This study aimed to investigate the role of the interpreter in medical communication in the Eastern Cape. This role was found to be a complex and varied one. Interpreters do not only change the words of one language into equivalent words in the other language, but act as advisers, explainers, cultural mediators, supervisors and advocates of the patient. In order to fulfil these functions, they communicate independently within the medical consultation and do not merely interpret what has been said by each participant. Rather, they tailor the message to the participants and the situation by adding to the message, omitting parts of it and changing it where necessary. This does not happen in an arbitrary fashion, but is subject to influence from a number of non-linguistic and linguistic contextual factors. These factors are discussed in this study and included in a suggested model of the interpreted medical consultation, which differs from other models of interpreting which were found to be more adequate for the-situation of conference interpreting than for community interpreting, of which medical interpreting is an example. Data was collected from interviews with interpreters and patients apd from interviews and questionnaires given to medical professionals. The results suggest that using trained medical interpreters in the interpreted medical consultation may solve some of the problems that arise and medical professienals should be encouraged to, learn the languages of their patients to alleviate some of the misunderstanding which occurs. The study also raises questions about the way in which we view interpreting and shows that community interpreting does not always observe the ideals envisaged by theories of interpreting.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:rhodes/vital:2349 |
| Date | January 1997 |
| Creators | Hobson, Carol Bonnin |
| Publisher | Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, English Language and Linguistics |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MA |
| Format | 198 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Hobson, Carol Bonnin |
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