LANGUAGE INTERPRETATION - REFLECTIONS ON THE EVOLUTION OF A PROFESSION (AN ESSAY)

Abstract

Interpreting involves a complex communication process in which speakers of at least two different languages are able to understand each other when they call in an interpreter. This communication process may occur in different modes and scenarios, as for instance simultaneously and/or consecutively in small meetings, large scale multilingual conferences, etc.

Due to the development of sophisticated technological means, the viability of communicating by distance mode has also had a strong impact on the interpreters’ working habits: remote interpretation appears as a new modality and at the same time as an alternative to the traditional form of on-site interpreting. Thus, the physical displacement of interpreters from a closer range to their interlocutors is nowadays a possibility. This less personal and direct way of interaction has caused some reluctance among professional interpreters towards these recent working methods. One of the reasons pointed for this less positive attitude is the fact that interpreters consider that the technology applied under these working conditions is not always capable of conveying non-verbal elements in the same way as a communication setting in presence. All these factors may therefore compromise significantly quality standards of remote interpretation tasks.

The constant evolution of this indispensable profession is a phenomenon which has also had to a certain extent an impact on pedagogical strategies of interpreter training. Reflecting on this is certainly of the utmost importance. That is the main objective of this essay.