Modes of Communication

1. Communities of practice

Join in with networks and communities of practice focused on translation in different modes of communication, for example:

• International Orality Network: an affiliation of agencies and organizations working together with the common goal of making God’s Word available to oral communicators in culturally appropriate ways that enable church planting movements everywhere.
• Multimodal Bible Translation Community of Practice: This online community is designed to be a collaborative space for Bible translation practitioners working across various modes of translation. It serves as a platform to share experiences—both successes and challenges—while fostering mutual encouragement and inspiration. The community acts as a professional development resource, offering opportunities for translation consultants to refine their expertise and stay informed about best practices in multimodal Bible translation. You can sign up by registering at (https://emdc.academy/list/1803) and clicking the “subscribe to this series” button.
• OBT reading group. This is a reading group that selects a book, article, essay or paper related to the topic of Oral Bible Translation. We read the selected work in advance and then come together the last Friday of each month to discuss it. Contact Kris_Toler@sil.org for more information.
• La Comunidad de Práctica de Traducción Multimodal de la Biblia. Esta comunidad en línea está diseñada para ser un espacio de colaboración para los profesionales de la traducción de la Biblia que trabajan en varios modos de traducción. Sirve como una plataforma para compartir experiencias, tanto éxitos como desafíos, al tiempo que fomenta el estímulo mutuo y la inspiración. La comunidad actúa como un recurso de desarrollo profesional, ofreciendo oportunidades para que los consultores de traducción refinen su experiencia y se mantengan informados sobre las mejores prácticas en la traducción de la Biblia multimodal. Kris_toler@sil.org.
• Sign Language Bible Translation and Language Development list (SLBTLD). Request membership in google groups at: https://groups.google.com/a/groups.sil.org/g/signlanguagelist.  Google group formed to facilitate communication between people working on or interested in SL work (including both Bible translation and related language development work, including survey, scripture use and distribution, linguistic studies, etc.)

Tip: Join one of these communities that is relevant for your translation context.

2. Books and other written resources

These are some key books and written resources on using different modes of communication in translation:

• Maxey, J (Ed). 2025. Expanding Approaches to Bible Translation. Wipf and Stock.
• Sogaard, V (Ed). 2003. Communicating the Scriptures: The Bible in Audio and Video Format, United Bible Societies.
• Soukup, P & R. Hodgson (Eds). 1999. Fidelity and Translation: Communicating the Bible in New Media, Sheed & Ward and Franklin, Wisconsin and ABS New York.

Look through the resources listed on the Oral Bible Translation bibliography on MAP.

Tip: Pick one of these resources to read together with a colleague and discuss what you learn.