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

Abstract

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.

Interpreting for International Protection Seekers in the Mediterranean Region: A Comparison of the Problems and Needs Identified by Stakeholders in Malta and Spain

“…Familiarity with the user's culture is also quite important for the entities in both countries, indicating that, in this field of work, the dividing line between the figure of the cultural mediator and that of the interpreter is fuzzy (Arumí Ribas, 2017;Pöchhacker, 2008). This is even more noticeable in Malta than in Andalusia, since, as mentioned earlier, in Malta some of the Finally, it is important to emphasize that the characteristics mentioned above are considered ideal in the particular context of international protection, which is quite different from the reality of other types of interpreting such as conference interpreting or business interpreting, where interpreters may require different skills.…”

La mediación intercultural y el papel de los menores migrantes en la comunicación en un centro de menores

“…Hikma 20 (2) (2021), 9 -35 Dentro de los cometidos del mediador intercultural a menudo también se espera que asuma la preparación y organización de actividades o talleres, asesoramientos y acompañamiento y orientación en cuestiones culturales (Vargas-Urpí, 2013). De igual modo, puede intervenir en la conversación, ya sea haciendo preguntas u observaciones, o haciendo resúmenes de forma que se haga más fácil la recepción de la información por cada una de las partes (Arumí, 2017;Gil-Bardají, 2020), dado que su función como facilitador de la comunicación no está regulada por ningún principio como el de la precisión (véase, por ejemplo, la propuesta de código para MI de Flor y Antonin, 2014), como sí pasa en la interpretación en los servicios públicos. El mediador desempeña una función de acompañamiento y actúa con un uso más flexible de la voz propia con la intención de acercar a los usuarios en la medida de lo posible (Vargas-Urpí, 2013).…”

Ethics, accuracy, and interpreting in social settings

“…With respect to these non-renditions (27.51% of the total), a little more than a third (34.26%) are justified interventions from the point of view of interpreting as interaction (Arumí 2017;Wadensjö 1998) The remaining 23.79% of the non-renditions offer additional information to the user; that is, they add information that was not stated by the provider, but that the MI considers necessary to include. This additional information takes the form of cultural or thematic explanations or information about how the service works.…”