Scott Smith, MA, DEA, is a regional manager and sociolinguistics consultant for SIL in Africa, and a translation consultant-in-training. He and his wife Margaret joined SIL in 1987.
Considering a Paradigm Shift in Consultant Development
Abstract
It has been said that the principal bottleneck in Bible translation today is our lack of available consultants. This presentation outlines 28 different ideas as to how you might be more involved in helping to alleviate this problem, including:
• Consider becoming a consultant.
• Help train future consultants in formal training programs.
• If you are a consultant, take time to mentor at least two consultants-in-training (CiT’s).
• CiT’s can learn more & progress faster with multiple mentors.
• Traditionally, people became consultants only in one domain. Consider becoming certified in an additional domain. Consultants in both translation & linguistics can be very effective. Another natural fit can be for consultants to be certified in both Scripture engagement & literacy. Consultants can be certified in both linguistics & sociolinguistics.
• Entity consultants can work toward senior consultant status. Take the initiative by asking a senior consultant if they would mentor you toward senior status.
• Veteran members who may have to return to the US for aging parents could consider consulting part-time, from their home country (Paratext and Skype make this feasible).
• SIL has a new Global Consultants Pool, for such consultants. Seed Company & several Wycliffe Global Alliance entities also need consultants.
• Having a part-time field assignment can be a big boost to your support while home-assigned.
• Administrators can have an active role in supporting team members through consultant development.