Redefining The Roles Of Community Interpreters-a Reflective Study

Since the1990s, community interpreting has attracted much attention in theacademia. Many research attempts have been made to explore the roles of communityinterpreters. However there are still various discussions concerning the roles aninterpreter plays in different community based settings. Beginning with theintroduction of community interpreting and the traditional understanding of the rolesof community interpreters, following the author’s own interpreting experience, thispaper is intended to present a reflective study of the author’s firsthand experiencebased on her interpreting work for the Mooncake Foundation, with much emphasis onthe social welfare setting. By analyzing the cases from the author’s work, this paperincludes five roles of community interpreters, namely, a tour guide, a contact person, asocial worker, a partner and a mediator. This study therefore aims to provide a few ofthe references to the potential community interpreters and the practicing communityinterpreters.