Social Capital In Community Interpreting:A Case Study Of International Students At Xiamen University

With the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative and related favorable polices,China has been attracting an increasing number of international students to pursue an education.With limited Chinese language proficiency,a lot of international students are faced with language-related barriers in their daily communication.In other words,they are in urgent needs for community interpreting.However,against the backdrop of the underdeveloped community interpreting in China,non-native speakers of Chinese will have to ask their family members,friends,bilingual staff and even strangers to act as ad hoc interpreters.Although there is a large body of literature investigating the migrants'needs for and experiences of community interpreting,few researchers focus on the special group of international student sojourners,and explore their access to community interpreting and the influencing factors in the process of reaching someone for such language assistance.Therefore,the author conducted this research in an effort to identify the language-related barriers encountered by international students,their potential access to community interpreting,and how social capital works in the process of getting someone to facilitate the communication.The author has sampled 10 international students who are doing short-term exchange program at Xiamen University as the study participants.By conducting this qualitative,study,the author has investigated study participants' discourse arising from the absence of community interpreting.Qualitative data analysis software NVivo 11 and thematic analysis method are employed in analyzing the data collected through semi-structured interviews.By employing Woolcock's definition and three indicators of social capital,the author has developed the theoretical framework of this study,and has further identified the interplay between information,trust and norms of reciprocity in the process of accessing community interpreting.The results show that 1)language-related barriers can deter international students from accessing qualified services in institutional settings,of which the problems in hospital settings are more serious than others;2)international students mainly access ad hoc interpreters for community interpreting,and such ad hoc interpreters are mainly accessed randomly or from established social networks;and 3)international students' accessing community interpreting is a purposive mobilization of the productive resources inhering in their social networks,which is in essence social capital in action.The combination of interpreting studies and sociology is thus a try to draw due attention to the language-related barriers faced by international students,and seek development for community interpreting in China.