Visibility Of Ad-hoc Interpreters Through Text Ownership-A Case Study At A Beijing-based Hospital

Compared with the vigorous studies carried out in Western countries,medical interpreters'(in-)visible role performances have received little academic attention in China due to its lack of medical interpreting services.This study aims to narrow this gap and deconstruct medical interpreters' invisibility by focusing on an authentic medical setting in China.It is both a quantitative and qualitative study based on field observation and interviews in a Beijing-based hospital.By adapting Angelelli's proposition of text ownership,the author finds that ad-hoc interpreters manifest their high degree of visibility mainly in four ways,including 1)replacing the interlocutor by speaking on behalf of the patient;2)exploring answers by acting as a co-diagnostician;3)expressing effect by being the patient's advocate;and 4)brokering comprehension when difficulties in understanding medical terms occur.The study also finds cases indicating the interpreter's visibility inexplicable through text ownership,such as omissions of doctor's/patient's remarks,and small talks between doctor and interpreters.This implicates the deficiencies of observing visibility through text ownership only.Other differences among interpreters of different identities have also been detected:patient's friends/colleagues tend to replace the patient in question-answer part initiated by the doctor,and sometimes act as"co-diagnosticians",while bilingual hospital staffs tend to fulfill their job as institutional members.The research deconstructs again the interpreter's neutrality and invisibility through the exploration of ad-hoc interpreters' role performances in authentic medical settings,while at the same time points out the possible clinical consequences triggered by excessive visibility.These findings can benefit interpreting studies per se,medical interpreting training,and medical services.The research concludes by calling for more academic attention to ad-hoc medical interpreters,their role performances and the improvement of medical interpreter training.