Results of the Conference "Intercultural Space of Sign Languages"

On December 15–16, the third International Scientific and Practical Conference titled "Intercultural Space of Sign Languages: Translation, Communication, Research" took place at MSLU. The university holds the status of a Federal Innovation Platform for implementing the project "Innovative Practices of Inclusive Translation Using Modern Digital Tools." Researchers from Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, several European countries, and Cuba, participated in the conference.

The participants discussed a wide range of general and specific issues related to the contemporary state and prospects of various types of inclusive translation and research in the field of sign languages, audio descriptive commentary, and audiovisual translation.

The plenary session, master classes, and sections featured presentations on the training of translators for national sign languages, various aspects of sign language translation, linguistics of sign languages, compilation of sign language dictionaries, and the culture of the deaf. It is noteworthy that representatives of the deaf community actively participated in the conference. Remarkably, all three deaf graduates of MSLU master’s program in "Russian Sign Language: Consecutive and Simultaneous Interpretation" presented reports.

A round table was dedicated to the issues of audio descriptive commentary. Reports in its two subsections, " Audio Descriptive Commentary: Problems and Prospects" and " Audio Descriptive Commentary: Genres and Discourses," covered a wide range of problems. These included the introduction of audio descriptive commentary in various spheres of life, the philosophical aspect of audio descriptive commentary, the role of expressive means in creating visual description, characteristics of foreign-language visual description in different types of texts and at different language levels, the experience of applying visual description in the CIS countries, and issues of innovation in the field of audio descriptive commentary, including the potential application of artificial intelligence.

The presentation "Development of Audio Descriptive Commentary in Uzbekistan, Proposals for the Development of Audio Descriptive Commentary in the CIS" sparked significant interest among the participants. Through the exchange of opinions, the participants of the subsection were able to determine the further research directions, including collaborative efforts, in the field of audio descriptive commentary.