The fuzzy boundary between the roles of interpreter and mediator in the public services in Catalonia: Analysis of interviews and interpreter-mediated interactions in the health and educational context

Marta Arumí Ribas

doi:10.1556/084.2017.18.2.2

Across Languages and Cultures

Volume/Issue:: Volume 18: Issue 2

The fuzzy boundary between the roles of interpreter and mediator in the public services in Catalonia: Analysis of interviews and interpreter-mediated interactions in the health and educational context

Author:

Marta Arumí Ribas

Marta Arumí Ribas Departament de Traducció, Interpretació i Estudis de l’Àsia Oriental. Facultat de Traducció i d’Interpretació. Plaça del coneixement. Edifici K-Campus UAB Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain

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Pages:: 195–218

Online Publication Date:: Dec 2017

Publication Date:: 01 Dec 2017

Article Category:: Journal Article

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1556/084.2017.18.2.2

Keywords:: public service interpreter; intercultural mediator; semi-structured interviews; interpreter-mediated interactions; role

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In Catalonia, there is great ambiguity regarding the terms employed to define the roles, profiles and scope of the individuals who act as intermediaries in the communication process in public services. The main confusion surrounds the terms of intercultural mediator and interpreter. This article aims to contribute to the current debate on the fuzzy boundary between these roles. We first describe the conceptions and beliefs, collected through semi-structured interviews, from healthcare staff, health service managers and interpreters about the different roles. Secondly, we analyse whether the evident confusion is also reflected in the educational context. A widespread tendency to resort to intercultural mediators in the health and educational contexts is observed, despite the fact that they are in most cases performing the task of an interpreter. Even though it is possible for the same professional to carry out both roles, this article advocates establishing a clear differentiation between them and stresses the importance of specialized training.

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Across Languages and Cultures

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Andrew CHESTERMAN (University of Helsinki, Finland)
Kirsten MALMKJÆR (University of Leicester, UK)
Christiane NORD (University of Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa)
Anthony PYM (Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain, University of Melbourne, Australia)
Mary SNELL-HORNBY (University of Vienna, Austria)
Sonja TIRKKONEN-CONDIT (University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland)

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Mona BAKER (Shanghai International Studies University, China, University of Oslo, Norway)
Łucja BIEL (University of Warsaw, Poland)
Gloria CORPAS PASTOR (University of Malaga, Spain; University of Wolverhampton, UK)
Rodica DIMITRIU (Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza” Iasi, Romania)
Birgitta Englund DIMITROVA (Stockholm University, Sweden)
Sylvia KALINA (Cologne Technical University, Germany)
Haidee KOTZE (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
Sara LAVIOSA (Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Italy)
Brian MOSSOP (York University, Toronto, Canada)
Orero PILAR (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Spain)
Gábor PRÓSZÉKY (Hungarian Research Institute for Linguistics, Hungary)
Alessandra RICCARDI (University of Trieste, Italy)
Edina ROBIN (Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary)
Myriam SALAMA-CARR (University of Manchester, UK)
Mohammad Saleh SANATIFAR (independent researcher, Iran)
Sanjun SUN (Beijing Foreign Studies University, China)
Anikó SOHÁR (Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Hungary)
Sonia VANDEPITTE (University of Gent, Belgium)
Albert VERMES (Eszterházy Károly University, Hungary)
Yifan ZHU (Shanghai Jiao Tong Univeristy, China)

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