Court Interpreter Competence In The Context Of Professionalization In The United Kingdom

The need for court interpreting in China is increasing,but the profession is still comparatively underdeveloped.On the other hand,the UK has undergone professionalization of court interpreting for over two decades.The quality of court interpreting relies on court interpreters’ competence,it is also closely related to interpreter training,a vital part in the development of a profession.Informed by Tseng’s model of professionalization process,Wang’s Interpreter Competence Model and Zhong’s Knowledge Requirements Formula for Interpreters as analytical foundation,this thesis examines the UK’s professional court interpreters working in the profession in order to answer three questions: 1)what is the status quo of the UK’s court interpreting profession? 2)What qualities are expected of court interpreters for the profession? 3)What are the components of court interpreter competence?The study is mainly a documentary research with several research methods adopted.Materials include the publications of UK government departments,professional associations,training and education institutions,media,questionnaires and interview recordings with professional court interpreters.The study shows that court interpreter competence is composed of knowledge required for court interpreters,commitment to professional ethics and regulations on court interpreting profession,psychological quality and physiological quality.Court interpreting profession in the UK is in the fourth stage of development according to Tseng’s model,but the government’s outsourcing of interpreting service in the Justice Sector leads to professional associations’ weaker control over the market,poorer working conditions for professional court interpreters and low public recognition of the profession.These problems pose extra stress on interpreters and the profession needs more competent interpreters to further develop.To change this situation,professional interpreters believe that private agencies should not be sole provider of interpreters to courts and stricter control over interpreters’ quality should be exerted.