A Report On The Market Demand Of Hunan For Interpreters

With the rapid internationalization process of Hunan, its international exchanges ofvarious forms have become more and more frequent, which calls for a great demand forinterpreters in terms of quantity and quality. However, it is yet to be known about its actualdemand. Therefore, a preliminary research on the market demand of Hunan for interpreterswas conducted to explore the demand for qualified interpreters, to put forward somesuggestions for interpreter training from the perspectives of employers and interpreters and tothrow light on the employment of MTI graduates (“MTI” in this report refers to those whomajor in interpretation under the MTI program), with the hope of providing reference forinterpreter training in Hunan. Approaches of this research involve a questionnaire survey,personal interviews and telephone surveys.100companies and public institutions,10part-time interpreters and20MTI graduates in Hunan were selected as the respondents.Results of this investigation reveal that the boom of international exchanges in Hunanand the interpreter training on small scale offered by universities in Hunan result in theenormous imbalance between the supply of and demand for interpreters in terms of quantity.Besides, due to the trend of the professionalization of interpretation, the requirements forinterpreters have become more and more specific. Most MTI graduates in Hunan work asinternational trade professionals and teachers of English but very few of them are involved ininterpretation. The analysis of the results shows that, in order to realize the objectives of MTIprogram, this program should be guided by market demand, adapt to the trend of theprofessionalization of interpretation and lay emphasis on the strengthening of students’professional skills by accelerating the implementation of “the dual-mentorship system”.