Page 246 - Handbooks of Applied Linguistics Communication Competence Language and Communication Problems Practical Solutions

224 Helen Spencer-Oatey and Jianyu Xing

takes this a step further and asserts that the interpreter should become a cultural
mediator. He argues that many business people are turning away from using pro-
fessional interpreters, partly because they are seen as intruders, and partly
because they are perceived as not having enough understanding of corporate
culture. So Katan suggests that interpreters should adjust their roles and become
cultural mediators in business contexts: 1) working with business parties before
events and preparing them for any intercultural problems that might emerge;
2) gaining permission to stop events if a misunderstanding is causing difficulty;
3) preparing materials on intercultural meetings to brief clients and to raise
awareness of the cultural factors in communication. This, in effect, turns inter-
preters into intercultural trainers, and in fact this is an increasing trend. A grow-
ing number of universities provide training in both elements, and many agencies
nowadays provide both interpreting and cultural briefing services.
However, acting as a cultural informant can also bring its problems. Kaufert
(1999), who interviewed Aboriginal interpreters in Canada, reports that many
complained they were inappropriately expected to provide various types of ‘in-
stant information’, such as a summary of Aboriginal beliefs affecting individual
and community responses to death and dying:

Other dilemmas for the interpreters included being asked for information about the
community care environment of a patient being considered for a home based palli-
ative care option. … Interpreters complained that they experienced difficulty in pro-
viding information about environmental barriers to care when they did not know the
community. They also emphasized that it was inappropriate to attempt to describe an
individual or community’s ‘beliefs’ in terms of both ethical considerations and their
level of knowledge of the client. Two of the interpreters taking part in the study ex-
plained how these demands forced them into developing reductionist, decontextual-
ized accounts of Aboriginal communities and descriptions of the ways in which
Aboriginal people interpreted illness and death. Interpreters also stated that they rec-
ognized that the environment of communities was diverse and that responses to the
experience of palliative care varied from individual to individual. One interpreter
stated that it was dangerous to ask cultural mediators to provide “cultural formulas”
characterising the perspectives of individuals or to develop generalisations about
more inclusive cultural or linguistic groups.
Kaufert (1999: 407–408)

2.4. Interpreter as client advocate
The California Healthcare Interpreters Association (2002) identifies a fourth
possible role for interpreters – that of client advocate. Their rationale for this is
as follows:

Many immigrants may be unfamiliar with US healthcare system services available
and their healthcare rights. Individuals with limited English proficiency find it diffi-
cult to advocate for their own right to the same level of care as English-speaking pa-