translating, interpreting and communication support services across the public sector in scotland

116 Pages·2002·0.69 MB·English

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TRANSLATING, INTERPRETING AND
COMMUNICATION SUPPORT SERVICES ACROSS
THE PUBLIC SECTOR IN SCOTLAND
A Literature Review
Joanna McPake and Richard Johnstone
Scottish CILT
with
Joseph Lo Bianco
Hilary McColl
Gema Rodriguez Prieto
Elizabeth Speake
Scottish Executive Central Research Unit
2002
Further copies of this report are available priced £5.00. Cheques
should be made payable to The Stationery Office Ltd and addressed
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The views expressed in this report are those of the
researchers and do not necessarily represent those of the
Department or Scottish Ministers.
© Crown Copyright 2002
Limited extracts from the text may be produced provided the source
is acknowledged. For more extensive reproduction, please write to
the Chief Research Officer at the Central Research Unit,
3rd Floor West Rear, St Andrew’s House, Edinburgh EH1 3DG
CONTENTS
SUMMARY I
CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 AIMS OF THE REVIEW 1
1.2 PURPOSE OF THE REVIEW 1
1.3 FORM OF THE FINAL REPORT 2
CHAPTER TWO CONDUCTING THE LITERATURE REVIEW 3
2.1 BRIEFING FOR READERS AND INFORMATION OFFICER 3
2.2 SOURCING DOCUMENTS 3
2.3 REVIEWING THE LITERATURE 4
2.4 MEETING THE AIMS OF THE REVIEW 5
CHAPTER THREE DEFINITIONS OF TRANSLATION, INTERPRETATION AND
COMMUNICATION SUPPORT 8
3.1 SPOKEN AND WRITTEN LANGUAGE 8
3.2 LITERAL OR MEANINGFUL TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION 8
3.3 DIFFERENT ROLES OF INTERPRETERS 11
3.4 COMMUNICATION SUPPORT 12
CHAPTER FOUR EMERGING ISSUES AND THEMES 14
4.1 SOCIAL INCLUSION OR SERVICE PROVISION? 14
4.2 COMMUNICATION AND LANGUAGE 15
4.3 EMPHASES AND GAPS IN THE LITERATURE 16
4.4 EVIDENCE OF CHANGE 19
CHAPTER FIVE POLICY AND LEGISLATION BACKGROUND 21
5.1 EUROPEAN POLICY AND LEGISLATION 21
5.2 UK-WIDE AND SCOTTISH POLICY AND LEGISLATION: THE SHIFT TO
(cid:145)MAINSTREAMING(cid:146) 22
5.3 POLICY AT LOCAL OR ORGANISATIONAL LEVEL: THE NEED TO CATCH UP 23
5.4 IMPLICATIONS FOR TRANSLATION, INTERPRETATION AND COMMUNICATION
SUPPORT 24
5.5 THE CASE OF EDUCATION 24
5.6 PRINCIPLES AND OBJECTIVES, POLICY, LEGISLATION, INTERPRETATION OF
LEGISLATION, STRATEGIC PLANNING (AT NATIONAL AND LOCAL LEVELS),
PRACTICE GUIDELINES, STANDARDS/EVALUATION OF PRACTICE: A CRITICAL
PATH 26
CHAPTER SIX SERVICE PROVISION 27
6.1 INTRODUCTION (CHAPTERS 6 TO 13) 27
6.2 WHO ARE THE SERVICE PROVIDERS? 27
6.3 KEY ISSUES CONCERNING SERVICE PROVISION 28
6.4 THE KNOWLEDGE BASE OF SERVICE PROVIDERS 28
6.5 IMPORTANCE OF CONSISTENCY IN PROVISION ACROSS DIFFERENT REGIONS
OR LOCAL AGENCIES 31
6.6 CROSS-SECTORAL CO-ORDINATION 32
CHAPTER SEVEN MODELS OF SERVICE DELIVERY 33
7.1 (cid:145)JUST LANGUAGE?(cid:146) THE ROLE OF THE INTERPRETER 33
7.2 DELIVERY PROCESSES 36
7.3 FUNDING MODELS 37
CHAPTER EIGHT SERVICE AWARENESS 39
CHAPTER NINE SERVICE USER NEEDS 41
9.1 RECOGNISING THE VALUE OF THE USER PERSPECTIVE 41
9.2 NEED TO RECOGNISE HETEROGENEITY OF TARGET GROUPS 42
9.3 VALUE OF FOCUS ON ACCESS FOR ALL 43
CHAPTER TEN TRAINING 44
10.1 PROVISION FOR TRAINING 44
10.2 TRAINING NEEDS OF INTERPRETERS AND TRANSLATORS AND BILINGUAL
SUPPORT WORKERS 44
10.3 TRAINING NEEDS OF OTHER STAFF 46
10.4 EDUCATION AND TRAINING FOR THE WIDER PUBLIC 46
CHAPTER ELEVEN GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS 47
11.1 ENSURING QUALITY OF INTERPRETATION AND OF SUPPORT FOR
INTERPRETATION 47
11.2 EXISTING GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS 47
CHAPTER TWELVE MONITORING AND EVALUATION 52
CHAPTER THIRTEEN CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 54
13.1 SOCIAL INCLUSION PERSPECTIVE 54
13.2 COMMUNICATIONS CONTINUUM 55
13.3 EDUCATION AND TRAINING 57
13.4 STATISTICAL DATA 58
13.5 THE KNOWLEDGE BASE 59
13.6 SETTING STANDARDS AND IMPLEMENTING THEM 60
REFERENCES 61
APPENDIX A LITERATURE IDENTIFICATION MATRIX 69
APPENDIX B FORMAT FOR READERS(cid:146) REPORTS ON DOCUMENTATION
REVIEWED 70
APPENDIX C AUGMENTATIVE AND ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION 71
APPENDIX D AUSTRALIAN TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETATION SERVICES 78
APPENDIX E INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON TRANSLATION,
INTERPRETATION AND COMMUNICATION SUPPORT SERVICES 85
SUMMARY
1. THE PURPOSE OF THIS REVIEW
The purpose of this review of research, policy and practice relating to translating, interpreting
and communication support services across the public sector in Scotland is to inform the
Translation, Interpreting and Communications Support Services Framework Group in its
work to develop a national cross-sectoral framework of standards for these services. Guiding
principles for the work of this group include the goal of (cid:145)meeting the communications support
and language needs of the community(cid:146) and avoiding discrimination through (cid:145)failure to deal
with these issues and other barriers to equal access(cid:146) (Scottish Forum for Public Service
Interpreting and Translating, 2000: Good Practice Guidelines).
2. THE REVIEW PROCESS
The review was conducted by a team of researchers and reviewers based at the Scottish
Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research at the University of Stirling,
over a period of ten weeks in the summer of 2001. In that period, approximately 100 relevant
books, papers and other documentation were identified and reviewed by the team.
3. DEFINITIONS USED IN THE REVIEW
The following definitions of (cid:145)translation(cid:146), (cid:145)interpretation(cid:146) and (cid:145)communication support(cid:146) apply
to this review:
translation: the conversion of written texts from one language to
another
interpretation: the conversion of speech from one language (including
British Sign Language and other sign languages) to another
communication support: a variety of ways of supporting communication with those
who do not use the conventional forms of spoken or written
English, including Braille and other tactile forms of
writing, lip-reading and lip-speaking, and various
communication technologies.
Discussion of definitions also raises the following issues:
• the inappropriateness of expecting translation or interpretation to provide an exact
word-for-word transposition of one language into another; the expectation of
(cid:145)verbatim(cid:146) translation or interpretation ignores the fact that different languages
encode social and cultural experience in very different ways;
• the importance of sensitivity to social and cultural differences between speakers of
the two languages between which translation or interpretation occurs, both at
macro level (i.e. the entire community of speakers of the language in question)
i
and at micro level (i.e. the particular community, and in some cases, the
individuals within that community);
• the relationship of the interpreter to those for whom interpretation is provided,
ranging from impartial professional to informed advocate.
4. KEY THEMES OF THIS REPORT
4.1 Social inclusion or service provision?
The service provision model focuses on communication barriers experienced by those who do
not use conventional forms of spoken or written English in encounters with public sector
agencies. This model entails supplementing established approaches to communication
between providers and clients with specialist provision (e.g. the use of interpreters in
interviews, the translation of leaflets and information sheets into other languages, the use of
special telephone and computer technologies) and is problematic in that these supplementary
services are regarded as expensive and difficult to obtain.
The social inclusion model starts from the perspective that everyone has a right to the
information and support which will enable them to participate in the social and cultural life of
their community, and that therefore alternative approaches to communication in every area of
public life need to be built in to provision at the outset.
There is a shift in perspective in recent documentation, particularly at national level, from a
service provision model to one of social inclusion. The social inclusion model has extensive
implications for the provision of translation, interpretation and communication support, but
these are only beginning to be explored by public sector agencies.
4.2 Communication and language
In the context of the shift from service provision to social inclusion, there is also a need for a
shift in thinking about languages to thinking about communication. Monolingual English-
speakers traditionally have a poor understanding of what multilingualism means, feeling both
that language learning is an extremely difficult task, but also that interpretation and
translation is easy for those who know two or more languages. Thus monolinguals cannot
contemplate learning to speak other languages themselves, but devalue the skills of those who
can. A shift in thinking, towards the importance of communicating with all those whom one
encounters, would have more positive implications, given that (cid:145)communication skills(cid:146) are
always highly regarded by employers and employees. The concept of (cid:145)speaking another
language(cid:146) seems to suggest a requirement for native-like fluency; but the concept of
(cid:145)communicating(cid:146) can be understood to mean knowing enough to facilitate service encounters.
4.3 Emphases and gaps in the literature
More material related to health, social work and justice than to education, training and
employment, raising the possibility of institutional discrimination. This is based on the notion
that people for whom translation, interpretation and communication support should be
provided are primarily the concern of certain agencies, given the nature of their (cid:145)problems(cid:146).
ii
4.4 Evidence of change
There is little evidence of change in the provision of translation, interpretation and
communication support services over the last ten years. While considerable attention has
been devoted to reviewing provision and devising policy or guidelines, there is relatively
little evidence that practice in public sector agencies has taken on board the criticism
emerging from reviews, inspection or research, or that policy statements or guidelines are
implemented. (There are of course some outstanding exceptions.) The shift from service
provision to social inclusion will entail much greater attention to communication issues and
much more extensive and more flexible provision.
4.5 User perspectives
Only a few documents were written by users of translation, interpretation and communication
support services. A small number were based on extensive consultation with users. Where the
user perspective is discernible, often very different issues are raised from those on which
documents from service providers focus. Considerably more attention needs to be given to
the experience of those who communicate in ways other than conventional spoken or written
English. This should concern their needs, interests and aspirations, and also the
communication strategies they use both to survive and to succeed in a society where it is
difficult to make themselves heard.
5. POLICY AND LEGISLATION BACKGROUND
Legislation and policy at European level have focused, over the last ten years, on achieving
greater social cohesion and helping to bring about a more equal, just and inclusive society.
The reasons for these emphases are not simply altruistic: it is argued that the European
economy needs the contribution of those who traditionally have been excluded, and that
marginalisation of sections of the community itself entails high costs.
European and international law also provides a framework for rights and remedies against
discrimination, and for UK and Scottish government commitments to promote equality. One
of the major ways in which successive UK governments have tackled inequalities and
discrimination is through anti-discrimination legislation, such as the Race Relations 1976 as
amended by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 and the Disability Discrimination
Act 1995. Service providers must make reasonable adjustments for disabled people under the
Disability Discrimination Act, such as providing extra help or making changes to the way
they provide their services, and will also be required by the updated race legislation to ensure
public access to the information and services they provide.
There has also been a recent shift in both UK and European policy towards (cid:145)mainstreaming(cid:146)
(i.e. ensuring that equity and rights issues are incorporated into all programmes and
legislation) as well as towards promoting inclusion and the empowerment of communities so
that they can take an active role in planning and providing services. The implications of
such a shift for TICS services are likely to be considerable, as these services are required to
facilitate inclusion and empowerment and to promote the participation of those who are
marginalised because of communication barriers. Local authorities and other regional
agencies will need to take account of these changes in their future thinking about translation,
iii
interpretation and communication support. As yet there is limited evidence that the shift at
national level has translated into local or regional policy or practice.
6. SERVICE PROVISION
There are two groups of service providers. The first consists of interpretation and translation
agencies, and free-lance interpreters and translators. The second group is the various public
sector bodies, which provide services (e.g. health, social work, education, criminal justice
services) to (among others) people with hearing or visual impairments, and people who speak
languages other than English. These bodies are regarded as service providers in the sense that
they need to find ways of communicating with service users who do not communicate in
standard spoken or written English.
Three main themes concerning the problems facing service providers and some of the
solutions emerge from the literature. These are:
• the knowledge base of service providers, important in order to enable them to
identify and understand the needs of the groups they serve, but limited firstly
because of the absence of accurate national and local statistics, and secondly by
fragmentation of responsibilities for translation, interpretation and communication
support services within and across agencies;
• consistency in provision across different regions or local authorities,
compromised by differences in the importance attached to translation,
interpretation and communication support issues in different regions or
authorities, partly on the basis of the perceived relevance ((cid:145)the numbers game(cid:146))
and partly on grounds of cost, resources, support and training, and managerial
experience;
• the need for cross-sectoral co-ordination, given the complexities of the
responsibilities of different agencies and the difficulties which individuals can
have in understanding and negotiating these; it is suggested that the internet would
be one way of enabling agencies to make links, eliminate overlap and fill gaps.
7. MODELS OF SERVICE DELIVERY
7.1 The role of the interpreter
Two contrasting arguments emerge from the literature concerning the role of the interpreter.
On the one hand, there is a powerful push towards the professionalisation of the interpreters
and translators. This would enhance the quality of the interpretation and translation, and
would ensure that the fee structure, training and qualifications were appropriate to the
demands of the task. At the same time, it would outlaw the use of (cid:145)informal(cid:146) interpreters and
translators (cid:150) family (including children), friends, bilingual staff who happen to be in the
agency in question. The standard of interpretation of these (cid:145)informal interpreters(cid:146) is often
questionable, and their involvement can compromise confidentiality, as well as raise
(particularly in the casual use of bilingual staff as interpreters) issues of institutional racism.
On the other hand, are those who argue that the (cid:145)neutral professional(cid:146) is not always the most
appropriate role for interpreters or translators; on occasion, familiarity with the professional
field, cultural sensitivity, and empathy with those for whom interpretation, translation or
iv
communication support is provided is more important. These commentators argue for more
trained bilingual workers, in addition to professional interpreters and translators. They are not
always opposed to the use of (cid:145)informal(cid:146) interpreters, particularly when the client has chosen
them.
These positions, often seen as in opposition to each other, represent a continuum in provision
which runs from (cid:145)pure(cid:146) professional interpreting, at one end, through trained specialist
bilingual support workers to informal family and friend helpers at the other. In all cases,
issues such as linguistic skills, familiarity with the professional field, cultural awareness,
relationship with clients and providers, and issues of confidentiality need to be taken into
account.
7.2 The delivery process
The ways in which interpreters work have been studied in most detail in the literature relating
to legal reporting. From this, it is clear that misinterpretation occurs from time to time,
though it may not be easy for anyone (other than possibly the interpreter and/or the person for
whom the interpretation is provided) to be aware of this when it happens. Good interpreters
take their time and are not afraid to interrupt proceedings to ask for further clarification.
Because of the possibility of misinterpretation, and other questions to do more generally with
the competence of interpreters, several commentators recommend that all interpretation is
audio recorded or, in the case of BSL interpretation, video recorded. Then, if necessary, the
person for whom interpretation was provided (and his or her lawyers if appropriate) can
establish what was actually said. Currently this appears to be an unusual occurrence. One
paper questions the value of this, however, on the grounds that errors can only be checked
after the trial is over, when significant errors may have led to an outcome that more accurate
interpretation might have changed. For these reasons, teams of interpreters monitoring each
other at the time are preferred to recording, in the context of the trial. There is no alternative
to audio- or video-recording in a police station
7.3 Funding issues
Funding of interpretation, translation or communication support is widely held to be
problematic, but there are few examples in the literature of attempts to deal with this
creatively. It is clear that many service providers condone informal interpreting primarily on
the grounds of cost, and that this is detrimental to developing a commitment to high quality
provision. Providers may also be unaware of the funding which is available to help with
costs.
8. SERVICE AWARENESS
It seems clear that awareness of the public sector services available is low among people who
do not communicate in conventional forms of spoken or written English. Ways of improving
awareness include:
• translating leaflets into other languages and providing BSL video information;
• employment of information officers;
v