Nordisk tidsskrift for oversettelses- og tolkeforskning (NTOT)

På olika platser i professionaliseringsprocessen

Elisabet Tiselius, Helena Bani-Shoraka — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article takes as its point of departure Ozolin's (2000; 2010) survey and framework for different countries’ approaches to meeting interpreting needs. Within this framework, Sweden is placed among countries with significant state involvement. This involvement is evident through inclusive legislation and state-funded training to meet the need for interpreting services. In this article, we describe why the Swedish interpreter professions have reached different stages in the professionalization process. We also show that the professionalization process is not linear, but rather a fluctuating one influenced by contextual factors. Ozolin’s framework is used as a starting point in describing the Swedish context. However, in our description, we differentiate between the three most common interpreting professions in Sweden, conference interpreting, sign language interpreting and public sector interpreting. The different historical factors impacting the professionalization processes of the three professions are important for understanding the interpreting field in Sweden today. The differentiation of interpreting professions also allows us to provide a more fine-grained description of the factors which have affected, and still affect, the development of the three professions. Some factors of particular importance that dominate the current discourse about interpreting are changing political opinions and technological developments. These are examples of factors that, despite state involvement and affirmative legislation, can contribute to slowing down, and in some cases even eroding, the ongoing professionalization processes of the interpreting professions.

Keywords: Interpreting professions, professionalization processes, interpreting services

Det epistemologiske grunnlaget for tolking

Aleksandra Thy — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In the past thirty years, the dialogical perspective on language in interaction has been dominant within research on interpreter-mediated conversations. In this article, I point to some overlapping features between dialogism, phenomenology and hermeneutics in issues of meaning and terms of understanding. I argue that phenomenological concepts, such as intentionality and intersubjectivity, and hermeneutical concepts, such as horizon of understanding, the hermeneutic circle and pre-understanding, may provide further insight into interpreted conversations. The purpose of the article is to show that the idea of an interplay between the subject and the world, which is central to phenomenological and hermeneutical thinking, may hold the key to a more holistic understanding of what happens between the interlocutors when the ‘miracle of understanding’, as Gadamer puts it, takes place. Simultaneously, this perspective helps elevate the discussion of meaning and understanding from the specific conversational context to a more general and abstract philosophical level.

Keywords: interpreting, translation, meaning, understanding, hermeneutics, phenomenology

Sammensatte uttrykk i konsekutiv frammøtetolking

Silje Ohren Strand — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article examines the interaction between primary participants and the interpreter in interpreted
conversations. It focuses on how meaning-carrying elements that are not expressed verbally but acquire meaning at the intersection between bodily action, artefacts and speech, are used to negotiate meaning. The article demonstrates the significance of such composite utterances in meaning-making and shows how the interpreter reproduces the interaction between the agents' bodily actions and the verbal dimension. The study presented here is based on observations of authentic institutional conversations with interpreters. The findings suggest that the interpreter often resorts to clarifications and referential specification in composite utterances.

Keywords: interpreted conversations, meaning-making, composite utterances, multimodality, coherence, references

Risiko i tolkemediert interaksjon – tolken tolker (ikke) alt

Randi Havnen, Tonje Raddum Hitching — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article examines the risks associated with interpreter mediated interaction in the public sector when the interpreter and service provider lack a shared understanding of the interpreting process and its implications. Communicative practices are understood to be semiotic in nature, shaped by cultural and social factors, and inherently influenced by the process of interpreting. We view this in the light of a potentially simplified understanding of the interpreters’ Code of Ethics, especially the following guideline: “The interpreter should interpret exactly what is said in the conversation, without changing, withholding or adding content”. This formulation may create the impression that full textual similarity is possible. To shed light on the communicative risk involved when the point of departure is an expectation of textual similarity, we present an analysis of interpreting students’ written notes on their understanding of the language situation in Romania, Pakistan and Vietnam, as well as transcriptions of the students’ assessments of challenges in two specific texts. The data were collected through learning activities associated with the course Sight Translation (Tolking fra skrift til tale) in the Bachelor’s programme in Public Sector Interpreting at Oslo Metropolitan University. We discuss the findings from the study in light of existing knowledge about competence among practicing interpreters and interpreter users. The article concludes that if a simplified understanding of interpreting is the foundation for professional practice, this could have real-world consequences for individuals. Enhancing professional competence is necessary to reduce such risks.

Keywords: the interpreting act, interpreter mediated interaction, professional cooperation, communicative risk

Utfordringer i tolkemarkedet

Gro Hege Saltnes Urdal, Åse Johnsen — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

The establishment of the National Register of Interpreters and the introduction of the Interpreting Act have been crucial steps in the professionalization of spoken language interpreters in Norway. While the services provided by the interpreting profession can now be said to largely meet the criteria for professional status, they fall short in organizational aspects such as monopoly and jurisdiction. This article presents the findings of a survey conducted among newly trained spoken language interpreters. Using a structured questionnaire and follow-up qualitative interviews with interpreters who have recently completed the basic course in interpreting in the public sector, we examine what they find challenging in the current interpreting market. The study reveals that the interpreters experience unpredictable working conditions and a lack of understanding and respect for their role in encounters with interpreter agencies and users of interpreting services. Furthermore, internal rivalry undermines the profession's collective cohesion. The study concludes that educating interpreting services users, establishing more permanent positions, and enforcing stricter compliance with the Interpreters Act's requirements for the use of qualified interpreters can help mitigate these challenges.

Interprofessionella rollspelsövningar i utbildningen

Helena Bani-Shoraka — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

This article describes the digital interprofessional role-play exercises that have been developed and are now regularly conducted within the Public Service Interpreting Program at Stockholm University and Lund University, together with students from three different education programs: Social work studies, medicine, and police. Students from these programs are given the opportunity to conduct interpreter- mediated professional conversations in a safe and positive learning environment and jointly reflect on their experiences. The article outlines the structure of the interpreter training and where the interprofessional role-play exercises fit into various course modules. These role-play exercises are discussed from a pedagogical perspective using the concept of learning spaces, but also from an organizational perspective, addressing the different requirements and needs that arise during the exercises. The key success factors identified in the development and establishment of this interprofessional training concept include the digital format, the formalization of this educational element by integrating it into the existing curriculum, and the creation of specific teacher groups responsible for planning, adaptation, and implementation. By sharing our experiences from this educational collaboration, we hope to inspire others to initiate interprofessional educational elements.

Keywords: interprofessional role-plays, interpreter-mediated professional encounter, public service interpreting education, learningspaces, educational collaboration

Fra redaksjonen

Gro Hege Saltnes Urdal — Mon, 07 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000