Quality (original) (raw)

The Routledge Handbook of Interpreting, 2015

Abstract

[Full text on the link to GoogleBooks] Interpreting quality is a multifaceted, complex and dynamic concept. Although its importance has been acknowledged for many years by practitioners, researchers and trainers, and research on interpretation quality is considered to be one of the most fruitful and cohesive areas of inquiry, there is still no universal agreement on its definition. Interpreting quality research has taken place from two quite different perspectives: interpretation as product and interpretation as process. Most of the research carried out since the mid 1980s has focused on the product of simultaneous interpretation, resorting to parameters of verbal and non-verbal nature addressing function, form and content of the interpreted speech. In this framework, attention has been paid to the expectations and the assessment of the interpreter’s performance by the audience, interpreters and other stakeholders of the interpreting event. Regarding the subjects’ priori expectations, research has consistently shown that content-related parameters (e.g. sense consistency, logical cohesion, terminology) are usually regarded as more important than form-related ones (e.g. accent, fluency, intonation, pleasant voice). Findings also revealed differences in expectations depending on the professional background, gender, age, type of event, and experience with interpretation. However, when it comes to judge a given interpretation, it has been found that formal parameters become more important and actually interfere with the assessment of content-related ones and of quality as a whole. Moreover, a number of interactions among certain evaluation criteria has been observed, apparently as a result of the overlapping of some parameters in the subjects’ perceptions. This points to the indivisibility of form and substance in the majority of criteria, far from the rigid distinction between the verbal and the non-verbal. Finally, recent studies have explored other interpreting settings and modes, as well as other aspects that could affect quality. These new approaches offer a wider perspective of the concept, beyond those traditionally considered to be quality parameters.

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