Public Service Interpreting

Public Service Interpreting is a field of central interest to those involved in ensuring access to public services. This book provides an overview of current issues through a multi-faceted approach, situating the work of public service interpreters in the broader context of public service practice.

This is the first book to focus solely on ethics in public service interpreting. Four leading researchers from across Europe share their expertise on ethics, the theory behind ethics, types of ethics, codes of ethics, and what it means to be a public service interpreter. This volume is highly innovative in that it provides the reader with not only a theoretical basis to explain why underlying ethical dilemmas are so common in the field, but it also offers guidelines that are explained and discussed at length and illustrated with examples. Divided into three Parts, this ground-breaking text offers a comprehensive discussion of issues surrounding Public Service Interpreting. Part 1 centres on ethical theories, Part 2 compares and contrasts codes of ethics and includes real-life examples related to ethics, and Part 3 discusses the link between ethics, professional development, and trust. Ethics in Public Service Interpreting serves as both an explanatory and informative core text for students and as a guide or reference book for interpreter trainees as well as for professional interpreters - and for professionals who need an interpreter's assistance in their own work.

This edited volume sets out to explore interdisciplinarity issues and strategies in Public Service Interpreting (PSI), focusing on theoretical issues, global practices, and education and training. Unlike other types of interpreting, PSI touches on the most private spheres of human life, making it all the more imperative for the service to move towards professionalization and for ad hoc training methods to be developed within higher institutions of education. PSI is a fast-developing area which will assume an increasingly important role in the spectrum of the language professions in the future. An international, dynamic and interdisciplinary exploration of matters related to PSI in various cultural contexts and different language combinations will provide valuable insights for anyone who wishes to have a better understanding when working as communities of practice. For this purpose, the Editors have collected contributions focusing on training, ethical issues, professional deontology, the role and responsibilities of interpreters, management and policy, as well as problems and strategies in different countries and regions. This collection will be a valuable reference for any student or academic working in interpreting, particularly those focusing on Public Service Interpreting anywhere in the world.

Translation, interpreting and other forms of communication support within public sector settings constitute a field which deals, quite literally, with matters of life and death. Overshadowed for many years by interpreting and translating in other domains, public sector interpreting and translating has received growing attention in recent years, with increasingly mobile populations and human rights, diversity and equality legislation shining the spotlight on the need for quality provision across an increasing range and volume of activities. Interpreting and Translating in Public Service Settings offers a collection of analytically-grounded essays that provide new insights into the reality of the interaction in public sector settings and into the roles and positioning of the participants by challenging existing models and paradigms. Issues of local need, but with global resonance, are addressed, and current reality is set against plans for the future. The triad of participants (interpreter/translator, public sector professional and client) is investigated, as are aspects of pedagogy, policy and practice. Empirical data supports the study of topics related to written, spoken and signed activities in a variety of professional settings. Bringing together academics and practitioners from different countries in order to explore the multidisciplinary dimension of the subject, this collection should serve as a valuable reference tool, not only for academics and students of public sector interpreting and translating, but also for practising linguists, providers of language services and policy makers.

The Routledge Handbook of Public Service Interpreting provides a comprehensive overview of research in public service, or community interpreting. It offers reflections and suggestions for improving public service communication in plurilingual settings and provides tools for dealing with public service communication in a global society. Written by leading and emerging scholars from across the world, this volume provides an editorial introduction setting the work of public service interpreting (PSI) in context and further reading suggestions. Divided into three parts, the first is dedicated to the main theoretical issues and debates which have shaped research on public service interpreting; the second discusses the characteristics of interpreting in the settings which have been most in need of public service interpreting services; the third provides reflections and suggestions on interpreter as well as provider training, with an aim to improve public service interpreting services. This Handbook is the essential guide for all students, researchers and practitioners of PSI within interpreting and translation studies, medicine and health studies, law, social services, multilingualism and multimodality.

This collection of new research on public service interpreting and translation (PSIT) focuses on ideology, ethics and policy development. It provides fresh perspectives on the challenges of developing translation and interpreting provision in service contexts and on the tensions between prescribed approaches to ethics and practitioner experience.

Translation, interpreting and other forms of communication support within public sector settings constitute a field which deals, quite literally, with matters of life and death. Overshadowed for many years by interpreting and translating in other domains, public sector interpreting and translating has received growing attention in recent years, with increasingly mobile populations and human rights, diversity and equality legislation shining the spotlight on the need for quality provision across an increasing range and volume of activities. Interpreting and Translating in Public Service Settings offers a collection of analytically-grounded essays that provide new insights into the reality of the interaction in public sector settings and into the roles and positioning of the participants by challenging existing models and paradigms. Issues of local need, but with global resonance, are addressed, and current reality is set against plans for the future. The triad of participants (interpreter/translator, public sector professional and client) is investigated, as are aspects of pedagogy, policy and practice. Empirical data supports the study of topics related to written, spoken and signed activities in a variety of professional settings. Bringing together academics and practitioners from different countries in order to explore the multidisciplinary dimension of the subject, this collection should serve as a valuable reference tool, not only for academics and students of public sector interpreting and translating, but also for practising linguists, providers of language services and policy makers.

Public Service Interpreting is a hugely complex activity, encompassing human, ethical, commercial and political dimensions. It is unseen and unrecognized by most of the population but vital to those who depend on it for their security or wellbeing. The quality of PSI provision is seen by the authors as a clear indicator of how a society views and responds to the realities of a multi-ethnic and multilingual global community. Following recent significant changes in the power balance between them this book explores the increasing tensions among multiple stakeholders who together deliver such a fundamental service in a modern open society. Chapters focus on how all stakeholders need to appreciate the wider context of political and economic realities whilst collaborating more responsibly to deliver the conditions, training and support needed for expert linguists to be attracted to and retained in this vital profession.