Skip to content
FacebookTwitterLinkedinYoutubeInstagram
  • Join ATA
  • Renew
  • Contact Us
  • Log In
American Translators Association (ATA)
Find a Language Professional
  • Certification
    • Certification
      • Guide to ATA Certification
      • What is a Certified Translation?
      • How the Exam is Graded
      • Review and Appeal Process
      • Looking for More Information?
    • Taking the Exam
      • About the Exam
      • How to Prepare
      • Practice Test
      • Exam Schedule
    • Already Certified?
      • Put Your Credentials To Work
      • CT Designation and Seal
      • Continuing Education Requirement
    • Register Buttons
      • Exam Schedule
         
      • Order Practice Test
  • Career and Education
    • For Newcomers
      • Student Resources
      • Starting Your Career
      • The Savvy Newcomer Blog
    • For Professionals
      • Growing Your Career
      • Business Strategies
      • Next Level Blog
      • Client Outreach Kit
      • Mentoring
    • Resources
      • For Educators and Trainers
      • Tools and Technology
      • Publications
      • School Outreach
    • Event Buttons
      • Upcoming Webinars
  • Client Assistance
    • Client Resources
      • Why Should I Hire a Professional?
      • Translator vs. Interpreter
      • Getting It Right
    • More Client Resources
      • Need a Certified Translation?
      • What is Machine Translation?
      • The ATA Compass Blog
    • Find a Translator Button
      • Find a Language Professional
  • Events
    • Events
      • Annual Conference
      • Seminars and Workshops
      • Certification Exam Schedule
    • More Events
      • Virtual Events
      • Webinar Series
      • Calendar of Events
    • Event Buttons
      • Visit ATA64
      • Upcoming Webinars
         
  • News
    • Industry News
    • Advocacy and Outreach
    • Press Room
    • The ATA Chronicle
    • The ATA Podcast
    • ATA Newsbriefs
  • Member Center
    • Member Resources
      • Join ATA
      • Renew Your Membership
      • Benefits of Membership
      • Divisions
      • Chapters, Affiliates, and Other Groups
      • Get Involved
      • Shop the ATA Store
    • Already a Member?
      • Log Into Your Member Center
      • Connect with Members
      • Create Your Directory Listing
      • Become a Voting Member
      • Member Discounts
    • Member Buttons
      • Join ATA
         
      • Member Login
  • About Us
    • About ATA
      • Who We Are
      • Press Room
      • Honors and Awards Program
      • Advertise with Us
      • American Foundation for
        Translation and Interpretation
      • ATA Team
      • Contact Us
    • How ATA Works
      • Board of Directors
      • Committees
      • Policies & Procedures
      • Code of Ethics
    • Contact Button
      • Contact ATA
  • Join ATA
  • Renew Your Membership
  • Contact Us
  • Log In
  • Find a Language Professional
January 11, 2017

ATA at the California Federation of Interpreters 2016 Conference

Resources
By The ATA Chronicle

The 2016 California Federation of Interpreters (CFI) Conference was held on October 7–9 in Los Angeles, California. CFI is a large and highly visible court interpreter association in California. It’s actually both a professional organization and a union. CFI negotiates with the California state courts on behalf of its members, many of whom are staff interpreters, and advocates for per diem interpreters. According to its website (www.calinterpreters.org), CFI’s mission includes:

  • Uniting interpreters who believe strongly that the recognition and advancement of the profession can only be achieved by providing quality oral interpreting, sign language, and written translations.
  • Uniting interpreters who know that their role is vital to the justice system. Reliable and impartial interpreting and translation are important to ensure due process of the law and adequate representation by counsel for linguistic minorities and the hearing impaired.
  • Advancing and upholding the profession of court interpreting and translating.
  • Promoting high standards of proficiency by developing and implementing continuing education activities and supporting those of other interpreter/translator organizations.
  • Promoting professional ethics and compliance with all laws, including antitrust laws.
  • Representing the collective professional and legal interests of interpreters before the court and any local or state entity.

In recent years, ATA has been a visible presence at CFI conferences by sponsoring an ATA representative/featured speaker. This year, that honor fell to me. I delivered two 90-minute presentations—one on Saturday, the other on Sunday.

My first presentation, “Applying the Rules of Professional Conduct,” stressed that while court interpreting is, generally speaking, a solitary pursuit, our actions never take place in a vacuum. Our collective behavior must reflect a shared code of professional conduct. During this interactive session, individual experiences and knowledge served to enrich group discussion as attendees analyzed the why’s and how’s of ethical professional practice for court interpreters.

My talk on Sunday, “Professional Ethics: Another Perspective,” addressed aspects of ethics and professional responsibility that are not often covered in presentations for court interpreters: Are interpreter ethics situational? How are the codes of practice for court, medical, and conference interpreters similar or different? Why? Are all aspects of professional responsibility covered by our codes of ethics? The presentation focused on the effects of individual protocol, as well as how business and professional decisions effect one’s peers and the profession as a whole.

Both presentations were well attended, and I took the opportunity to speak about solidarity among professional associations as a means to promote and improve upon our profession as a whole. Attendees welcomed the non-sectarian approach to professional ethics, as well as the broader perspectives achieved by comparing and contrasting various codes of professional practice.

My presentations were just a small part of the overall conference agenda. The program also offered academic presentations reporting on empirical research currently being done on remote interpreting in mediation/police settings, skills-oriented presentations for the three traditional interpreting modalities used in the courts, as well as new developments in hybrid modalities. Attendees could also choose from a variety of specialized subject area presentations relevant to court interpreters, including a plenary session on the current implementation of video-remote interpreting in the California courts.

My presence was fruitful on more than one front. ATA was visible as an involved and committed actor in the interpreting world. I gained a deeper understanding of issues that are near and dear to interpreting professionals on a regional and national scale, as California courts often offer a glimpse into the future, given they serve the largest number of limited-English-speaking individuals in the nation in a wide variety of languages. Finally, I was asked by ATA and non-ATA members alike to convey heartfelt thanks to ATA for supporting the conference.

I highly recommend that ATA continue to send a speaker to represent ATA at future CFI conferences.


Melinda Gonzalez-Hibner is an ATA director and the chair of ATA’s Interpretation Policy Advisory Committee. She is a state and federally certified court interpreter (English<>Spanish). Her interpreting career has been diverse, covering conference, court, and community assignments at all levels. In 2004, she became the first full-time administrator of the Court Interpreter Program for the Colorado Judicial Department. Currently, she works as a staff interpreter for the U.S. District Court of New Mexico. In addition to her state and federal certifications, she is qualified as an interpreter by the U.S. Department of State. She is a founding member and past co-chair of the Colorado Association of Professional Interpreters and a past director of the National Association of Judiciary Interpreters and Translators. She holds a BA from the University of Texas and an MSc from the London School of Economics. Contact: melindagonzalezhibner@gmail.com.

Share this

Posts navigation

← Interview with Sue Burke, 2016 winner of the Alicia Gordon Award for Word Artistry in Translation
Onward, to ATA58! →

Latest Posts

  • Linguist in the Spotlight – Madalena Sánchez Zampaulo March 21, 2023
  • Newsbriefs: March 15, 2023 March 15, 2023
  • Breaking Intercultural Communication Barriers in Business March 15, 2023
  • Get More Done as a Freelance Translator – How to Plan Your Work and Become More Productive March 15, 2023
  • Continuing Professional Development Reflection: From Translation Student to Freelance Translator March 14, 2023

Topics

  • Advocacy & Outreach
  • Annual Conference
  • Book Reviews
  • Business Strategies
  • Certification Exam
  • Certification Program
  • Client Assistance
  • Educators and Trainers
  • Growing Your Career
  • Industry News
  • Interpreting
  • Member Benefits
  • Member News
  • Mentoring
  • Networking
  • Public Outreach
  • Publications
  • Resources
  • School Outreach
  • Specializations
  • Starting Your Career
  • Student Resources
  • Tools and Technology
  • Translation
Language Services Directory
ata_logo_footer

American Translators Association
225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 590
Alexandria, VA 22314

Phone +1-703-683-6100
Fax +1-703-683-6122

  • Certification
  • Career and Education
  • Client Assistance
  • Events
  • News
  • Member Center
  • About Us
  • Member Login
  • Contact Us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Submit Feedback

© 2023 - American Translators Association

Website by Yoko Co

Find a Language Professional
Scroll To Top