An Interpreter's Multidimensional Role In Medical Interpreting

It is believed that a medical interpreter is the best bridge to facilitate the communication between a patient and a doctor coming from different language and culture background.In recent years,there are more cross border exchanges with the development of globalization.Such a huge flow of population has created an increasingly urgent need for community-based medical interpreting services.And a medical interpreter's performance and role would directly affect the experience and the quality of healthcare service.Therefore,the study on the medical interpreter's role is of great social significance in improving the experience and quality of healthcare services.Although a medical interpreter's role has gradually broken through the traditional perception of "conduit",the descriptions of the medical interpreter's role vary from one to another,with different classification standers and obvious overlapping.The previous studies mainly focus on the linguistic level of interpreting,while little attention has been paid to role shift and the social motivations behind it.Therefore,this thesis attempts to place medical interpreting activity in the broader social and cultural background to re-exam the interpreter's role in medical settings.A "role spectrum" is introduced to visualize the multiple roles of a medical interpreter.This thesis departs from Bourdieu's Theory of Practice,and takes the impact of social and cultural factors on the role of medical interpreters into consideration.The multidimensional role of a medical interpreter s role is discussed by adopting the concept of "field","habitus" and"capital" in the theory.The thesis employs the qualitative method by recording two interpreted patient-doctor communication in different departments.The transcript of the recorded data is analyzed as follows:1.The role that a medical interpreter plays is not one fold,instead,an interpreter may play multiple roles.2.The role of an interpreter is dynamic,and an interpreter's role may shift from one to another within the role spectrum.3.Field,habitus,capital,and power are important factors for role shift and the continuing struggle of power drives the communication forward.This thesis is composed of four chapters besides the introduction and conclusion.Chapter one focuses on the concept and features of medical interpreting.The concept,"role spectrum",is proposed on the basis of reviewing previous literature.Chapter two introduces Bourdieu's theory of practice and its application in translation.Chapter three reflects the role spectrum in medical interpreting.Chapter four is a case analysis and discussion.The conclusion part summarizes the whole thesis;stresses the implication of Bourdieu's theory in analyzing the role of medical interpreters and the multidimensional role and the reasons behind role shift.