Ethics: The Role Of Interpreters

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Introduction
New interpreters are eager to not just do a good job interpreting but are also concerned with proper professional behavior. There are lots of sources of information to guide interpreters in their conduct, roles and ethics, but are interpreter ethics followed in practice? Also, is it possible or advisable to follow the currently prescribed guidelines or should current codes of professional conduct and standards be change to meet actual interpreter practice?
It may be difficult to pinpoint any experts advocating for a change in professional expectations for interpreters; however, there are a few experts that through observation, interviews and data gathering, are shedding a light on how interpreters conduct themselves, and their …show more content…

In her book, Medical interpreting and cross-cultural communication, Claudia Angelelli, uses data gathered from over 300 medical encounters in addition to interviews with interpreters to examine the role of the interpreter in bilingual encounters. The roles of the interpreter, according to the author and the research, may vary from being a “language switching operator” which means only the meaning of the message is conveyed or they could help construct the meaning of that message based on social and cultural factors.
It is worth noting that most existing codes of conduct, ethics or standards of practice prescribe that the role of an interpreter should be one of “interpreter-as-conduit” role. In this role, the interpreter acts as a means for what is said by one party to reach the other. This is the basic or default role of the interpreter. The interpreter speaks exactly what has been said in the other language. This is contrary to Angelelli’s findings where the interpreter role is much more involved and extends beyond simply interpreting what was …show more content…

In her book, Bilingual health communication: working with interpreters in cross-cultural care, the author, examines interpreter-mediated medical encounters with data obtained from extensive observations in a healthcare setting. The author highlights the interactive and coordinated nature of interpreter-mediated interactions. The book includes interpreters’ perspectives as well as the needs and perspectives of providers from a variety of clinical specialties. Just like Angelleli’s research, through Hsie’s work, it is evident that current standards are not followed, but this is because, the standards may not be realistic in real practice because there is no one-size-fits all that can properly address the conduct of interpreters in

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