Was ist neu an der neuen Dolmetschart Community Interpreting? State of the Art in deutschsprachigen Ländern

Abstract

In my paper I would like to discuss the specifics of community interpreting (CI) as a relatively new art of interpreting. The following aspects should be taken into consideration: the definition of the term on specific scopes of CI and compared to other types of interpretation as well as a brief overview of the development of this type of interpreting in Sweden, USA and Canada as pioneer countries and German-speaking countries. For the definition of CI compared especially to conference interpreting, the following factors are important: the particular communication situation, the additional skills of the interpreter, guidelines for CI as well as questions of quality management and the role of the interpreter: Is the tendency to over-emphasize the position of power of the community interpreter fair? In the context of a country-specific overview, the following are also discussed: the professional status of the community interpreter and the situation on the labor market – in areas of court interpreting (including asylum procedures, eg Legal Law Clinic in Innsbruck, Austria as a positive example) and hospital interpreting – and training for community interpreters at university (eg in Graz and Vienna in Austria). In conclusion, I would like to speak about necessary steps to professionalize CI in German-speaking countries.