Cover not available
Part of
Interpreting in Legal and Healthcare Settings: Perspectives on research and training
Edited by Eva N.S. Ng and Ineke H.M. Crezee
[Benjamins Translation Library 151] 2020
► pp. 211–241

Chapter 9
Exploring role expectations of healthcare interpreters in New Zealand

ORCID logo
ORCID logo
Reports from practising healthcare interpreters in New Zealand suggest that they and the health professionals they work with often have conflicting understandings of the healthcare interpreter role. This chapter reports on the findings of a series of surveys among health professionals and healthcare interpreters in New Zealand designed to investigate these differences. Separate surveys were posted for health professionals and healthcare interpreters respectively and answers as to role expectations were compared. The survey findings showed that health professionals’ role expectations conflicted with the code of ethics followed by New Zealand trained interpreters in some key areas. It is hoped that these findings may provide insights which can be addressed in interpreter education or in professional development sessions for health professionals working with interpreters.
Keywords: healthcare interpreter role, health interpreting, healthcare interpreter role expectation, interpreter code of ethics, interpreter education, New Zealand healthcare system, interpreter visibility, accuracy, confidentiality, interpreter competence
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction and background
    • 1.1Contextual background that motivated the investigation
  • 2.Literature
    • 2.1Public service interpreting and the issue of invisibility
    • 2.2Issues related to professional healthcare interpreting
    • 2.3Accuracy, impartiality, advocacy, cultural brokering
    • 2.4Healthcare interpreter role in practice
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Surveys
    • 3.2Ethics approval
  • 4.Analysis and findings
    • 4.1Respondents
  • 5.Findings
    • 5.1Interpreter visibility
    • 5.2Confidentiality
    • 5.3Competence
    • 5.4Impartiality
    • 5.5Accuracy
    • 5.6Clarity of role boundaries
  • 6.Conclusion
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 3 June 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.151.09cre
References (49)
References
Abdel Latif, Muhammad M. M. 2018. “Towards a Typology of Pedagogy-Oriented Translation and Interpreting Research.” The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 12 (3): 322–345. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Angelelli, Claudia. 2004. Medical Interpreting and Cross-Cultural Communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Auckland District Health Board. n.d. “Interpreting Services.” [URL] (accessed October 20, 2018).
Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators. 2012. “Ausit Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct. Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators.” [URL] (accessed October 21, 2018).
Bot, Hanneke. 2005. Dialogue Interpreting in Mental Health. Leiden: Rodopi.Google Scholar
Bowen-Bailey, Doug. 2017. “Exploring Emerging Paradigms in Interpreting Practice.” [Webinar]. AUT University. [URL] (accessed October 20, 2018).
California Healthcare Interpreting Association. 2017. “California Standards for Healthcare Interpreters – Ethical Principles, Protocols, and Guidance on Roles & Interventions.” California Healthcare Interpreting Association. [URL] (accessed October 20, 2018).
Chen, Mai. 2015. “Superdiversity Stocktake: Implications for Business, Government and New Zealand.” The Superdiversity Centre for Law, Policy and Business. [URL] (accessed November 8, 2018).
Cheng, Qianya. 2015. “Examining the Challenges for Telephone Interpreters in New Zealand.” Master’s thesis, Auckland University of Technology.Google Scholar
Crezee, Ineke. 2003. “Health Interpreting in New Zealand: The Cultural Divide.” In The Critical Link 3: Interpreters in the Community, edited by Louise Brunette, Georges L. Bastin, Isabelle Hemlin, and Heather Clarke, 249–259. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2013. Introduction to Healthcare for Interpreters and Translators. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
D’Ardenne, Patricia, and Elly Farmer. 2009. “Using Interpreters in Trauma Therapy.” In A Casebook of Cognitive Therapy for Traumatic Stress Reactions, edited by Nick Grey, 283–300. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Davidson, Brad. 2000. “The Interpreter as Institutional Gatekeeper: The Social-Linguistic Role of Interpreters in Spanish-English Medical Discourse.” Journal of Sociolinguistics 4 (3): 379–405. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dean, Robyn K., and Robert Q. Pollard. 2011. “Context-Based Ethical Reasoning in Interpreting: A Demand Control Schema Perspective.” The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 5 (1): 155–182. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gentile, Adolfo, Uldis Ozolins, and Mary Vasilakakos. 1996. Liaison Interpreting: A Handbook. Melbourne, Victoria: Melbourne University.Google Scholar
Hale, Sandra. 2007. Community Interpreting. London: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2011a. “The Positive Side of Community Interpreting: An Australian Case Study.” Interpreting: International Journal of Research & Practice in Interpreting 13 (2): 234–248. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2011b. “Public Service Interpreting.” In The Oxford Handbook of Translation Studies, edited by Kirsten Malmkjær and Kevin Windle, 343–356. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
. 2014. “Interpreting Culture: Dealing with Cross-Cultural Issues in Court Interpreting.” Perspectives 22 (3): 321–331. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2017. “Can the Mode of Interpreting Have an Impact on the Way the Accused Is Assessed by Jurors?” Keynote address presented at the First International Conference on Legal and Healthcare Interpreting, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, February 24–25, 2017.
Health and Disability Commissioner. 1996. “The Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights.” Office of the Health and Disability Commissioner. [URL] (accessed October 10, 2018).
Jacobsen, Bente. 2017. “The Community Interpreter: A Question of Role.” HERMES –Journal of Language and Communication in Business 22 (42): 155–166. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Karasek, Robert. 1979. “Job Demands, Job Decision Latitude, and Mental Strain: Implications for Job Redesign.” Administrative Science Quarterly 24: 285–308. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Krystallidou, Demi. 2013. “The Interpreter’s Role in Medical Consultations as Perceived and as Interactionally Negotiated: A Study of a Flemish Hospital Setting, Using Interview Data and Video Recorded Interactions.” PhD dissertation, Ghent University.Google Scholar
Magill, Delys. 2017. “Healthcare Interpreting from a New Zealand Sign Language Interpreter’s Perspective.” Master’s thesis, Auckland University of Technology.Google Scholar
Major, George. 2013. “Healthcare Interpreting as Relational Practice.” PhD dissertation, Macquarie University.Google Scholar
Merlini, Raffaela, and Roberta Favaron. 2005. “Examining the ‘Voice of Interpreting’ in Speech Pathology.” Interpreting 7 (2): 263–302. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Metzger, Melanie. 1999. Sign Language Interpreting: Deconstructing the Myth of Neutrality. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press.Google Scholar
Meyer, Bernd, Birte Pawlack, and Ortrun Kliche. 2010. “Family Interpreters in Hospitals: Good Reasons for Bad Practice?” Mediazioni 10: 297–324.Google Scholar
Mikkelson, Holly. 2000. “Interpreter Ethics: A Review of the Traditional and Electronic Literature.” Interpreting 5 (1): 49–56. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
NSW Health Care Interpreter Service. 2014. “Interpreting in Healthcare: Guidelines for Interpreters.” New South Wales Government (Health). [URL] (accessed October 10, 2018).
NZSTI. 2013. “Code of Ethics. New Zealand Society of Translators and Interpreters.” [URL] (accessed November 7, 2018).
Pöchhacker, Franz. 2000. “The Community Interpreter’s Task: Self-Perception and Provider Views.” In The Critical Link 2: Interpreters in the Community, edited by Roda Roberts, Silvana Carr, Diana Abraham and Aideen Dufour, 49–66. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pym, Anthony. 2017. “Literacy As an Aim for Translation.” [URL] (accessed July 8, 2019).
Ra, Sophia. 2017. “Should Healthcare Interpreters Provide Cultural Information?” Paper presented at the First International Conference on Legal and Healthcare Interpreting, Hong Kong University, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, February 24–25, 2017.
Reddy, Michael. 1979. “The Conduit Metaphor – a Case of Frame Conflict in Our Language About Language.” In Metaphor and Thought, edited by Andrew Ortony, 284–324. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sleptsova, Marina, Heidemarie Weber, Andrea C. Schöpf, Matthias Nübling, Naser Morina, Gertrud Hofer, and Wolf Langewitz. 2017. “Using Interpreters in Medical Consultations: What Is Said and What Is Translated – a Descriptive Analysis Using Rias.” Patient Education and Counseling 100 (9): 1667–1671. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
SLIANZ. 2012. “Code of Ethics and Conduct.” [URL] (accessed November 8, 2018).
Tebble, Helen. 1998a. Medical Interpreting [Videorecording]: Improving Communication with Your Patients. Geelong, Vic: Learning Resources, Deakin University.Google Scholar
. 1998b. Medical Interpreting: Improving Communication with Your Patients. Geelong, Australia: Australian National Languages and Literacy Institution, Deakin.Google Scholar
. 2012. “Interpreting or Interfering?” In Coordinating Participation in Dialogue Interpreting, edited by Claudio Baraldi and Laura Gavioli, 23–44. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2014. “A Genre-Based Approach to Teaching Dialogue Interpreting: The Medical Consultation.” The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 8 (3): 418–436. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
The National Council on Interpreting in Health Care. 2004. A National Code of Ethics for Interpreters in Health Care. [URL] (accessed November 8, 2018).
Valero-Garcés, Carmen. 2012. A Sociological Perspective on Tips. Explorations into the Translator’s/Interpreter’s (in)Visibility in Translation and Interpreting in Public Services: EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste.Google Scholar
van Boven, Job, Niels Chavannes, Tys van der Molen, Maureen Rutten-van Mölken, Maarten Postma, and Stefan Vegter. 2014. “Clinical and Economic Impact of Non-Adherence in Copd: A Systematic Review.” Respiratory Medicine 108 (1): 103–113. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wadensjö, Cecilia. 1992. “Interpreting as Interaction: On Dialogue Interpreting in Immigration Hearings and Medical Encounters.” PhD dissertation, Linköping University.Google Scholar
. 2017. “Dialogue Interpreting and the Distribution of Responsibility”. HERMES – Journal of Language and Communication in Business 8 (14), 111–29. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wang, Dingyi Danny. 2014. “Examining the Challenges for Legal Interpreters in New Zealand Courtroom Settings.” PhD dissertation, Auckland University of Technology.Google Scholar
Witter-Merithew, A. 1999. “From Benevolent Care-Taker to Ally: The Evolving Role of Sign Language Interpreters in the United States of America.” The National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers. [URL] (accessed October 10, 2018).
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Ciribuco, Andrea & Federico M. Federici
2024. The experience of intercultural mediators in the Italian COVID-19 vaccination campaign. Language and Intercultural Communication 24:3 ► pp. 180 ff. DOI logo
Enríquez Raído, Vanessa, Ineke Crezee & Quintin Ridgeway
2020. Professional, ethical, and policy dimensions of public service interpreting and translation in New Zealand. Translation and Interpreting Studies 15:1 ► pp. 15 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 28 june 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.