A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• Making theory work in practice

  2018. Jenny Lindström, Malin Tesfazion, Elisabet Tiselius. Proceedings: Nordic Seminar Umeå February 2018, 68-80

  Conference

  The BA-programme in Swedish Sign Language and Interpreting, 180 ECTS. university level in Sweden. It is a three-year BA programme divided into six semesters of courses that are both practically and theoretically organized and it leads to a BA in Translation Studies with a focus on SSL interpreting. The first students enrolled in 2013 and graduated in 2016. There was a pause between the first and the second intake so, the second cohort will graduate in June 2018. Since 2015, intake has been regular every autumn, hence the third cohort are due to 2019 and the fourth one to 2020.

  Read more about Making theory work in practice

• Taltolkning av hörande teckenspråksanvändare

  2016. Malin Tesfazion, Elisabet Tiselius, Krister Schönström.

  Studien behandlar och beskriver dels hur tolkar upplever att taltolka hörande personer som använder teckenspråk, dels hur hörande personer som använder teckenspråk upplever att bli taltolkade. Två fokusgrupper fick berätta om sina erfarenheter av denna företeelse; teckenspråkstolkar i en grupp och hörande teckenspråkiga i en annan grupp. Genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys identifierades fem teman med de viktigaste aspekterna i frågan. Dessa teman var: 1. Hörandes val av språk i tolkade sammanhang 2. Strategier för att hantera att bli taltolkad 3. Tolkens språkliga utmaningar 4. Ett gott samarbete är avgörande 5. CEFR – självbedömning är svårt. Genom dessa teman framkom att taltolkning av hörande är ett komplext fenomen som kräver särskild hantering. Ett väl utarbetat samarbete är en stor fördel och underlättar tolkens arbete. Det krävs också god kännedom om anledningen till att hörande ibland väljer att teckna i tolkade sammanhang. Det gör att tolken kan slappna av och koncentrera sig på tolkuppdraget. God insikt hos hörande gällande sin teckenspråkskompetens är också eftersträvansvärt. Vanan av att bli taltolkad underlättar situationen eftersom hörande då utarbetar strategier för att tåla att parallellt med den egna produktionen höra taltolkningen. 

  Read more about Taltolkning av hörande teckenspråksanvändare

• Sign language interpreter education in Sweden

  2025. Malin Tesfazion, Elisabet Tiselius, Johanna Mesch. International Perspectives on Sign Language Translator and Interpreter Education, 342-360

  Chapter

  Stretching over the northernmost parts of Europe, with Norway, Finland, and Denmark as its closest neighbors, Sweden remains a sparsely populated (10.5 million inhabitants) and linguistically a fairly uniform country. It is the cradle of the world famous social-democratic “welfare state,” which emerged over the course of the 20th century and is characterized by a strong vision of full inclusion for all members of society (Haualand & Holmström, 2018). Over the same period, Sweden also transformed from a monolingual and homogenous society to a much more multilingual and culturally diverse society; of Sweden’s approximately 10.5 million inhabitants, about 20% were born abroad (SCB, 2022). The deaf population consists of about 10,000 individuals (SDR, 2021), and in addition there are approximately 2,000 people who are deafblind (NKCDB, 2021). The Language Act states that the public society shall protect and promote Swedish Sign Language (svenskt teckenspråk [STS]) and that deaf people have the right to learn, develop, and use STS. This means that deaf people have the same legislated rights as other minority groups (Sami, Meänkieli, Finnish, Romani Chib, and Yiddish) or allophone language speakers to have access to interpreting services. Deaf people’s right to interpreters was affirmed in the 1994 Disability Reform (Swedish Government Official Reports [Statens offentliga utredningar;SOU], 2004:64). The right to use interpreters is also codified in several other Swedish laws. For example, the following laws all directly refer to interpreters: the Language Act (Swedish Code of Statutes [Svensk författningssamling; SFS],2009:600); the Health and Medical Services Act (SFS, 2017:30); the Support and Service for Persons With Certain Functional Impairments Act (SFS, 1993:387); the Administrative Procedure Act (SFS, 2017:900); the Code of Juridical Procedure (SFS, 1942:740); and the Administrative Court Procedure Act (SFS, 1971:201). Interpreting services are also codified, though more indirectly, in the Patient Act (SFS, 2014:821). We begin by contextualizing translation and interpreting of both signed and spoken languages in Sweden. We then talk about the status of STS and the professionalization of sign language interpreting (SLI) and discuss the development of interpreter education, with reference to deaf and hearing interpreters alike. We discuss the issue of readiness to work after formal education, as well as continuing professional development. Finally, we reflect on the status of STS/Swedish interpreting in the present day and on the current state of research into SLI and interpreter education.

  Read more about Sign language interpreter education in Sweden

Show all publications by Malin Tesfazion at Stockholm University