Claudia V. Angelelli

Holly E. Jacobson

"Testing and Assessment in Translation and Interpreting Studies" examines issues of measurement that are essential to translation and interpreting. Conceptualizing testing both as a process and a product, the collection of papers explores these issues across languages and settings (including university classrooms, research projects, the private sector, and professional associations). The authors have approached their chapters from different perspectives using a variety of methods, some focusing on very specific variables, and others providing a much broader overview of the issues at hand. Chapters range from a discussion of the measurement of text cohesion in translation; the measurement of interactional competence in interpreting; the use of a particular scale to measure interpreters renditions to the application of a specific approach to grading or general program assessment (such as interpreter or translator certification at the national level or program admissions processes). These studies point to the need for greater integration of research and practice in the specific area of testing and assessment and are a welcome addition to the field."

A Call for Dialogue Between Research and Practice

Testing and Assessment in Translation and Interpreting Studies

When healthcare providers and patients do not speak the same language, medical interpreters are called in to help. In this book - the first ever ethnographic study of a bilingual hospital - Claudia Angelelli explores the role of medical interpreters, drawing on data from over 300 medical encounters and interviewing the interpreters themselves about the people for whom they interpret, their challenges, and how they characterize their role. Traditionally the interpreter has been viewed as a language conduit, with little power over the medical encounter or the relationship between patient and provider. This book presents an alternative view, considering the interpreter's agency and contextualizing the practice within an institution that is part of a larger society. Bringing together literature from social theory, social psychology and linguistic anthropology, this book will be welcomed by anyone who wants to discover the intricacies of medical interpreting firsthand; particularly researchers, communication specialists, policy makers and practitioners.

Medical Interpreting and Cross-cultural Communication

Increasing attention has been paid to the agency of translators and interpreters, as well as to the social factors that permeate acts of translation and interpreting. In addition, agency and social factors are discussed in more interdisciplinary terms. Currently the focus is not only on translators or interpreters – i.e., the exploration of their inter/intra-social agency and identity construction (or on their activities and the consequences thereof), but also on other phenomena, such as the displacement of texts and people and issues of access and linguicism. The displacement of texts (whether written or oral) across time and space, as well as the geographic displacement of people, has encouraged researchers in Translation and Interpreting Studies to consider issues related to translation and interpreting through the lens of the Sociology of Language, Sociolinguistics, and Historiography. Researchers have employed a myriad of theoretical and methodological lenses borrowed from other disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Therefore, the interdisciplinarity of Translation and Interpreting Studies is more evident now than ever before. This volume, originally published as a special issue of Translation and Interpreting Studies (issue 7:2, 2012), is a perfect example of such interdisciplinarity, reflecting the shift that has occurred in Translation and Interpreting Studies around the world over the last 30 years.

The Sociological Turn in Translation and Interpreting Studies

Brian James Baer

This volume offers a comprehensive view of current research directions in Translation and Interpreting Studies, outlining the theoretical concepts underpinning that research and presenting detailed discussions of the various methods used. Organized around three factors that are responsible for shaping the study of translation and interpreting today—post-positivist theoretical approaches, developments in the language industry, and technological innovations—this volume is divided into three parts: Part I introduces the basic concepts organizing translation and interpreting research, such as the difference between qualitative and quantitative research, between product-oriented and process-oriented studies, and between prescriptive and descriptive approaches. Part II provides a theoretical mapping of current translation and interpreting research, covering the theories underlying the current conceptualization of translation and interpreting, from queer studies to cognitive science. Part III explores the key methodological approaches to research in Translation and Interpreting Studies, including corpus-based, longitudinal, observational, and ethnographic studies, as well as survey and focus group-based studies. The international range of contributors are all leading research experts who use the methodologies in their work. They present the research aims of these methods, offer sample research questions that can—and cannot—be addressed by these methods, and discuss modes of data collection and analysis. This is an essential reference for all advanced undergraduates, postgraduates, and researchers in Translation and Interpreting Studies.

Claudia V. Angelelli

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