Quality and Ethics in Interpreting A Three Year Project with Swedish Consumers

Transcription

1 Quality and Ethics in Interpreting A Three Year Project with Swedish Consumers Christina S. Edenås Battison, M.A. Stockholm, Sweden christina.edenas@telia.com Access to good interpreting services is one of the most important issues for Deaf, Deaf blind and deafened people. The interpreter is a bridge between the individual and society, and a vital channel for information that is important to daily life, school and work. I would now like to report on a three year project with consumers of interpreting services in Sweden. This project aims to improve the quality of interpreting, especially from an ethical perspective. We have just finished this three year project. But we have learned from consumers that ethics is intimately associated with quality. And quality means much more than just how we choose our signs or how we move our hands. But first, some background information about Sweden. Sweden and interpreting services Short history and present status Sweden is a country in northern Europe, as large as California but with only about 9 million people. The population is fairly homogeneous, but with a growing immigrant population, including many refugees from wartorn nations. Sweden is a member of the European Union and the United Nations, but not yet a member of the European Monetary Union, and not yet a member of NATO. Sweden has a long tradition of providing extensive social services to people with disabilities. The Swedish national government funds these services. Sweden is divided into 21 counties some small and some large. These counties are responsible for interpreting services for Deaf, Deaf blind and deafened consumers. The service was fully established in of 10

2 Each county has one central interpreting agency, to which the consumer makes requests for interpreters, and where the interpreters are employed, either full time, part time or on a free lance basis. The service focuses on everyday interpreting services, which include: contacts with authorities, medical appointments, work related needs, weddings, funerals, evening courses, etc. Interpreting services provided for education at the university level is funded directly to the universities by the national government. Thus, interpreting services are almost always free of charge for the consumer. Some statistics For the year 2000 we have data that covers 7,300 consumers. 75% used sign language, 5% used some kind of deaf blind interpreting, and 20% used some other kind of service. The cost for interpreting services in 2000 was about $15 million USD or about $22 million CAD. This was an increase of 25% over 1998, just two years earlier. Interpreters employed 300 Free lance interpreters within the system 300, not all fulltime Interpreters in higher education 50 Interpreter training Status and short history Interpreter training started in the late 1960 s. Most of the participants had ties to the Deaf community as children of Deaf adults (CODAs) or had family members that were Deaf. The training was very short only two to six weeks! This has changed: training programs are now two years long and few of the participants have ties to the Deaf community. 2 of 10

3 In order to be accepted into these programs, the student must first master Swedish Sign Language. A four year program is also available where Sign Language is not a prerequisite to be accepted. The training takes place at eight adult educational centers (folkhögskolor) and is funded by the national government through the Institute for Interpreting and Translation (TÖI) at Stockholm University. Since 1989, competence in Deaf blind interpreting is part of these interpreting programs. Over the past five years, an average of 20 students per year have completed this special training. Each county in Sweden must establish a consumer council (brukarråd) that serves as a sounding board for the interpreting agencies and for the authorities that fund them. Why this project came about As you can understand from the introduction, interpreter services are fairly well established in Sweden. But there is still a lack of interpreters to fully meet the needs of consumers, and quality and consumer satisfaction are uneven. In 1999, four Swedish organizations decided to take an in depth look at the needs of their members regarding interpreting services. These organizations are the National Federation of the Deaf (SDR); the National Federation of the Hard of Hearing (HRF); the National Association of the Deaf Blind (FSDB); and the Federation for Deaf, Hardof Hearing and Language Impaired Children (DHB). In order to improve the quality of interpreting services they started a joint project that focused on what the consumers wanted from the interpreting service. It was also important to find out if the quality of the services or lack of quality in the different regions were roughly comparable. Funding was provided by a special foundation within the Social Ministry (Allmänna Arvsfonden). 3 of 10

4 Project activities The first year of the project, which began in August 2000, was devoted to a survey of consumer needs and issues. The second year was devoted to developing support and information for local authorities, who in turn will inform consumers about their rights and obligations regarding interpreting services. In the third year, which just ended, the focus was to establish more formal procedures that can deal with quality and ethical issues in interpreting on a continuing basis not the least in interpreting training programs. Because the project focused on quality and ethics in services, we chose to look at not just what occurs in an actual interpreting session, but the whole process from requesting an interpreter to the completion of the interpreting assignment. Over the three years of the project ten seminars were held in different parts of Sweden. Members from the county consumer councils participated in addition to other representatives from the sponsoring organizations. A total of 250 people participated in these seminars and a large number of working interpreters, of course. Other meetings took place at Deaf Clubs, Deaf blind events, hard of hearing events, youth organizations, retired Deaf people s meeting and interpreter training programs. More than 500 contacts were made over the three years. 4 of 10

5 General Results I will now discuss the most important findings that have come up in both formal and informal contacts with users of interpreting services in Sweden. In the large seminar meetings, we always started with an introduction to the following topics, which are very important to interpreter education and consumer education. Interpreters rights and duties vs. consumers rights and duties Written and unwritten rules and expectations Appropriate interpreters for an assignment Stress situations The changing role of the interpreter, from helper to professional. Awareness of Deaf/ Deaf blind culture in an interpreter setting But regardless of which group was providing input, the same three issues always came up in discussions: 1. How do the interpreting agencies prioritize requests for interpreting services? Is it on a first come, first served basis, or based on other requirements? 2. The interpreter coordinators did not always know the skills of the interpreters they assigned, and therefore the wrong interpreter was assigned to an interpreting job, without the necessary language background, social competence, or both. 3. Consumers wanted courses and information about how to use interpreters In all three cases, we got a clear indication that what matters to consumers is not strictly signing or interpreting competence, but how that competence is delivered and managed, and how that competence is integrated into a social context. Detailed Results I will now present some of the findings related to Deaf consumers using regular Sign Language interpreters as most of these finding relate to the needs of Deaf blind consumers especially those consumers that use 5 of 10

6 Sign Language interpreters/guides. The majority of Deaf blind students in Sweden attend schools for the Deaf and thus acquire Sign Language at an early age. This is not always the situation in other parts of the world where Deaf blind people might be mainstreamed and not be exposed to sign language early in life. Deaf consumers using Sign Language Most of these people have attended schools for the Deaf and are part of the established Deaf community. A major finding was that social and cultural skills are at least as important as pure signing or interpreting skills. Younger or less experienced interpreters might have very good competence in Sign Language, but often lack social competence or service competence. Further analysis of this finding indicated a lack of Deaf consciousness what we in Sweden have called the Deaf nerve, often associated with CODA competence. To be able to engage in social small talk before an assignment was regarded as very important. Some consumers frankly said that they preferred interpreters that had good social competence, even if they did not sign so well. Interpreters should always arrive well before the assignment begins. Consumers, especially older consumers, become very nervous if the interpreter is not on time. On time means minutes before starting. Older consumers often prefer older interpreters and interpreters that they have used before. Do interpreters have flexible working hours? Why is it so hard to get interpreters during the evening and weekends? Dress code. We were very surprised to hear so many consumers complaining about how interpreters were dressed. Too often too sloppy gym shoes to a funeral? Punk hair style? Piercing? Too tight clothes a woman wearing a size 8 when size 10 would have been more appropriate? As one consumer expressed it, Wear tight fitting clothes in private not when working. 6 of 10

7 Younger consumers were very clear that they did not want the interpreter to draw attention because of dress or looks. They felt that the interpreter became the focus of attention, not the Deaf person himself or herself! Interpreters with special skills in an area for example, computers and media are hard to find and this demand is growing as more and more consumers need interpreters in relation to their profession. Interpreters must know how to interpret at social gatherings. The concept of mingle interpreting has developed and many consumers need to have interpreters that have mastered interpreting in a variety of flexible and dynamic social gatherings. Last but not least How do I as a consumer know that the interpreter is voicing me correctly? How do I sound to hearing people? Deaf Blind consumers This group has a variety of needs. Some of the consumers use hearing aids and loop systems, some use tactile interpreting, some adjusted sign language and some fingerspelling only. Guidance physical and social navigation is a part of the interpreter s duties when working with Deaf blind consumers. Consumers felt it was essential to know the interpreter well. Consumers always wanted to know who was going to interpret well in advance and have the possibility to ask for someone else. All this to feel safe in the interpreting situation. An interpreter must master visual interpreting and guidance very well. The interpreter must be aware of the consumer s needs and facilitate contacts with the other people present whether Deaf, Deaf blind or hearing. If the interpreter is unsure about something in the interpreting situation, he or she must ask for clarification and not just go on, since this confuses the consumer. The interpreter should engage in small talk, which means sharing social information about the current setting. 7 of 10

8 Am I allowed to get irritated at the interpreter? And is the reverse allowed? The interpreter must have a rich sign language and be able to show nuances and feelings. Deaf relay interpreters are important to deaf blind consumers. Very often the deaf interpreter knows the Deaf blind person s background and can easily introduce and make contact with other Deaf or Deaf blind people. Deaf interpreters are in high demand, especially at conferences or social events where both Deaf and Deaf blind people are present. Friends and relatives of Deaf blind people must be informed about the role of Deaf blind interpreters what they do and don t do. Small talk is essential to establishing and creating new relationships but this can only occur through good interpreters or guides. Deafened and hard of hearing consumers This group also has a variety of needs Sign Language, Signed Swedish, typed interpreting. Many people that fall into this category are not used to interpreters, and this group is probably much larger than what statistics show. Consumers might be unsure of what kind of service they need. Sometimes people in this group need interpreters in order to understand each other. 8 of 10

9 Future work After three years of gathering and analyzing input from consumers, we would now like to couple our findings and recommendations directly to the interpreter training programs. Interpreter training programs must include more material about social interaction skills and Deaf/Deaf blind culture (the Deaf nerve or Deaf consciousness ), as well as the practical needs of today s consumers. Programs must also stress interpreting for consumers with different backgrounds and language levels. There is also a clear need for mentorship from more experienced interpreters, especially for Deaf blind interpreting. There are also other subject areas that concern us in Sweden, and perhaps in other countries, too: Future needs of consumers. For example, what kind of interpreting would people with cochlear implants like to have? What are the unmet needs of the immigrant population especially for those people recently arrived? This may involve relay interpreting with more than one interpreter. What can we do about the growing need for interpreters skilled in special interest areas as computers and media? Where can we, and should we, make compromises between special skills and language skills? How appropriate is it for parents and siblings of Deaf and Deaf blind children to function as interpreters? 9 of 10

10 Implications for Interpreting Services Globally This has been a quick survey of what has been happening in Sweden. Naturally, there are limitations on extrapolating from these Swedish results to other countries. Sweden is a small country with a 20 year history of interpreter training, and we are blessed with extensive government subsidies. You may draw your own conclusions. But at any rate, we can say that consumers wherever they are should be well informed about their rights and about the services available to them. They should also be able to expect that a qualified interpreter can adjust to their individual needs and have social and cultural competence ( Deaf nerve or Deaf consciousness ). They should also be able to discuss interpreting services and quality with the interpreter directly or with the interpreter service coordinator, as appropriate. Individual interpreters and interpreter coordinators should not hesitate to interview consumers about what they want and inform them of the services that are available. All this in order to make the quality of interpreting services as good as possible good in the ethical sense, and good in the sense of high communicative quality. So as you can see, this project is just a beginning. 10 of 10