The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
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34 The Linguist Vol/55 No/4 2016 www.ciol.org.uk INSTITUTE MATTERS Brendan Cole Journalist Brendan Cole has worked for the BBC and Channel 4 News, and is currently at The International Business Times. He has also worked as a freelance French and Russian translator. See p.14 Shirley Lawes Dr Shirley Lawes MCIL was Subject Leader for PGCe languages at the Institute of education. She has written extensively on language education in UK schools and on teacher education. See p.18 Sue Leschen Sue Leschen MCIL is a lawyer-linguist, the Director of Avocate, a legal and commercial French interpreting and translation company, and a training provider for language professionals. See p.20 Jessica Moore Freelance journalist and editor Jessica Moore is a former Acting editor of The Linguist. Co-Founder of WM editorial (wmeditorial.com), she has worked for several national publications. See p.16 Valerie Pellatt Valerie Pellatt teaches Specialised Translation, Drama Translation and Public Service Interpreting at Newcastle University. She has published books on Chinese numbers, Chinese to english translation and translation of Chinese culture. See p.22 Franca Simpson Franca Scurti Simpson became a freelance translator after working in business and finance management. She is the Publisher at Calisi Press, which she founded in 2014. See p.10 Boyd Tonkin Award-winning journalist Boyd Tonkin is a Senior Writer at The Independent. He re-founded the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, and was Chair of Judges of the Man Booker International Prize 2016. See p.8 CONTRIBUTORS Fostering Trust , Chris Pountain, Chair of the IoLET Board, forecasts an exciting future I have been involved with IoLeT (the Institute's educational Trust) for quite some time. I was one of the first members of the examinations Review Board, which was crucial to the process of gaining accreditation for IoLeT's exams, and I served as Chair of its Quality Assessment Panel. I have long admired the high professional standards which the CIOL maintains and which IoLeT's exams guarantee. My background is not that of a translator or interpreter, though I have regularly engaged with translation in my work. I am an academic linguist, now retired but still very much research- active: I specialise in Romance linguistics and will soon begin a major project concerning the impact of 'learned' vocabulary on the Ibero-Romance languages as part of the Arts and Humanities Research Council's Open World Research Initiative. Throughout my life I have been fascinated by languages and their structures. I have always had a commitment to language teaching and, through this, examining: I was Chief Oral examiner in Spanish for the University of London Schools examinations Board (the predecessor of edexcel/Pearson) and a Syndic of the University of Cambridge Local examinations Syndicate. At Cambridge, I championed the introduction of Computer-Assisted Language Learning, and at Queen Mary I was, for a brief but exhausting time, simultaneously Chair both of my academic department and of the Language Centre. In addition to my scholarly publications, I have authored a number of Spanish-language reference and teaching works. I strongly believe that the academic study of languages demands redefinition. My role as Chair of the IoLeT Board has been not only satisfying in terms of watching a committed team deliver our exams to consistently excellent standards but also rewarding in seeing new qualifications being developed that target language learners in schools, universities and the professions, and in establishing ourselves as provider of language assessment to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD). We have a coherent and wide- ranging strategic plan, and will vigorously pursue new opportunities to fulfil our mission of promoting "the teaching and study of modern languages and of cognate educational subjects". even in the face of widely- perceived threats of all kinds to modern languages in the UK, I guarantee an exciting time ahead for IoLeT. IoLET AWARDS: Chris with former Chair of Council Keith Moffitt (left) and CIOL President Nick Bowen (right) © CHRIS CHRISTODOULOU