Thread by @translationtalk

The truth is: #terps feel delegates using English as a lingua franca is a replacement for interpreting & a threat - and there is a lot of truth in that. The problem with this attitude is its hypocrisy: we use English in our own meetings (prof. associations, academic confs)!

When I present an academic paper, I use English to increase my reach bc I know that things like "impact factors" matter. So I am in no position to criticize any speaker doing the same. I am tweeting in English right now for the same reason - see the irony?!

Ultimately, English as a global Lingua Franca is a reality. It has obvious pitfalls but it also opens a lot of opportunities for millions of people. And interpreters acting as gatekeepers here is not very helpful.
Btw this also exists in community interpreting...

... in a recent training course, one participant (community interpreter with English) complained bitterly about ppl who are clearly not very fluent in English relying on her rather than someone from their first language community. She asked me: how come they don't know?

Actually, they do know. In many situations (asylum, health care, etc.) migrants deliberately avoid interpreters from their own community and use English to ensure that the mediator is not embedded within their diaspora. Bc they share sensitive and culturally taboo information.

The are putting the interpreter in a difficult position. But they are doing so bc they are exercising their individual agency and protecting themselves. So in that case, doing everything possible to ensure communication (simplifying, repeating, etc.) is the ethically right thing.

Ultimately - a discussion on whether "English as a Lingua Franca" is a good or a bad thing misses the point. It is a reality. Yes, it might displace interpreters from many markets and already has. But self-preservation cannot be an aim in itself.

When I started working 12y ago, I still did quite a lot of medical conferences. Many of these are now exclusively in English. The change has been rapid, in big part linked to a generational change in many professions.

Today, the main anxiety-generating topic in T&I circles is #ArtificialIntelligence and its potential long-term impact. But the rise of #English as Lingua Franca has already had a very tangible impact on many markets. These two factors compound each other.

And when it comes to the 5 stages of grief, we cannot remain stuck in denial. How many times at a conference have a heard eminent members of the profession say that #AI "will never replace human interpreters" - based on what analysis? what data?

These are things people say and get away with saying routinely in conferences. Without presenting any evidence for these claims and often lacking a basic understanding of how recent #AI technologies, artificial neural networks, machine learning and deep learning systems work.