13. Migration, ideology and the interpreter-mediator: The role of the language mediator in education and medical settings in Italy
-
Mette Rudvin
Abstract
This paper examines the role of language mediators in the education and health sectors in Italy. In the Italian tradition ‘language mediation’ and ‘intercultural mediation’ are terms commonly used to describe a profession that include, but do not totally overlap with, ‘community interpreting’. We will therefore be looking at language mediation rather than interpreting ‘proper’. Our analysis draws on both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ data: a study by two researchers from the Municipality of Bologna based on 27 semi-structured interviews, the results of a questionnaire-survey in the Region of Emilia Romagna and six semi-structured interviews in the Region of Marche. Using these data we look at how mediators construct professional roles and how these roles are governed by institutional mandate in the health and education sectors, two of the major domains in which language and cultural mediators operate. These two sectors are both major employers of language mediators but with — historically — two very different approaches to language mediation. We will, therefore, look at how roleconstruction is performed differently in the different sectors, how the expectations (and level of information) of service providers, the needs of the institutions, the mediators’ training and their own migratory experiences impact on their role and on the rapport between the three parties. We also look at the issue of what type of shared background (cultural or migratory) is thought to be most conducive to implementing a productive working relationship. Lastly, we have attempted to contextualize our data in the local demographical, historical and socio-political situation as we believe that such factors impact quite radically on professional categories, especially those professions related to the politically volatile area of migration.
Abstract
This paper examines the role of language mediators in the education and health sectors in Italy. In the Italian tradition ‘language mediation’ and ‘intercultural mediation’ are terms commonly used to describe a profession that include, but do not totally overlap with, ‘community interpreting’. We will therefore be looking at language mediation rather than interpreting ‘proper’. Our analysis draws on both ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ data: a study by two researchers from the Municipality of Bologna based on 27 semi-structured interviews, the results of a questionnaire-survey in the Region of Emilia Romagna and six semi-structured interviews in the Region of Marche. Using these data we look at how mediators construct professional roles and how these roles are governed by institutional mandate in the health and education sectors, two of the major domains in which language and cultural mediators operate. These two sectors are both major employers of language mediators but with — historically — two very different approaches to language mediation. We will, therefore, look at how roleconstruction is performed differently in the different sectors, how the expectations (and level of information) of service providers, the needs of the institutions, the mediators’ training and their own migratory experiences impact on their role and on the rapport between the three parties. We also look at the issue of what type of shared background (cultural or migratory) is thought to be most conducive to implementing a productive working relationship. Lastly, we have attempted to contextualize our data in the local demographical, historical and socio-political situation as we believe that such factors impact quite radically on professional categories, especially those professions related to the politically volatile area of migration.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- 1. Introduction 1
- 2. Interpreting as mediation 9
- 3. The role of the interpreter in the governance of sixteenth and seventeenth century Spanish colonies in the "New World": Lessons from the past for the present 27
- 4. Role definition: A perspective on forty years of professionalism in Sign Language interpreting 51
- 5. Evolving views of the court interpreter´s role: Between Scylla and Charybdis 81
- 6. Controversies over the role of the court interpreter 99
- 7. Interpreting in police settings in Spain: Service providers' and interpreters' perspectives 123
- 8. The role of the interpreter in the healthcare setting: A plea for a dialogue between research and practice 147
- 9. Hospital interpreting practice in the classroom and the workplace 165
- 10. Intercultural mediation: An answer to healthcare disparities? 187
- 11. Community interpreter self-perception: A Spanish case study 203
- 12. Sign Language interpreters and role conflict in the workplace 231
- 13. Migration, ideology and the interpreter-mediator: The role of the language mediator in education and medical settings in Italy 245
- 14. Perceptions of a profession 267
- Index 289
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of contributors vii
- 1. Introduction 1
- 2. Interpreting as mediation 9
- 3. The role of the interpreter in the governance of sixteenth and seventeenth century Spanish colonies in the "New World": Lessons from the past for the present 27
- 4. Role definition: A perspective on forty years of professionalism in Sign Language interpreting 51
- 5. Evolving views of the court interpreter´s role: Between Scylla and Charybdis 81
- 6. Controversies over the role of the court interpreter 99
- 7. Interpreting in police settings in Spain: Service providers' and interpreters' perspectives 123
- 8. The role of the interpreter in the healthcare setting: A plea for a dialogue between research and practice 147
- 9. Hospital interpreting practice in the classroom and the workplace 165
- 10. Intercultural mediation: An answer to healthcare disparities? 187
- 11. Community interpreter self-perception: A Spanish case study 203
- 12. Sign Language interpreters and role conflict in the workplace 231
- 13. Migration, ideology and the interpreter-mediator: The role of the language mediator in education and medical settings in Italy 245
- 14. Perceptions of a profession 267
- Index 289
