Members of the Lab
Prof. Dr. Christian Rathmann
Dr. Christian Rathmann is a Professor and Head of the Department of Deaf Studies and Sign Language Interpreting at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. As part of a collaboration between Humboldt-Universität and Tallinn University, he leads the Estonian Sign Language Research Lab and oversees four research projects. Additionally, he (co-)supervises three dissertation projects by young researchers at Tallinn University.
Dr. Rathmann earned his doctoral degree in linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin. His research interests include the linguistic structure and use of sign languages, sign language learning and teaching, sign language interpreting and translation, and language planning.
Péter Zalán Romanek
Péter Zalán Romanek is the coordinator of the Estonian Sign Language Research Lab, managing its research projects on a daily basis. Prior to his role in Tallinn, he was a junior research fellow at the Centre for Multilingualism at the Institute of Linguistics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He has taught Hungarian Sign Language at Eötvös Lóránd University in Budapest and Austrian Sign Language at the Tyrol University of Applied Health Sciences in Innsbruck.
Romanek is currently working on his dissertation project, which focuses on the grammatical description of sign languages, at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. His research interests also include language documentation, language policy, and language planning.
Jari Pärgma
Jari Pärgma is a junior member of the Estonian Sign Language Research Lab, focusing on the grammar and plural expressions of Estonian Sign Language. His research is grounded in his knowledge of Estonian Sign Language as his first language. His dissertation seeks to explore the syntactic structure of questions and interrogatives in Estonian Sign Language within conversational contexts. Pärgma holds a Master’s degree in General Linguistics from the University of Tartu and currently works as a private teacher.
Sandra Laurimaa
Sandra Laurimaa is a junior researcher in the Research Lab, focusing on the sociolinguistic aspects of sign language communities in Estonia. She is also a Ph.D. student at the School of Governance, Law, and Society, with a dissertation project centered on sign language interpreting services in Estonia.
Laurimaa holds a Bachelor’s degree in Estonian Sign Language Interpreting from Tartu University (2010) and a Master’s degree in Special Education Counseling from Tallinn University (2014). Her professional experience includes roles as a sign language interpreter, teacher, and project manager for interpreting services.
Õnneli Pärn is a member of the Estonian Sign Language Research Lab. She is involved in the area of sign language education with a focal point on the teaching, learning, and assessment practices in Estonia.
Pärn graduated from the University of Tartu in 2018 with a degree in Estonian Sign Language Interpreting and is currently studying for a Master's degree in Art Teaching at the joint programme of Tallinn University and the Estonian Academy of Arts. She has also completed training in speech-to-text interpreting. She has been working as an interpreter for many years, being a professional sign language interpreter and a speech-to-text interpreter.
Liina Janson is involved in the grammar description of Estonian Sign Language where she focuses on the terminology development of Estonian Sign Language and proofreading of the Grammar Sketch of Estonian Sign Language.
Janson obtained a professional higher education degree in Estonian Sign Language interpreting from the University of Tartu in 2018 and a master’s degree in language editing from Tallinn University in 2021. She has worked as an Estonian Sign Language interpreter and speech-to-text interpreter, and is currently working as a language editor.