Home Linguistics & Semiotics Chapter 13. Migrants’ attitudes towards community interpreting
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Chapter 13. Migrants’ attitudes towards community interpreting

  • Nike K. Pokorn and Jaka Čibej
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Advances in Interdisciplinary Language Policy
This chapter is in the book Advances in Interdisciplinary Language Policy

Abstract

The aim of the chapter is to describe the attitude of different groups of migrants to community interpreting and the role of community interpreting in the inclusion process. The role of public-service translation and interpreting and attitudes towards community interpreting were studied in three groups of migrants in Slovenia: short-term (those who stay in the host country from one to 12 months), medium-term (those who intend to stay in the host country for a minimum of one year, but for a limited period of time), and long-term (those who intend to stay in the host country for the rest of their lives). The study covers 65 migrants from different language backgrounds (18 different L1s were identified) who intended to stay in the host country for various periods of time. First, the language profiles of migrants were defined on the basis of a questionnaire, then semi-structured interviews were conducted with 38 short-term, 9 medium-term and 18 long-term migrants. The results show that migrants, regardless of their country of origin, the status of their L1, their level of education and their intended length of stay in the host country, had a rather negative attitude towards interpreting. They were reluctant to use interpreters because they doubted the accuracy of this mediated transfer due to the fact that public-service institutions tend to employ unqualified interpreters for the languages of new migrants. In addition, migrants, regardless of the level of their education, gender and language background, mainly considered this mediation strategy to be a hindrance to their independence. However, they expressed the need to use interpreters and translators in the early stages of their stay in the host country, especially in high-risk situations such as multilingual encounters in health-care, court and police settings.

Abstract

The aim of the chapter is to describe the attitude of different groups of migrants to community interpreting and the role of community interpreting in the inclusion process. The role of public-service translation and interpreting and attitudes towards community interpreting were studied in three groups of migrants in Slovenia: short-term (those who stay in the host country from one to 12 months), medium-term (those who intend to stay in the host country for a minimum of one year, but for a limited period of time), and long-term (those who intend to stay in the host country for the rest of their lives). The study covers 65 migrants from different language backgrounds (18 different L1s were identified) who intended to stay in the host country for various periods of time. First, the language profiles of migrants were defined on the basis of a questionnaire, then semi-structured interviews were conducted with 38 short-term, 9 medium-term and 18 long-term migrants. The results show that migrants, regardless of their country of origin, the status of their L1, their level of education and their intended length of stay in the host country, had a rather negative attitude towards interpreting. They were reluctant to use interpreters because they doubted the accuracy of this mediated transfer due to the fact that public-service institutions tend to employ unqualified interpreters for the languages of new migrants. In addition, migrants, regardless of the level of their education, gender and language background, mainly considered this mediation strategy to be a hindrance to their independence. However, they expressed the need to use interpreters and translators in the early stages of their stay in the host country, especially in high-risk situations such as multilingual encounters in health-care, court and police settings.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. List of contributors xi
  5. Part I. Setting the scene
  6. Chapter 1. General introduction 3
  7. Chapter 2. Principles of integrated language policy 23
  8. Part II. Politics
  9. Chapter 3. Cross-jurisdictional linguistic cooperation in multilingual federations 45
  10. Chapter 4. How to upgrade the status of migrant languages in the European Union 67
  11. Chapter 5. Inclusion and mobility in the multilingual region of Vojvodina 87
  12. Part III. Society
  13. Chapter 6. Language and inclusion in a multilingual environment 111
  14. Chapter 7. The politics of inclusion, citizenship and multilingualism 129
  15. Chapter 8. Urban multilingualism 151
  16. Part IV. Education
  17. Chapter 9. Metalinguistic awareness in education as a tool for enhancing social inclusion 173
  18. Chapter 10. Educational capacity-building for linguistic inclusion and mobility 195
  19. Chapter 11. Higher education language policies for mobility and inclusion 215
  20. Part V. Mediation
  21. Chapter 12. Portraying linguistic exclusion 237
  22. Chapter 13. Migrants’ attitudes towards community interpreting 257
  23. Chapter 14. The language choices of exchange students 275
  24. Chapter 15. The role of intercomprehension in short-term mobility experiences in multilingual contexts 297
  25. Part VI. Policy
  26. Chapter 16. Effectiveness of policy measures and language dynamics 319
  27. Chapter 17. The ontology of the linguistic territoriality principle 343
  28. Chapter 18. Justifying language policies in mobile societies 361
  29. Chapter 19. Complexity in language matters 381
  30. Chapter 20. Language, mobility and inclusion 405
  31. Part VII. Frontiers of multilingualism
  32. Chapter 21. Multilingualism and security 427
  33. Chapter 22. Multilingualism and consumer protection 451
  34. Chapter 23. ‘Learning all from all’ 473
  35. Chapter 24. Language use in international retirement migration 487
  36. Chapter 25. Multilingualism and creativity 509
  37. Chapter 26. Does global English influence the perception of professional ethical dilemmas? 531
  38. Author index 555
  39. Subject index 565
https://doi.org/10.1075/wlp.9.13pok

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. List of contributors xi
  5. Part I. Setting the scene
  6. Chapter 1. General introduction 3
  7. Chapter 2. Principles of integrated language policy 23
  8. Part II. Politics
  9. Chapter 3. Cross-jurisdictional linguistic cooperation in multilingual federations 45
  10. Chapter 4. How to upgrade the status of migrant languages in the European Union 67
  11. Chapter 5. Inclusion and mobility in the multilingual region of Vojvodina 87
  12. Part III. Society
  13. Chapter 6. Language and inclusion in a multilingual environment 111
  14. Chapter 7. The politics of inclusion, citizenship and multilingualism 129
  15. Chapter 8. Urban multilingualism 151
  16. Part IV. Education
  17. Chapter 9. Metalinguistic awareness in education as a tool for enhancing social inclusion 173
  18. Chapter 10. Educational capacity-building for linguistic inclusion and mobility 195
  19. Chapter 11. Higher education language policies for mobility and inclusion 215
  20. Part V. Mediation
  21. Chapter 12. Portraying linguistic exclusion 237
  22. Chapter 13. Migrants’ attitudes towards community interpreting 257
  23. Chapter 14. The language choices of exchange students 275
  24. Chapter 15. The role of intercomprehension in short-term mobility experiences in multilingual contexts 297
  25. Part VI. Policy
  26. Chapter 16. Effectiveness of policy measures and language dynamics 319
  27. Chapter 17. The ontology of the linguistic territoriality principle 343
  28. Chapter 18. Justifying language policies in mobile societies 361
  29. Chapter 19. Complexity in language matters 381
  30. Chapter 20. Language, mobility and inclusion 405
  31. Part VII. Frontiers of multilingualism
  32. Chapter 21. Multilingualism and security 427
  33. Chapter 22. Multilingualism and consumer protection 451
  34. Chapter 23. ‘Learning all from all’ 473
  35. Chapter 24. Language use in international retirement migration 487
  36. Chapter 25. Multilingualism and creativity 509
  37. Chapter 26. Does global English influence the perception of professional ethical dilemmas? 531
  38. Author index 555
  39. Subject index 565
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