Registration Information
Location: Calgary Courts Centre, 601 5 Street SW, Calgary, AB T2P 5P7
Following ACIA’s ongoing commitment to provide comprehensive training in court interpreting, we will be offering this summer a professional development opportunity for interpreters to practice skills for legal settings. This will be a 4-day workshop focused on an overview of the criminal, family, and civil courts, as well as the terminology and processes embedded in those areas. It will include skill development activities facilitated by interpreter educators and lawyers, and will culminate in a mock trial experience.
Participants: There will be up to 30 spots available in the workshop for interpreters.
Pre-Requisites for Participation in ACIA’s Summer Training
Participants are required to complete a number of pre-reading assignments in order to ensure that all participants have a common knowledge base and are prepared for the work. This reading will focus on topics including, but not limited to, an overview of the Canadian legal system, overview of criminal, civil and family law, relevant documents, as well as Demand-Control Schema and Consecutive Interpreting. The pre-requisite package will be shared with participants by April 1, 2016 allowing for plenty of time to complete the tasks outlined which will include reading, watching webinars and videos, and observing court in their home communities.
ACIA’s Summer Training Tentative Schedule (8:30 am – 4:30 pm daily)
Day One: Introductions, Review of Pre-Requisite Material and Observations, Open Forum with Lawyer, Legal Discourse across legal settings and courtrooms
Days Two, Three & Four: Mock Trials in the morning; seminars in the afternoon to debrief mock trial experiences, & planning for next stage of development.
Day Five: Mock Trial in the morning; seminar in the afternoon to debrief mock trial experiences. Final recap & concluding remarks.
Registration Information
Early bird – $350.00 (April 1 – May 7, 2016)
Regular Registration – $450.00 (May 7 – May 31, 2016)
Last Opportunity Registration – $500.00 (June 1 – June 30, 2016)
Other Information:
• This location is wheelchair accessible. Please contact us if you need other accommodations.
Cancellation Policy: If there are insufficient participants by July 1, 2016, the workshop will be cancelled. Any individual registered for a professional development event offered by ACIA may cancel prior to the posted registration deadline without penalty. If individuals cancel after the registration deadline, payment of the full registration fee will be required, regardless of whether or not they attend the professional development event.
REGISTRATION FORM ON PAGE 4
About the Presenters: The two presenters will be Deb Russell and Alex Zisman, along with additional interpreters who will be recruited to offer support and feedback during practical exercises. In addition, lawyers will work with us to provide a legal context for us, and to work with us during the mock trial experiences.
Debra Russell is an ASL-English interpreter and interpreter educator from Calgary, Canada. Her interpreting practice spans thirty years and is community-based in a range of medical, legal, mental health and employment settings. Deb’s dissertation examined the use of consecutive and simultaneous interpreting in legal contexts, which has led to significant changes in practices in legal interpreting throughout North America. In 2012, Dr. Risa Shaw and Deb facilitated a two-day, pre-conference workshop focusing on legal interpreting. Deb has presented throughout North America and in other countries about legal interpreting and has been a Legal Mentor for the DOIT Centre’s Legal Interpreter Training. In addition to her teaching, she maintains an active research program with current projects that focus on Deaf Interpreters, legal interpreting, and mediated education settings for Deaf children. Deb is a founding member of AVLIC and ASLIA (formerly ACRID), and a member of CIT, RID. In 2011 she was elected President of WASLI. She is also the Open Forum Editor for the International Journal of Interpreter Education (IJIE). Deb is also a dedicated student of yoga and loves to travel.
Alex Zisman is a Spanish-English court interpreter, translator and editor who is currently the Secretary of ACIA. Accredited as a Court Interpreter by the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario in 1986, he also obtained Interpreter Certification from Employment and Immigration Canada/Immigration and Refugee Board in 1992. He has worked as an interpreter for the Department of Justice Canada, the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario, the Immigration and Refugee Board, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Amnesty International, Legal Aid Alberta and the Province of Alberta. He taught the Interpreting for Justice program at Bow Valley College in 2005, which produced the first professionally trained legal interpreters in Alberta, and organized panel discussions on court interpretation involving judges, lawyers and interpreters in Toronto. He graduated with First Class Honours in Modern and Medieval Languages from the University of Cambridge and has edited the works of numerous Spanish-speaking authors, including those of Nobel Prize laureate Mario Vargas Llosa. In his spare time he indulges in wine and craft beer consulting and also previews for the Calgary International Film Festival.
Registration Form
Name: ______________________________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
EMAIL: ______________________________________________________________
Telephone: __________________________________________________________
Professional Membership: ACIA __________ OTHER _______________________
Number of years interpreting experience: _________
Enclosed is my cheque for $____________
Make cheques payable to ACIA.
Mail registration form to:
Alberta Court Interpreters Association (ACIA)
Attention: Zakie Hage
P.O. Box 331 Station M
Calgary, AB, T2P 2H9
For Further Information about Registration Contact Rima Hanna at 
jrahanna@shaw.ca.