Asia-link - SALIS takes part in EU sponsored interpreting project
6 February 2004

Dr Mary Phelan, Lecturer in the School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies at DCU, today welcomed her interpreting counterparts, Nguyen Zuan Vang, President of Hanoi University of Foreign Studies, Vietnam; Tianfang Lei, Vice Dean, Xiamen University, China and Professor Jack Lonergan, University of Westminster in London to DCU. They are in Dublin as part of the EU-funded Asialink project, which has received over a quarter of a million Euros from the European Commission for its work which will last for 18 months and will involve the partners from each country visiting Xiamen, Hanoi, Westminster and Dublin for a series of interpreting training workshops.

(back) Adam Duncan, film maker, Tianfang Lei, Vice Dean, Xiamen University, China, Professor Jack Lonergan, University of Westminster, Mary Phelan, salis, (front) Nguyen Xuan Vang, President of Hanoi University of Foreign Studies, Vietnam and Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, President of DCU

The Asia-Link Programme was launched at the beginning of 2002 as an initiative by the European Union (EU) to foster regional and multilateral networking between higher education institutions in European Union Member States and South Asia, Southeast Asia and China. This five-year programme, which has a total budget of EUR 40 million, aims to provide support to European and Asian higher education institutions in the areas of human resource development, curriculum development and institutional and systems development.

This particular Asia-link research project is based on human resources, with the emphasis on training interpreters within the workplace. While employees often have some level of English language proficiency, they may not always possess the skills necessary to interpret. In order to develop these skills, it is hoped to make a series of 15-minute films which will focus on different aspects of interpreting, whether for the business situation, trade fairs or press conferences.