The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
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When asked to evaluate how society regards their status, respondents answered very differently, as shown in the graph above. These findings demonstrate that there is a high level of status discrepancy in the profession, meaning that conference interpreters believe they are not accorded the status they deserve. Instead they feel that they are considered to be an 'expensive luxury', as one French participant in the 31-35 age bracket put it, and believe that the profession is little understood because 'the public has strange – and quite erroneous – ideas about interpreters: wizards, secretaries, machines, among them,' according to a participant from Peru in the 21-25 age group. The reason for this may be a lack of understanding on the part of the general population about what interpreting involves. As one interpreter from Belgium remarked: 'People would be happy to do without interpreters, mainly because they find them too expensive and also because resorting to English seems to them a better solution.' A decline in status 16% of respondents (132) reside and work in Belgium, which hosts the headquarters of many European institutions. As one interpreter from Belgium, who works at the European Union, commented: Interpreters are nowadays often seen as a necessary evil in the EU institutions and sometimes an unnecessary expense. The constant checking done by delegations in meetings, with nodding and twitching as we work, shows a lack of confidence in our abilities and destroys morale. This is a new phenomenon and is a clear demonstration of our reduced status. thelinguist.uberflip.com JUNE/JULY The Linguist 15 FEATURES This comment indicates that interpreters' perception of their own status depends on how much importance is attached to their work by society at large. Lay people are usually awed by simultaneous interpreting, but there is still widespread ignorance about the profession in general (most people confuse interpreters and translators, for example) and about how professionalism in interpreting is acquired. Questionnaire respondents identified the main reasons for this perceived decline in status as the lack of organisational structure of the professions (the majority of interpreters are freelance); increasing competition; and the widespread use of English as a lingua franca, which has changed the face of a profession forever. Studies that analyse the state of the language professions in the 21st century, have painted a grim picture: 4 the market has shrunk, partly as a result of globalisation; the profession is still under-regulated in many countries (which means that anyone can offer their services at a low price); swift technological changes allow outsourcing or crowd-sourcing of interpretation and translation; and associations have not always done enough to make their voices heard. These and other factors that clearly emerge from the research show that the interpreters of today look at the future with hope and fear. On the one hand, they know that they will need to adapt to the swift changes of our time if they want to survive as professionals in a strongly competitive market. On the other, new generations of interpreters are growing increasingly versatile, skilled and aware that the profession has to be promoted (e.g. through the use of social media) and protected (e.g. by educating clients about the difference between a bilingual person and a trained interpreter). As one interpreter from Brazil in the 21-25 bracket commented: 'If interpreters are not proud of their profession and don't understand and value it, there is no chance others will.' Notes 1 Dam, H V and Zethsen, K K, 2013, 'Conference Interpreters: The Stars of the translation Profession?' in Interpreting 15, 2, 29-259 2 The four groups of professions were divided into the categories issued by the Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO 2012), which are calculated by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) 3 E.g. op. cit. 2013 4 E.g. Katan, 2011, 'Occupation or Profession: A survey of the translators' world' in Sela-Sheffy, R & Shlesinger, M (eds), Identity and Status in the Translational Professions, John Benjamins Publishing, Amsterdam/Philadelphia; and Pym, A, 2012, 'The Status of the Translation Profession in the European Union', DGT/2011/TST, Final Report The public has strange and erroneous ideas about interpreters: wizards, secretaries, machines among them PLACE IN SOCIETY Is the professional standing of an interpreter akin to that of a teacher or a doctor? IMAGES: © SHUTTERSTOCK