In:Advances in Interdisciplinary Language Policy
Edited by François Grin, László Marácz and Nike K. Pokorn
[Studies in World Language Problems 9] 2022
► pp. 257–274
Chapter 13Migrants’ attitudes towards community interpreting
Published online: 21 January 2022
https://doi.org/10.1075/wlp.9.13pok
https://doi.org/10.1075/wlp.9.13pok
Abstract
The aim of the chapter is to describe the attitude of different groups of migrants to community interpreting and the role of community interpreting in the inclusion process. The role of public-service translation and interpreting and attitudes towards community interpreting were studied in three groups of migrants in Slovenia: short-term (those who stay in the host country from one to 12 months), medium-term (those who intend to stay in the host country for a minimum of one year, but for a limited period of time), and long-term (those who intend to stay in the host country for the rest of their lives). The study covers 65 migrants from different language backgrounds (18 different L1s were identified) who intended to stay in the host country for various periods of time. First, the language profiles of migrants were defined on the basis of a questionnaire, then semi-structured interviews were conducted with 38 short-term, 9 medium-term and 18 long-term migrants. The results show that migrants, regardless of their country of origin, the status of their L1, their level of education and their intended length of stay in the host country, had a rather negative attitude towards interpreting. They were reluctant to use interpreters because they doubted the accuracy of this mediated transfer due to the fact that public-service institutions tend to employ unqualified interpreters for the languages of new migrants. In addition, migrants, regardless of the level of their education, gender and language background, mainly considered this mediation strategy to be a hindrance to their independence. However, they expressed the need to use interpreters and translators in the early stages of their stay in the host country, especially in high-risk situations such as multilingual encounters in health-care, court and police settings.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Definitions of the terms used in the chapter
- 3.Research on the status, prestige and perception of interpreters
- 4.Migration flows in Slovenia
- 5.Data and method
- 6.Analysis and results
- 6.1Frequency and context of interpreting services
- 6.2Professional and ad hoc interpreters
- 6.3Attitude toward interpreters
- 7.Discussion
- 8.Conclusion
Notes References
References (38)
Basalamah, Salah. (2018). ‘Toward a Philosophy of Translation’, in P. Rawlings & P. Wilson (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Philosophy (pp. 478–491). London: Routledge.
Bischoff, Alexander & Patricia Hudelson. (2010). Access to Healthcare Interpreter Services: Where Are We and Where Do We Need to Go? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 7(7), 2838–2844.
Čebokli, Andrej. (2017). Lani azilni dom samovoljno zapustilo 548 ljudi. 26 January 2017. MMC RTV SLO/STA. Retrieved from: [URL] (accessed 25 September 2019)
Chesterman, Andrew. (2009). The name and nature of Translator Studies. Hermes – Journal of Language and Communication Studies 42, 13–22.
Dam, Helle Vrønning & Korning Zethsen, Karen. (2008). Translator status: a study of Danish company translators. The Translator 14, 71–96.
. (2009). Who said low status? A study on factors affecting the perception of translator status. JoSTrans 12, 1–36. Retrieved from: [URL]
. (2010). Translator status: helpers and opponents in the ongoing battle of an emerging profession. Target 22(2), 194–211.
. (2011). The status of professional business translators on the Danish market: a comparative study of company, agency and freelance translators. Meta 56(4), 976–997.
. (2012). Translators in international organizations. A special breed of high-status professionals? Danish EU translators as a case in point. Translation and Interpreting Studies 7(2), 93–113.
. (2013). Conference interpreters – the stars of the translation profession? A study of the occupational status of Danish EU interpreters as compared to Danish EU translators. Interpreting 15(2), 228–258.
Edwards, Rosalind, Temple, Bogusia & Alexander, Claire. (2005). Users’ experiences of interpreters: the critical role of trust. Interpreting 7, 77–95.
Fatahi, Nabi, Nordholm, Lena, Mattsson, Bengt & Hellström, Mikael. (2010). Experiences of Kurdish war-wounded refugees in communication with Swedish authorities through interpreter. Patient Educ Couns 78(2), 160–165.
Flores, Glenn, Laws, Michael, Mayo, Sandra, Zuckerman, Barry, Abreu, Milagros, Medina, Leonardo & Hardt, Eric. (2003). Errors in Medical Interpretation and Their Potential Clinical Consequences in Pediatric Encounters. Pediatrics 111, 6–14. . Retrieved from: [URL]
Gentile, Paola. (2013). The Status of Conference Interpreters: A Global Survey into the Profession. Rivista internazionale di tecnica della traduzione = International Journal of Translation 15, 63–82. Retrieved from: [URL]
Gorjanc, Vojko & Pokorn, Nike K. (2013). We are not giving up: Training public-service translators and interpreters in the economic crisis. mTm – A Translation Journal 5, 18–39.
Hadziabdic, Emina, Albin, Björn & Hjelm, Katarina. (2014). Arabic-speaking migrants’ attitudes, opinions, preferences and past experiences concerning the use of interpreters in healthcare: a postal cross-sectional survey, BMC Research Notes, 7, 71.
Hadziabdic, Emina, Heikkilä, Kristiina, Albin, Björn & Hjelm, Katarina. (2009). Migrants’ perceptions of using interpreters in health care. International Nursing Review 56(4), 461–469.
Hale, Sandra & Napier, Jemina. (2016). “We’re just kind of there”: working conditions and perceptions of appreciation and status in court interpreting. Target 28(3), 351–371.
Herbert, Jean. (1952). The Interpreter’s Handbook: How to Become a Conference Interpreter. Geneva: Georg.
Katan, David. (2011). ‘Occupation or profession: a survey of the translators’ world’, in M. Shlesinger & R. Sela-Sheffy (Eds.), Identity and status in the translational professions (65–88). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Koskinen, Kaisa. (2009). Going localised, getting recognised: the interplay of the institutional and the experienced status of translators in the European Commission. Hermes 42, 93–110.
Lee, Jieun. (2017). Professional interpreters’ job satisfaction and relevant factors: a case study of trained interpreters in South Korea. Translation and Interpreting Studies 12(3), 427–448.
MacFarlane, Anne, Dzebisova, Zhanna, Karapish, Dmitri, Kovacevic, Bosiljka, Ogbebor, Florence & Okonkwo, Ekaterina. (2009). Arranging and negotiating the use of informal interpreters in general practice consultations: experiences of refugees and asylum seekers in the west of Ireland. Soc Sci Med 69(2), 210–214.
Navarro Montesdeoca, Guillermo R.. (2006). ‘Interpreting at an immigration detention center in Las Palmes de Gran Canaria: communication and power’, in A. Pym, M. Shlesinger & Z. Jettmarová, Sociocultural aspects of translating and interpreting (pp. 163–171). Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
Olohan, Maeve. (2012). Volunteer Translation and Altruism in the Context of a Nineteenth-Century Scientific Journal. The Translator 18(2), 193–215.
. (2014). Why do you translate? Motivation to volunteer and TED translation. Translation Studies 7(1), 17–33.
Pokorn, Nike K. (2019). ‘Reševanje jezikovnih zaprek v slovenskem zdravstvu: analiza stanja’, in N. K. Pokorn & U. Lipovec Čebron (Eds.), Večjezično zdravje: komunikacijske strategije in večkulturni stiki s tujejezičnimi bolniki v slovenskem zdravstvenem sistemu (pp. 30–47). Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete Univerze v Ljubljani. Retrieved from: [URL]
Pokorn, Nike K. & Čibej, Jaka. (2018). ‘It’s so vital to learn Slovene’: Mediation choices by asylum seekers in Slovenia. Language Problems and Language Planning 42(3), 265–284.
Pym, Anthony, Grin, François, Sfreddo, Claudio & Chan, Andy L. J. (2012). The Status of the Translation Profession in the European Union. Studies on Translation and Multilingualism 7. Luxembourg: Publication Offices of the European Union. Retrieved from: [URL]
Rhodes, Penny & Nocon, Andrew. (2003). A problem of communication? Diabetes care among Bangladeshi people in Bradford. Health Soc Care Community 11(1), 45–54.
Ricœur, Paul. (1996). ‘Reflections on a New Ethics for Europe’, in R. Kerney (Ed.), The Hermeneutics of Action (pp. 3–14). London, Thousand Oaks & New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Ruokonen, Minna. (2013). ‘Studying Translator Status: Three Points of View’, in M. Eronen & M. Rodi-Risberg (Eds.), Haasteena näkökulma, Perspektivet som utmaning, Point of view as challenge, Perspektivität als Herausforderung (pp. 327–338). VAKKI-symposiumi XXXIII 7.–8.2.2013. VAKKI Publications 2. Vaasa.
Scott-Baumann, Alison. (2009). Ricœur and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. London & New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Sela-Sheffy, Rakefet. (2008). The Translators’ Personae: Marketing Translatorial Images as Pursuit of Capital. Meta 53(3), 609–622.
. (2010). ‘‘Stars’ or ‘professionals’: the imagined vocation and exclusive knowledge of translators in Israel’, in O. Diaz Fouces & E. Monzó (Eds.), MonTI 2: Applied Sociology in Translation Studies / Sociologia aplicada a la traducció (pp. 131–152). Alicante: Publicaciones de la Universidad de Alicante. Retrieved from: [URL].
Vargas-Silva, Carlos. (2016). Short-term migration in the UK: A discussion of the issues and existing data. University of Oxford: The Migration Observatory. [URL] (Accessed on 31 July 2017)
Cited by (1)
Cited by one other publication
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 24 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.