10. Community interpreting in Spain
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Juan Miguel Ortega Herráez
Abstract
This paper presents the results of a study aimed at determining how community interpreters in Spain perceive their work. The study involves interpreters in different settings including hospitals, social services, emergency and civil defense organisations, the security forces and the law courts. It has basically been conducted in Andalucía and in the case of the justice system it includes data gathered nationwide. The aim is to explore the interpreters’ perception of their role and specifically the limits of that role with regard to adaptation of language register, cultural explanations, expansion and omission of information, the relation with clients, and specialized terminology, amongst other aspects. As in previous studies by the GRETI research group, the methodology is questionnaire-based and has also resorted to a structured interview. The results show that in terms of professionalisation there are certain differences between the law courts (where interpreting is explicitly legally provided for), and other settings. However, in both instances interpreters seem to shape their role according to intuition, and the majority would seem to go beyond the function that most codes of ethics stipulate. Moreover, the results reveal a total lack of knowledge regarding interpreting as a specialized professional activity.
Abstract
This paper presents the results of a study aimed at determining how community interpreters in Spain perceive their work. The study involves interpreters in different settings including hospitals, social services, emergency and civil defense organisations, the security forces and the law courts. It has basically been conducted in Andalucía and in the case of the justice system it includes data gathered nationwide. The aim is to explore the interpreters’ perception of their role and specifically the limits of that role with regard to adaptation of language register, cultural explanations, expansion and omission of information, the relation with clients, and specialized terminology, amongst other aspects. As in previous studies by the GRETI research group, the methodology is questionnaire-based and has also resorted to a structured interview. The results show that in terms of professionalisation there are certain differences between the law courts (where interpreting is explicitly legally provided for), and other settings. However, in both instances interpreters seem to shape their role according to intuition, and the majority would seem to go beyond the function that most codes of ethics stipulate. Moreover, the results reveal a total lack of knowledge regarding interpreting as a specialized professional activity.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- 1. Introduction. Quality in interpreting 1
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Part I. A shared responsibility
- 2. Forensic interpreting 13
- 3. The tension between adequacy and acceptability in legal interpreting and translation 37
- 4. A discourse of danger and loss 55
- 5. Is healthcare interpreter policy left in the seventies? 71
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Part II. Investigations and innovations in quality interpreting
- 6. Interpreter ethics versus customary law 85
- 7. A shared responsibility in the administration of justice 99
- 8. Interpreting for the record 119
- 9. Court interpreting in Basque 135
- 10. Community interpreting in Spain 149
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Part III. Pedagogy, ethics and responsibility in interpreting
- 11. Toward more reliable assessment of interpreting performance 171
- 12. Quality in healthcare interpreter training 187
- 13. What can interpreters learn from discourse studies? 201
- 14. Achieving quality in health care interpreting 221
- 15. Research ethics, interpreters and biomedical research 235
- Contributors 251
- Index 253
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- 1. Introduction. Quality in interpreting 1
-
Part I. A shared responsibility
- 2. Forensic interpreting 13
- 3. The tension between adequacy and acceptability in legal interpreting and translation 37
- 4. A discourse of danger and loss 55
- 5. Is healthcare interpreter policy left in the seventies? 71
-
Part II. Investigations and innovations in quality interpreting
- 6. Interpreter ethics versus customary law 85
- 7. A shared responsibility in the administration of justice 99
- 8. Interpreting for the record 119
- 9. Court interpreting in Basque 135
- 10. Community interpreting in Spain 149
-
Part III. Pedagogy, ethics and responsibility in interpreting
- 11. Toward more reliable assessment of interpreting performance 171
- 12. Quality in healthcare interpreter training 187
- 13. What can interpreters learn from discourse studies? 201
- 14. Achieving quality in health care interpreting 221
- 15. Research ethics, interpreters and biomedical research 235
- Contributors 251
- Index 253
