Page 245 - Handbooks of Applied Linguistics Communication Competence Language and Communication Problems Practical Solutions

The impact of culture on interpreter behaviour 223

2.3. Interpreter as cultural clarifier/informant/mediator
The California Healthcare Interpreters Association (2002) explains this third
role of the interpreter as cultural clarifier/informant/mediator as follows:
The cultural clarifier role goes beyond word clarification to include a range of ac-
tions that typically relate to an interpreter’s ultimate purpose of facilitating com-
munication between parties not sharing a common culture. Interpreters are alert to
cultural words or concepts that might lead to a misunderstanding, triggering a shift to
the cultural clarifier role.
California Healthcare Interpreters Association (2002: 43–44)

Sometimes the interpreter may need to explain what lies behind the behaviour of
one of the primary interlocutors, as the following two examples from the health-
care sector illustrate:
Chinese birth traditions:
A Chinese mother who has recently given birth may be resistant to coming into an
appointment until a month after childbirth, due to a traditional cultural practice of the
mother and baby remaining in the home for this period.
Northern Ireland Health and Social Services Interpreting Service (2004)
A Spanish–English interpreter who is called to the ‘Well-Baby Nursery’
Interpreting for the physician, I ask her whether she wants her baby boy circumcised.
She nods, but then pauses and very seriously adds, “But my friend had a baby cir-
cumcised here, and they did it too much. I don’t like how he looks. Can they just cut
off a little bit?” To me, the woman clearly wants to decline the procedure but is hav-
ing difficulty refusing what she considers an instruction from the physician. In gen-
eral, Latinos feel they should agree with physicians out of politeness and respect,
even when they really disagree or do not understand the issues involved. They expect
physicians to make the decisions for them and do not understand why they are asked
to make choices. They are used to, and seem to prefer, deferring to experts. These pa-
tients do not understand the American medical system and its notion of informed
consent. Only when more acculturated do they start taking the level of responsibility
for their own health that Americans routinely assume. Language and cultural issues
once again are intermixed.
Haffner (1992)
The latter example illustrates how interpreters may feel the need not only act as
cultural clarifiers but also as cultural informants. In fact, this is how they are in-
creasingly used in the business sector. A guide to Business Interpreting pro-
duced by the Regional Language Network (no date, 2001) in the UK says that
the interpreter is often a business person’s best source of information and ad-
vice. Similarly, Edwards (2002), discussing the role of interpreters in peace and
relief mission negotiations, maintains that “The interpreter is your local special-
ist in public relations. An interpreter can give you suggestions on the best way to
proceed with a person from a different cultural background, and may notice
nuances that would otherwise be overlooked”. Katan (cited by Kondo et al. 1997)