Glossary

Question 1

Bias

Answer 1

A personal attitude or perspective that is not impartial and tends to favor one viewpoint or social group over another.

Note: Bias is often unconscious.

Question 2

Chuchotage

Answer 2

A variation of simultaneous interpreting performed in a low voice (not whispering) for a public speaker and a small number of listeners.

Question 3

Code of Ethics

Answer 3

A set of directives that specifies the requirements or expectations intended to guide the conduct of practitioners of a profession.

Question 4

Communicative Autonomy

Answer 4

The capacity of each party in an encounter to be responsible for and in control of his or her own communication.

Question 5

Community interpreter

Answer 5

A bilingual or multilingual individual who is deemed professionally qualified to interpret in community service settings.

Question 6

Community interpreting

Answer 6

A specialization of interpreting that facilitates access to community services for individuals who do not speak the language of service.

Question 7

Consecutive mode

Answer 7

Understanding and reformulating a message in another language after the speaker or signer pauses.

Question 8

Faith-based interpreting

Answer 8

Interpreting for a religious congregation, its leaders, or its members as they carry out their religious practices and work.

Question 9

Freelance interpreter

Answer 9

An interpreter who is not acting as an employee but as a self-employed independent contractor for interpreting assignments.

Question 10

Intercultural communication

Answer 10

The ability to communicate effectively across cultural differences.

Question 11

Intercultural mediators

Answer 11

Individuals, who are usually bilingual and bicultural, tasked with assisting people of different cultural backgrounds to better understand each other’s perspectives, typically with the goal of supporting effective delivery of community services.

Question 12

Language law

Answer 12

Legislation that addresses the official use of language.

Question 13

Language policy

Answer 13

Any official legislation, court decision, or government policy that addresses the formal or illegal use of one or more languages. Can apply to a region, nation, state/province, or locality. Can regulate or guide numerous activities such as which languages must be taught in public schools.

Question 14

ISP

Answer 14

Interpreting service provider. A person or entity that provides interpreting services.

Question 15

LSP

Answer 15

Language service provider. A person or entity that provides translation, interpreting, localization, language, and/or any other language-related services.

Question 16

Mediation/strategic mediation

Answer 16

Any act or utterance of the interpreter that goes beyond interpreting and is intended to remove a barrier to communication or facilitate a service user’s access to the service.

Question 17

Relay interpreting

Answer 17

Interpreting between two languages by means of a third language.

Question 18

Simultaneous mode

Answer 18

Understanding and reformulating a message in another language while the speaker or signer is still speaking.

Question 19

Standards of practice

Answer 19

A set of formal guidelines that offer practitioners of a profession clear strategies and courses of action to support professional conduct.

Question 20

Stereotypes

Answer 20

Overgeneralizations about a social group that allow for no, or few, exceptions.

Question 21

Summarization

Answer 21

Reformulating the primary content of a message in a shorter form. Can be performed in the same language or in another language. For interpreters, summarization is not a widely accepted practice; it is usually considered a last resort.