The 2nd International Conference on Field Research on Translation and Interpreting (FIRE-TI 2)

In the spirit of the first FIRE-TI conference held in Vienna in 2022, the conference provides a forum for researchers focusing on a broad range of empirical, theoretical, and methodological aspects of cross- and multi-linguistic communication in everyday, real-life settings.

Aim and scope
Field research within Translation and Interpreting Studies (TIS), focusing on different forms of multilingual communication practices in real-life settings, continues to grow, consolidate, and tackle various challenges facing language professionals and the research community. In many quarters, the realities of translation and interpreting (T&I) work(places) undergo substantial changes, rendering some established practices seemingly marginal while others rather shift shape. This unequivocally highlights the continued importance and relevance of empirical research into multi- and cross-lingual communication activities in private- and public-sector workplaces. Equally important is a continuous critical conceptual development and refinement that allows for the description and interpretation of such activities. Of interest, among other things, are instances of interconnectivity and interaction among language professionals as they perform their everyday tasks; the integration and coordination of social, material, and cultural resources for work task accomplishments in T&I; the nature of the ever-evolving ecologies of T&I workplaces including their affordances and constraints; discursive practices in the workplace; the enculturation of tools and their integration into cultural practices. In addition, there is a need within the T&I field research community for a continuous discussion of research ethics considerations, challenges involved in securing access to field sites, and collaboration between the language industry and academia.

Thus, it is high time to share developments and insights with a second iteration of the highly appreciated FIRE-TI conference held in Vienna in 2022. Following in the footsteps of the first conference, FIRE-TI 2 aims to provide a forum for and encourage the growth of a community of researchers who conduct empirical and conceptual research on multilingual communication practices in real-life, everyday settings.

Topics
We invite a broad range of contributions on empirical, conceptual, and methodological aspects of field research on translation and interpreting in their many different shades. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• workplace communication, social and socio-technical interaction, coordination, and collaboration
• multimodality in T&I practices, processes, and products
• the role of the body, (cognitive) artifacts, and cultural practices in T&I
• (changing) dynamics of contemporary workplaces; hybridisation of practices and tasks in workplace environments; paraprofessional T&I practices
• empirical and conceptual contributions grounded in situated cognitive perspectives such as distributed, extended, embodied, enacted, embedded, and affective cognition
• empirical and conceptual contributions grounded in sociological perspectives, e.g., affect and emotions in T&I, practice theory, professional roles and (self-)images, professionals’ agency
• applications and discussions of (micro-)ethnographic and/or ethnomethodological approaches (such as conversation/multimodal interaction analysis) in field research on T&I
• innovative and/or synergetic theoretical and methodological approaches and frameworks
• the use of (new) technologies in T&I practices

Call for papers and submission link