Communication Models, Professionalization, and the Work of Medical Interpreters

Abstract

A growing number of health institutions are employing medical interpreters, bilingual individuals who facilitate communication between health care providers and patients. Organizations working to establish the professional status of medical interpreting have articulated codes of ethics that prescribe a number of different roles for interpreters in their clinical work. Interviews obtained from 17 medical interpreters support the observation that the code of ethics, based primarily on a conduit model of interpreter communication, does not provide consistent guidance in clinical practice. I discuss the role of communication theory in developing improved models for interpreter practice.

“I am not a robot!” Interpreters' Views of Their Roles in Health Care Settings

“…Although several researchers have argued that interpreters view themselves as active participants in medical encounters (Angelelli, 2004a;Dysart-Gale, 2005), the current study shows that interpreters' enactment of various and shifting roles can be influenced by their desire to maintain the conduit role during medical encounters. For example, when adopting covert advocacy, interpreters influenced the content and process of provider-patient interactions without the providers' knowledge and, thus, could maintain the image of a conduit during the medical encounters.…”

Conceptualizing emotion in healthcare interpreting: A normative approach to interpreters’ emotion work

“…This lack of research may be attributable to the traditional and prevalent ideology of interpreters-as-conduit [27], a machine-like, passive interpreting style [14][15][16]. Interpreters have been found to have internalized such an expectation, noting that the conduit role requires them to be detached, to be emotionless, and to avoid interactions with others [28][29][30].…”

“…This approach is acknowledges that interpreter-as-conduit is one of the many norms in healthcare settings [27], allowing interpreters follow the conduit model as they see fit. For example, most people may feel that it is appropriate and effective for interpreters to reenact other speakers' exaggerated performance of positive emotions [39], because it facilitates QEC.…”

Through interpreters’ eyes: Comparing roles of professional and family interpreters

“…The first is the limitation of the conduit model [9,14,[28][29][30][31]. Acting as a linguistic conduit is an essential role of the interpreter.…”