Folami Ford

folami.ford@gallaudet.edu

Folami holds a Bachelor's degree in Sign Language Interpreting from Maryville College and a Master's degree in Interpretation from Gallaudet University. She is currently a doctoral student in the PhD in Interpretation program at Gallaudet University. Her certifications include NIC Master, CI, and CT. She began interpreting in 1999 with an interpreting agency in the Washington-Metropolitan area. Her areas of interest include multicultural perspectives within the interpreting profession, mentoring interpreters, and teaching interpreting. Folami is a member of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) and the Conference of Interpreter Trainers (CIT). In the not so distant future she hopes to get more involved with Deaf and interpreting communities of the African Diaspora.

Research internship:

"The Evaluation and Training of SLI in Trinidad and Tobago" with Drs. Kimberly Wolbers and Jeffrey Davis

Abstract: The majority of current sign language interpreters in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) does not have formal training in the profession and does not hold qualification or certification as an interpreter. At this point, there is no interpreter training program and no interpreter association that evaluates and qualifies individuals. This proposal articulates a plan for the immediate evaluation, training and qualification of acting interpreters in the field. At the same time, the proposed plan actively involves T&T stakeholders, interpreter leaders and members of the Deaf community to develop greater capacity among persons of T&T to achieve long-term objectives for training and evaluation of interpreters.

References

Wolbers, K., & Davis, J. (2010). Proposal for immediate evaluation and training of active sign language interpreters in Trinidad & Tobago. Project proposal, Department of Theory & Practice in Teacher Education, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee.