LaWe-etäseminaari: We are lost – language accessibility of signage in Israeli hospitals

Lämpimästi tervetuloa Kielen ja hyvinvoinnin tutkimuskeskus LaWen etäseminaariin 2.11.2022 klo 13.00-14.30. Puhujana on Michal Schuster (Bar Ilan University, Israel) ja aiheena kielellinen saavutettavuus sairaalaympäristössä. Seminaarin kieli on englanti. Zoom-linkin saat ottamalla yhteyttä Hai Nguyeniin (hlhngu at utu piste fi).

Michal Schuster is a researcher and trainer in the field of public service interpreting and cultural competence. She holds an MA and Ph.D. in translation and interpreting studies from Bar Ilan University. She is a lecturer at Bar Ilan University (Israel) and an associate researcher at the University of the Free State (RSA). Michal promotes the professionalization of public service interpreters through teaching, research, and public activity. She also trains service providers and consults organizations on language accessibility, culturally-appropriate services as well as diversity and inclusion. When not translating, teaching, or consulting, Michal loves reading Nordic literature, singing in a choir, and listening to classical music.

The title of Michal’s presentation is ”We are lost – language accessibility of signage in Israeli hospitals.” Hospital signage has important practical functions (like information and warning), but it also reflects symbolic functions – a sense of orientation and relevance for the patients and visitors, and language policy decisions on behalf of the state and the hospital management. In her presentation, Michal discusses the language accessibility of signage in public hospitals in Israel – using concepts from sociolinguistics, language policy and translation studies. The paper thus gives a valuable glimpse into Israeli society.