Specific Characteristics and Challenges of Medical Interpreting (Exemplified on the German Language)
Abstract
The paper analyzes the specific characteristics and challenges of medical interpreting. It establishes the critical differences between the competences of non-professional and professional interpreters. The necessary conditions for the successful work of a medical interpreter, as well as the factors causing translation mistakes, are considered in the current study. The paper summarizes most mistakes made by non-professional interpreters taking place in bilingual communication between a physician and a patient, and also emphasizes the crucial features of their consequences for the health and life of patients because they are the main source of medical mistakes. The authors substantiate the need to attract professional interpreters to improve the quality of medical care in connection with the growth of international labour migration in the context of globalization. In the case of mediated communication involving an interpreter, the reasons for the communication disruption may be due to incompetent actions of the interpreter, causing serious mistakes. These include eliminating, "false fluency", non-equivalent replacement of words and statements, "correction" of statements with the inclusion of the translator's own opinion, the addition of words or phrases missing from the original message.
Copyright information
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
About this article
Publication Date
28 December 2020
Article Doi
eBook ISBN
978-1-80296-098-3
Publisher
European Publisher
Volume
99
Print ISBN (optional)
-
Edition Number
1st Edition
Pages
1-1040
Subjects
Multicultural context, learning environment, modern society, personality formation, informatization of the society, economics and law system of the region
Cite this article as:
Kravchenko, L., & Sidorova, I. (2020). Specific Characteristics and Challenges of Medical Interpreting (Exemplified on the German Language). In N. L. Shamne, S. Cindori, E. Y. Malushko, O. Larouk, & V. G. Lizunkov (Eds.), Individual and Society in the Modern Geopolitical Environment, vol 99. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 449-455). European Publisher. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2020.12.04.52