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Resource: Archived newsletters of The TBC News, from The Bicultural Center circa 1988-1993. The topics in these newsletters offer historical perspective and continue to be relevant decades later.

The Bilingual Mediation Center

BMC directs its energy to the development of tools and processes which foster understanding and respect for each other's needs and goals as interpreters.

Our approach is to serve interpreting communities offering custom-designed professional development programs that work with them on a continuing basis. Each community has a unique history, varied demographics, and a range of issues to consider. Both locally and nationally, BMC places emphasis on finding approaches to creating change in a constructive manner.

Interpreters posed for group photo after Foundations VII/VIII Seminar

Through this approach BMC offers sequential instructional sessions, with adequate spacing to allow for practice, experience, and integration of skills taught in earlier trainings.

We provide these services:

  • Direct training of interpreters at all levels
  • Development of appropriate assessments and diagnostic tools
  • Assistance to interpreter educators by designing curriculum and effective methods for teaching interpretation
  • Implementation of programs to refine performance (e.g.. mentorship)
  • Creation of materials to assist interpreters to develop further
 
 

 

Betty Colonomos, Director of the Bilingual Mediation Center

Betty Colonomos is the director of the Bilingual Mediation Center. She was awarded the Masters Comprehensive Skills Certificate (MCSC) from RID in 1980 and was the second recipient of the Mary Stotler Award for excellence in Interpreter Education from CIT. Betty has served as the chair of many national committees on standards and evaluation of interpreters, most recently serving as co-chair on the CIT/ASLTA Task Force on Interpreting Standards.

Well known as an educator of interpreters and a language consultant, Betty developed the Integrated Model of Interpreting- the most widely used model for teaching processes used in training sign language interpreters. She consults with schools and the legal system as an expert on linguistics and cultural issues impacting the Deaf community and provides services in the area of instruction, consultation, mentorship, cross-cultural mediation, language assessment, interpretation, translation and curriculum development.

 

Co-Presenters

The Bilingual Mediation Center does work with other professionals in the arena of teaching, interpretation, and assessment. These colleagues are of the highest caliber and meet or exceed our standards. Specific information will be shared at the time of contract negotiation.

Based on the works of L.S. Vygotsky and others who have applied his theories to education, our approach is informed by these principles:

  • learning is fostered by participation in activities designed to nurture reflective practice
  • insights are revealed through dialogue and inquiry
  • collaboration with peers and mentors in a safe environment facilitates this process
  • the locus of control in the hands of the learner promotes self-discovery
  • cognition, emotion, and culture are interrelated and significantly impact learning

Our goal is to bring this model to interpreting communities that wish to discuss their work and value growth, that respect each learner’s zone of development, and that seek to provide the highest quality services to consumers. To this end, we offer a variety of holistic training approaches and formats that recognize and honor the diversity of our communities.

abstract image of ZPD

Based on the works of L. S. Vygotsky and others applying his theories to education, our approach is informed by these principles:

  •   awareness of cognitive struggle may emerge during non-evaluative activity
  •   learning may occur through inquiry and dialogue (scaffolding)
  •   collaboration with peers and mentors in a safe environment facilitates this process
  •   cognition, emotion, and culture are interrelated and significantly impact learning

Our goal at BMC is to foster an environment where interpreting communities can openly discuss their work and growth while respecting each learner’s development as we strive to provide the highest quality interpreting services to our consumers.

To this end, a variety of holistic training approaches and formats are incorporated into the retreat schedule at the Etna Project and in the Foundations of Interpreting Seminar Series that recognize and honor the diversity of our communities.

Read More on Lev Vygotsky

Find the About Vygotsky list of links on this page.

"Tell me, and I forget. Teach me, and I remember. Involve me, and I learn"

- Benjamin Franklin

Deaf Foundations Fund


The Deaf Foundations of Interpreting Seminar Series is offered for Deaf Interpreters. This specialized series is for Deaf Interpreters only.

Donations from the larger interpreting community and elsewhere help to defray the cost of providing these seminars to our Deaf Interpreter colleagues.

Click here to contribute.

Foundations of Interpreting


The Foundations of Interpreting Seminar Series provides insights into The Integrated Model of Interpreting and the processes we engage in while interpreting. More information on the series as well as a schedule of current seminars being offered: click here.

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Foundations: Going Further


If you've attended Foundations I & II in recent years and would like to participate in further exploration of what you learned there, Foundations: Going Further may be just what you need during our time of social distancing. For more info about this online series, click here.