Issues of terminology in public service interpreting

Abstract

This chapter focuses on interpreter-mediated institutional encounters and specialist language. Based on Niska’s (1998a; 1998b) and Valero-Garcés’(2005) taxonomies of strategies for translating specialist terminology, the author analyses instances of specialist language in a corpus of recordings of institutional encounters, and discusses which strategies are used by the interpreters to render specialist terms. The data were collected between 2007 and 2009 as part of an interdisciplinary project called “Community Interpreting and Communication Quality in Social Service and Healthcare Institutions.”

Are interpreters and interpreting technology ready for the post-Covid era?

“…They can only deduce from the location what the encounter could entail as far terminology is concerned, which of course is not entirely predictable, because in a court hearing, for example, they could be confronted unexpectedly with very technical medical terminology. Contradictorily enough, we know from the history of interpreting that institutionalisation, academisation and professionalisation have been much slower for dialogue interpreting (Pöchhacker 2013(Pöchhacker , 2016, as confirmed in Pöllabauer's interesting chapter (Pöllabauer 2017). From the empirical study that discusses the strategies dialogue interpreters employ to render specialist terms, it indeed results that -mostly nonprofessional -interpreters tend to omit, simplify or paraphrase specialist vocabulary (Pöllabauer 2017: 152).…”

Visibility of Chinese ad hoc medical interpreters through text ownership: A case study

“…Medical interviews often abound with terminology, one of the main language barriers in institutional talk (see also Pöllabauer, 2017). Meyer (2006) reported that ad hoc interpreters in such cases tend to "de-terminologise" specific terms by paraphrasing them in plain language (p. 21; cited from Pöllabauer, 2017).…”

“…Medical interviews often abound with terminology, one of the main language barriers in institutional talk (see also Pöllabauer, 2017). Meyer (2006) reported that ad hoc interpreters in such cases tend to "de-terminologise" specific terms by paraphrasing them in plain language (p. 21; cited from Pöllabauer, 2017). Pöllabauer (2017) called such a practice "ad hoc terminology management" (p. 134), whereas, according to Angelelli (2004a), this practice indicates the interpreter's active efforts to broker comprehension and balance the distribution of power between doctor and patient.…”

“…Meyer (2006) reported that ad hoc interpreters in such cases tend to "de-terminologise" specific terms by paraphrasing them in plain language (p. 21; cited from Pöllabauer, 2017). Pöllabauer (2017) called such a practice "ad hoc terminology management" (p. 134), whereas, according to Angelelli (2004a), this practice indicates the interpreter's active efforts to broker comprehension and balance the distribution of power between doctor and patient. In this study, we also found cases where the ad hoc interpreter took on the role of broker when the terminology proved difficult for the patient.…”