life experience regarding language variation. The goal is to establish a common narrative from which ASL-English interpreters and interpreter teams (including Deaf-hearing teams) can identify and or predict potential demands and prepare corresponding controls to attempt to address these demands in regard to the language use of the Deaf consumer(s) in various work settings.
This workshop is presented in ASL
Target Audience: Hearing and Deaf interpreters
Presenter Bio
Bruce A. Sofinski was first exposed to American Sign Language (ASL) as an undergraduate at the University of South Florida (USF), where he lived with two deaf roommates for 18 months. In the three decades since then, he has been living in and around the Deaf community working as an advocate, interpreter, educator, and friend. Bruce received his Master's degree from Gallaudet University (Linguistics, 2000) and his PhD in Curriculum & Instruction – Foreign Language Education from the University of Virginia, Curry School of Education in 2011. An avid supporter of continued professional development, Bruce Sofinski has served on the Virginia RID board, worked within several taskforces and workgroups focused on increasing access to American Sign Language and to interpreter education, coordinated grants through the Virginia Dept. of Education, and mentored novice to experienced interpreters. He is a life-long learner who completed the Certificate in Healthcare Interpreting (2016) from the Rochester Institute of Technology and has earned his CI & CT, Ed: K-12, NIC, SC:L, OTC, and ASLTA Certification. Currently, Dr. Sofinski is Dean of the school of Humanities and Social Sciences at Reynolds Community College where he began as an adjunct in January 1989. A happily married father of three adult children, he enjoys vegetable gardening, genealogy, and hiking, particularly on the Appalachian Trail (AT) and at other locations in Central Virginia the Blue Ridge and Shenandoah Valley.
Sponsors
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