Studies on self-representations of conference interpreters 15

Self-representations/self-perceptions of professional images are ever subjective.

Even when given an identical environment or condition, every individual would have unique perceptions of their roles and status because representations tend to be

purposeful and perceptions meta-discursive (Diriker, 2009, p. 71; Sela-Sheffy &

Shlesinger, 2008, p. 81). Studies have analyzed interpreters’ perceptions or representations of themselves, and the findings can be sorted into four categories:

their perceptions of social recognition, roles in communication, status compared to other professions, and common traits.

Firstly, studies have examined interpreters’ perceptions of social recognition, and it has been shown that conference interpreters are unsatisfied with their social status.

Katan (2009) surveyed translators and interpreters worldwide to learn about their

perceptions of job. More than 95% (955 out of 996) respondents believed that

interpreting and translation are “professions” (p. 70) because the act of interpreting or translating requires expertise and skills, and the need for persistent learning. However, 41 respondents suggested that their jobs are not “professions” because amateurs can enter the profession without any certification (certification was mentioned by 65% of respondents) which is possibly counterproductive to acquiring social recognition.

Hung (2005) suggested that both parties inside and outside the T&I community agree that interpreters and translators have relatively low social status. She conducted a survey on parties outside and inside T&I community which were general college students vs. students majoring in conference interpreting in graduate school in

National Taiwan Normal University. Hung realized that both “outsiders” and “insiders”

(Diriker, 2009, p. 73) acknowledged that interpreters are equipped with particular expertise and skills, and require years of training and constant learning in the

profession. However, regardless of the abovementioned items, most people know little about conference interpreting as a profession, and thus, the occupation prestige is low.

Chen (2008) administered a questionnaire survey to look at job satisfaction of Taiwan’s conference interpreters. Chen sent questionnaires to 96 interpreters based on a roster provided by a professional conference organizer, and received 36. Chen found that interpreters in Taiwan are satisfied with their job but not with their working

conditions. A lack of professionalization is a likely cause. It might be safe to say that the reasons behind unsatisfying working conditions is due to a lack of social

recognition. From these studies, it could be seen that a lack of professionalization has led interpreters to perceive themselves as having lower social status than they would otherwise have, inhibited market entry control, and created unsatisfying work conditions. It is only natural that conference interpreters have sought to raise their social recognition by representing their ideal professional image.

Secondly, interpreters have diverse representations of their roles in

communication, and the most prevalent self-representation is “facilitator.” Pöchhacker

& Zwischenberger (2010) explored conference interpreters’ perceptions of quality and self-representations of roles utilizing the Survey on Quality and Role, a web-based survey among AIIC members in 2008. From the 704 online questionnaires

Zwischenberger collected, self-representations could be sorted into the following types:

A. facilitator/enabler of communication (21.2%) or aid/helper for communication (8.9%)

B. mediator/intermediary (13.7%) or bridge/link (10.7%) C. professionals rendering a communication service:

- communicator (11.5%)

- expert/(communication-)service provider (2.1%) - who makes communication work (5.6%).

Nearly one third of respondents represented themselves as type A, a facilitating role.

Setton and Guo’s (2009) findings echoed Pöchhacker & Zwichenberger’s (2010) results. They also explored interpreters’ and translators’ attitudes to role, status, and professional identity through a questionnaire survey. The respondents included interpreters from Mainland China, translators from Taiwan, and part-time

translator-interpreters. Again, multifarious self-representations of role and status can also be observed among interpreters/translators in the results. Most interpreters believed they facilitate cultural mediation, but, interestingly, eight respondents who added voluntary comments believe that little cultural mediation is involved and said they were just “facilitating communication” for “company operations and business development” (Setton & Guo, 2009, p.112). Be it cultural communication or business communication, it is clear that most conference interpreters represent themselves as facilitators of communication.

Thirdly, status compared to other professions. An effective way to understand the social status of the profession of conference interpreting is to compare it with other well-known professions. Hung (2005) realized that when compared with other professions in terms of social position, conference interpreters are lower than

professors, engineers, and nurses, only higher than journalists. Katan (2009) also asked conference interpreters to rank their own social status, “teachers”, “secretaries”,

“journalist”, and “consultants” are the most popular choices among conference interpreters (Katan, 2009, p. 77), but they believed that they should enjoy higher social status (Katan, 2009).

Finally, studies have suggested several characteristics expected to be seen in professional conference interpreters and interpreting trainees, such as personality traits which are counted as part of aptitude for interpreting. Traditionally, the majority of research on the aptitude for interpreting has focused on “language proficiency, comprehension of source language, and speed of comprehension” (Fan, 2012, pp.

140-143), or the ability to find synonyms (Russo, 2011; Pöchhacker, 2011). However, personality traits are increasingly emphasized with regard to aptitude for interpreting.

For example, the ability to fight anxiety or even thrive under stress is upheld by studies (Bontempo & Napier, 2011; Timarová & Salaets, 2011). Shaw (2011) also suggested the importance of being an active learner and the capability to concentrate on tasks. Rosiers, Eyckmans, & Bauwens (2011), along with these studies, all

advocate for the idea that personality traits should be considered in the admission tests of T&I programs to penetrate examinees’ aptitude for interpreting, reflecting that personal traits have been receiving more attention in the area of aptitude for

interpreting.

In sum, conference interpreters perceive that they are not socially recognized, play a facilitating role in communication, and share similar social status with teachers or journalists. Studies also have suggested that conference interpreters must be active learners and function in a satisfactory manner under intense stress. However,

conference interpreters at large are not satisfied with the working conditions, and welcome further professionalization. As stated earlier, the professional image

represented by conference interpreters is critical in the process of professionalization (Ju, 2009; Tseng, 1992). Taiwan conference interpreters’ self-representations will be briefly reviewed in 2.2.1.2, and then further analyzed in Chapter Four.

2.2.1.2. Conference interpreters’ self-representations of professional image Nowadays, conference interpreters can represent their professional image through access to channels other than news media to influence the public. Publishing books and managing Facebook pages are some direct access via which conference interpreters can share their work life and knowledge to shape their professional image.

Some self-representations by conference interpreters in Taiwan are discussed in the following paragraphs.

Amy Chiang, a professional conference interpreter in Taiwan, has much to say on the matter of self-representation. Starting from 2002, Chiang was invited by the

United Daily News to write a column about conference interpreting, which lasted for about one year, and the articles in the column were later compiled into a book called About Interpreting: A Different Voice (譯口同聲) and published in 2003. Years later,

Chiang wrote another book on interpreting called Please be Seated: 25 Lessons for Those Who Aspire to Become Interpreters (來賓請入座：25 堂口譯必修課) , which

was published in 2012.In this book, she shares her work life and provides insights into her profession, shaping readers’ perceptions of the conference interpreter’s image.

In this day and age, social media is one of the most powerful media used to shape the public perception. Conference interpreters are aware of this fact.They are making good use of Facebook, the most popular social media platform, to promote themselves. Conference interpreters start and manage Facebook pages where they share their work life, interesting incidents, and reflections on interpreting,

enlightening subscribers about the profession through interpreters’

self-representations. Howard Interprets (浩爾的口筆譯日記), Meet the Translators (公平翻譯交易所), and An Interpreter, Going Soho (蘇活口譯 An interpreter, going

SOHO) are among the most well-received Facebook pages managed by conference

interpreters (Howard Interprets, and An Interpreter, Going Soho were translations by the researcher for the use of this study.). These pages are worth examining to explore the ideal professional image in conference interpreters’ minds.

While reviewing self-representations of conference interpreters and related studies could provide critical vocabulary to facilitate exploring the professional image of conference interpreters in Taiwan, learning about outsiders’ perceptions or

misperceptions of interpreters could reflect the context or environment in which insiders represent their professional image. Outsiders’ perceptions of interpreters will be discussed in 2.2.2.