Tanja Jacobs is a PhD student at Vigo University (Spain), investigating the working conditions of sign language interpreters on Spanish TV. She holds a BA in English and Spanish philology from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (Germany), an MSc in Translation Studies from the University of Edinburgh (UK) and an MA in British Sign Language (Interpreting, Translation and Applied Language Studies) from Heriot-Watt University (UK). Her training as a sign language interpreter and practical experience as a theatre producer has developed her interest in the circumstances under which interpreters and art professionals work. Shadowing interpreters she saw how little control they have over their own working conditions, and working in theatre she came to experience how difficult it can be to secure the necessary materials and funding for diverse representation. Her MSc dissertation on ideology in interlingual subtitles and her MA dissertation on the sign language interpreters’ strike at the Spanish regional TV channel Canal Sur form the basis of her current doctoral research. Becoming a member of GALMA has given her the opportunity to not only investigate sign language interpreting from a Translation and Interpreting Studies perspective, but also to explore it in the context of media accessibility. Tanja’s research interests also include ideology in interpreting, Deaf interpreters, theories of Deaf culture and quality assessment in interpreting.
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