The Clashes of Expert and Layman Talk Constructing Meanings of Interpreter- Mediated Medical Encounters

This chapter examines interpreters' and health care providers' perception and management of communicative contexts and strategies in interpreter•mediated medical encounters. We recruited 26 professional medical interpreters from 17 languages and 32 health care providers from four specialties to participate in in-depth interviews and focus groups. Our findings suggest that no one has the sole authorship to his or her own voice in an interpreter-mediated encounter. The provider's (and the patient's) voice is mediated through the interpreter's performance (or voice). The interpreter's voice remains hidden while being constantly monitored, supervised, and rectified by the provider. In addition, the once integrated voice diverged into multiple voices. Individuals differentiate their understanding of and response to (a) meanings across various semiotic resources, and (b) functions of the provider-patient conversations. As a result, the integrated, singular voice is perceived and treated with multiple authors and purposes, each with its corresponding expertise and authorities in legitimizing the voice(s).