1887
Volume 18, Issue 1
  • ISSN 1384-6647
  • E-ISSN: 1569-982X
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

The community interpreter’s role has been described in various ways, associating it with labels (Roberts 1997), tasks (Pöchhacker 2000), dynamic positioning (Mason 2009), and the interpreter’s relative (in)visibility (Angelelli 2004). Increasingly, conceptions of role are seen not as static and absolute, but as related to the differing (and subjective) viewpoints of the various participants involved. This study uses semi-structured interviews, conducted immediately after five interpreter-mediated encounters (four medical, one legal), to examine: (1) how participants in each encounter differ in their comments on the interpreter, and (2) whether the resulting perspective on the interpreter’s role is related to each respondent’s specific conversational goal on the occasion in question. Twenty-six excerpts from the interviews are discussed: all three participants (service provider, service user, interpreter) were interviewed in three cases, while the interpreter was unavailable for interview in one case and the service recipient in another. The interpreted meetings and subsequent interviews took place in London and Manchester, the languages involved being English (service providers) and Polish (service recipients). The various respondents seemed to differ in their perceptions of the interpreter’s role, ostensibly reflecting their own conversational goals, but not necessarily in line with their status as service provider, service recipient or interpreter.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/intp.18.1.03kac
2016-04-08
2025-04-27
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Angelelli, C
    (2004) Medical interpreting and cross-cultural communication. New York: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511486616
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511486616 [Google Scholar]
  2. Bourdieu, P
    (1991) Language and symbolic power. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Brewer, M
    (1988) A dual process model of impression formation. In Thomas R. Srull & Robert S. Wyer Jr. (Eds.), Advances in social cognition (Vol. I). Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1‒36.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Brisset, C. , Leanza, Y. & Laforest, K
    (2013) Working with interpreters in health care: A systematic review and meta-ethnography of qualitative studies. Patient Education and Counseling91 (2), 131‒140. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2012.11.008
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2012.11.008 [Google Scholar]
  5. Cegala, D.J. , Gade, C. , Broz, S.L. & McClure, L
    (2004) Physicians’ and patients’ perceptions of patients’ communication competence in a primary care medical interview. Health Communication16 (3), 289–304. doi: 10.1207/S15327027HC1603_2
    https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327027HC1603_2 [Google Scholar]
  6. Cegala, D.J. , McNeils, K.S. , McGee, D.S. & Jonas, A.P
    (1995) A study of doctors’ and patients’ perceptions of information processing and communication competence during the medical interview. Health Communication7 (3), 179–203. doi: 10.1207/s15327027hc0703_1
    https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327027hc0703_1 [Google Scholar]
  7. Davies, B. & Harré, R
    (1990) Positioning: the discursive production of selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour20 (1), 43–63. doi: 10.1111/j.1468‑5914.1990.tb00174.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5914.1990.tb00174.x [Google Scholar]
  8. Giovannini, M
    (1992)  On both sides of the fence: Proceedings of the Evaluation of the Professional Development Seminar for Trainers of Cultural Interpreters held in Toronto (August 26‒28, 1992). Report Prepared for the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Hymes, D
    (1974) Foundations in sociolinguistics. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Jefferson, G
    (2002) Is ‘no’ an acknowledgement token? Comparing American and British uses of (+)/(−) tokens. Journal of Pragmatics34, 1345‒1383. doi: 10.1016/S0378‑2166(02)00067‑X
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0378-2166(02)00067-X [Google Scholar]
  11. Kaczmarek, L
    (2010) Modelling competence in community interpreting: Expectancies, impressions and implications for accreditation. PhD thesis, University of Manchester.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Leanza, Y
    (2005) Roles of community interpreters in paediatrics as seen by interpreters, physicians and researchers. Interpreting7 (2), 167‒192. doi: 10.1075/intp.7.2.03lea
    https://doi.org/10.1075/intp.7.2.03lea [Google Scholar]
  13. Mason, I
    (2005) Projected and perceived identities in dialogue interpreting. In J. Munday (Ed.), IATIS yearbook 2005. Seoul: IATIS, 30‒52.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. (2009) Role, positioning and discourse in face-to-face interpreting. In R. de Pedro Ricoy , I. Perez & C. Wilson (Eds.), Interpreting and translating in public service settings: Policy, practice, pedagogy. Manchester: St Jerome, 52‒73.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Merlini, R
    (2009) Seeking asylum and seeking identity in a mediated encounter: The projection of selves through discursive practices. Interpreting11 (1), 57‒92. doi: 10.1075/intp.11.1.05mer
    https://doi.org/10.1075/intp.11.1.05mer [Google Scholar]
  16. Pöchhacker, F
    (2000) The community interpreter’s task: Self-perception and provider views. In R. Roberts , S. Carr , D. Abraham & A. Dufour (Eds.), The critical link 2: Interpreters in the community. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 49‒65. doi: 10.1075/btl.31.07poc
    https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.31.07poc [Google Scholar]
  17. Roberts, R
    (1997) Community interpreting today and tomorrow. In S. Carr , R. Roberts , A. Dufour & D. Steyn (Eds.), The critical link: Interpreters in the community. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 7‒25. doi: 10.1075/btl.19.03rob
    https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.19.03rob [Google Scholar]
  18. Roy, C
    (1990) Interpreters, their role and metaphorical language use. In A.L. Willson (Ed.), Looking ahead: Proceedings of the 31st Annual Conference of the American Translators Association, Medford, NJ: Learned Information, 77‒86.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Wadensjö, C
    (1992) Interpreting as interaction: On dialogue-interpreting in immigration hearings and medical encounters. Linköping: Linköping University.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. (1998) Interpreting as interaction. Longman: London.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/intp.18.1.03kac
Loading
  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): community interpreter; conversational goal; expectations; impressions; role; triangulation
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error