Terminology, specialised language and lesser-used languages in PSIT
Our societies are undergoing a process of transformation entailing new challenges. One of these challenges includes the urgency to address certain needs that arise from the rate of change affecting the multilingual and multicultural societies in which we live. In turn, new technologies, which involve the inevitable creation of new terms, are evolving rapidly as we try to incorporate them into our daily business. We live, therefore, with terminology, whether we are experts or not. In fact, there are a number of institutions with which we have an almost daily relationship and which have their own specialised languages. The question is how to handle these situations, what problems arise therein, and what the most immediate solutions are when this kind of event occurs in environments where terminology, specialised languages, and less widely used languages come into play. Throughout this chapter, and using all of the available information relevant to this matter, I will attempt to answer the following questions: Is specialised language used as part of the interaction between service providers and external users in the public services sector? How do participants handle such specific terminology? What types of documentation do mediators/translators and interpreters have access to? What strategies do they use when translating concepts or expressions into the target language? How reliable is their work? Is special training required? Are there specialised resources in less widely spoken languages that meet those needs?
