Non-professional interpreting and translation (NPIT)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Angelelli
Keyword(s):  
Professional Interpreting

A review of the literature surrounding the provision of interpreters in health care, focusing on their role in translating information for non-English-speaking cancer patients and issues relating to informed consent

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 201-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niamh Gargan ◽  
Janette Chianese
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Fundamental Principle ◽  
Health Care Ethics ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
Written Information ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Professional Interpreting

AbstractInformed consent is a fundamental principle of health care ethics. All patients should have equal opportunities in accessing information to help them make informed decisions about their treatments.Literature on informed consent, translators in health care, non-English-speaking patients and the importance of communication and information, most specifically in radiotherapy, were reviewed. Western studies published between 1995 and 2005 were accessed and filtered though two eligibility screens and a critique framework to assess quality.The evidence suggested that many non-English-speaking patients are not in a position to give true informed consent due to lack of interpreters. This may lead to health care professionals giving treatment without full consent. Written information for radiotherapy patients was often only available in English, apart from inner city areas.There appears to be a scarcity of professional interpreters used in the health care setting; the most common practice is to use family members and friends to interpret. This practice results in breach of patient confidentiality, extra pressure on family members and filtration of information.This patient group is often excluded from certain treatment opportunities such as clinical trials. Ideally, a fully accessible professional interpreting service should be available to allow non-English patients equal rights in accessing appropriate health care options and treatments.

When roles within interpreter-mediated psychiatric consultations speak louder than words

2020 ◽  
pp. 136346152093376 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanja Kilian ◽  
Leslie Swartz ◽  
Xanthe Hunt ◽  
Ereshia Benjamin ◽  
Bonginkosi Chiliza
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Care Workers ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Psychiatric Hospitals ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Care Workers ◽  
Professional Interpreting

In South Africa, clinicians working in public psychiatric hospitals are mainly fluent in English and Afrikaans, while the majority of patients are not proficient in these languages. Due to a lack of professional interpreting services, informal, ad hoc interpreters are commonly employed in public psychiatric hospitals. We collected data on language practices in public psychiatric care in South Africa, and provide a detailed account of what happens when bilingual health care workers and cleaners haphazardly take on the additional role of interpreter. Data were collected during 2010 at a public psychiatric hospital in the Western Cape, South Africa. Thirteen interpreter-mediated psychiatric consultations were video-recorded, and 18 audio-recorded semi-structured interviews were conducted with the interpreters and clinicians who participated in the interpreter-mediated psychiatric consultations. Patients were proficient in isiXhosa (one of the 11 official languages of South Africa), the clinicians (all registrars) were first language English or Afrikaans speakers, while the health care workers (nurses and social workers) and cleaners were fluent in both the patients’ and clinician’s language. Our findings suggest that interpreters took on the following four roles during the interpreter-mediated psychiatric consultations: regulating turn-taking, cultural broker, gatekeeper and advocate. Our findings suggest that, despite interpreters and clinicians having the patient’s best interests at heart, it is the patient’s voice that becomes lost while the clinician and interpreter negotiate the roles played by each party.

scholarly journals Discourse Theory and Performance-Based Assessment: Two Tools for Professional Interpreting

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 365-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Clifford
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Theory ◽  
Assessment Instruments ◽  
Semantic Approach ◽  
Performance Based Assessment ◽  
Professional Interpreting ◽  
And Performance

Abstract This article examines interpreter assessment and draws attention to the limits of a lexico-semantic approach. It proposes using features of discourse theory to identify some of the competencies needed to interpret and suggests developing assessment instruments with the technical rigour common in other fields. The author gives examples of discursive features in interpretation and shows how these elements might be used to construct a rubric for assessing interpreter performance.

Interpreting Service: Educating Child Language Brokers through Service-Learning

2016 ◽  
pp. 434-453
Author(s):  
Julia Sandler
Keyword(s):  
Service Learning ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Child Language ◽  
Language Brokering ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Heritage Speakers ◽  
Academic Benefits ◽  
Local Schools ◽  
Language Brokers ◽  
Professional Interpreting

How might a service-learning course help child language brokers (Tse, 1996) minimize negative effects and maximize the cognitive and academic benefits of language brokering? This question is answered with data from an ethnographic case study of a high school service-learning course in translation and interpreting. Heritage speakers of Spanish and less commonly taught languages serve as volunteer interpreters at local schools while learning the skills, habits and ethics of professional interpreting in this course. The theoretical lens of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977; 2006) is used to analyze how this curriculum affects students. This article also contributes to evolving definitions of service-learning for heritage language speakers, arguing that language brokering that students do for their families and communities should be seen as a pre-existing “service” that can be utilized in the prepare-act-reflect cycle of service-learning. Analysis of the data shows that this cycle is key to supporting students in building the confidence and skills to pursue careers in professional interpreting and helping them manage their family interpreting experiences. Students demonstrated increased self-efficacy perceptions in terms of interpreting, academic achievement and general life events, although the role that service-learning played in the latter two outcomes is still unclear.

scholarly journals Non-professional interpreters in counselling for asylum seeking and refugee women Filiz Celik, Tom Cheesman

2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-98
Author(s):  
Filiz Celik ◽  
Tom Cheesman
Keyword(s):  
Additional Data ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Medical Community ◽  
Mutual Support ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Linguistic Resources ◽  
Group Sessions ◽  
Professional Interpreting ◽  
Participant Observer

Introduction: Non-professional interpreting warrants further study, particularly in environments where professional interpreters are scarce. Method: The lead researcher (a qualified interpreter and counsellor) joined 32 group sessions as a participant observer, and 12 individual sessions as an observer. Additional data sources were 30 semi-structured interviews with counsellors, clients and interpreters, and two halfday forums organised for community interpreters to discuss their concerns. Results: The positive value of engaging non-professional interpreters is highlighted within the specific context of non-medical, community-based, holistic counselling. In this context, formal accuracy of translation is less important than empathy and trust. Non-professional interpreters may be more likely than professionals to share clients’ life experiences, and working with them in counselling has positive psychosocial value for all participants. This is because it entails inclusive, non-hierarchical practices in the client-counsellor-interpreter triad: mutual sharing of linguistic resources and translingual communication, and a more relaxing dynamic with fluid roles. In group sessions, a strong sense of a crosslinguistic community is created as women interpret for one another, an expression of mutual support. In the context of this study, counsellors, clients and interpreters alike all regard non-professionals as being more appropriate than professionals in most counselling situations.

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