Federici, Federico

O'Brien, Sharon

O'Shea, John

English

UCL Discovery

2023TRANSLATING ANDINTERPRETING INCRISIS SETTINGSTRAINING OPTIONS  REPORTF I T  E U R O P ED U B L I N  C I T Y  U N I V E R S I T YU N I V E R S I T Y  C O L L E G E  L O N D O NbyFederico M. FedericiSharon O'BrienJohn O'Shea To understand current provision of mental health and wellbeingsupport to members of professional organizations involved inproviding language services in multilingual crisis contexts. To assess whether the professional organizations in Europe may beinterested in developing or deploying such training in the future.FIT Europe in collaboration with UCL Centre for Translation Studies andDCU School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies conducted asurvey on the topic of crisis translation training among the 60 professionalassociations, which were members of FIT Europe at the time of the survey. The survey posed some essential questions to pursue 2 objectives:1.2.This short report is subdivided into three sections: the first section detailsthe methodology used, the second section succinctly analyses the surveyresults and the third discusses the findings putting forward someconsiderations for future training needs assessment and training design. INTRODUCTIONTranslating and interpreting in Crisis Settings - Training Options Report 2023KEY INDICATORThe survey opened on 6 June 2022 and closed on 30 September 2022. During thistime, 16 out of 60 European regular member associations responded to the surveyquestions (see Appendix 1 for the original questions). A six-question Google Form was used to collect the data. Together with closedquestions to capture the overall picture (yes or no), respondents could use free textfields to provide relevant information. FIT Europe shared the form with its regularmember associations. The questions draw on research conducted by O’Brien and Federici through theInternational Network on Crisis Translation, which also investigated the primarytraining needs of translators and interpreters operating in multilingual contexts ofcrisis (disasters, conflicts, wars, people displacement, etc.). ACTIVITY / PROJECTWhat results didyou obtain fromyour project? Write them here.Your Key PerformanceIndicator goes hereAdd a few detailsdescribing therelated activities1 METHODOLOGY Translating and interpreting in Crisis Settings - Training Options Report 20232. RESULTS 18.8% of respondents are offering some training or are piloting projectsto offer psychological support to members who have been exposed tohealth risks. Currently offering trainingTranslating and interpreting in Crisis Settings - Training Options Report 2023Yes 18.8%No 81.3%18.8% of respondents offer training to prepare members who are likelyto work in crisis contexts. Preventative training Yes 18.8%No 81.3%25% of respondents have provided support to members affected byworking in traumatic settings. Offering aftercare support  Yes 25%No 75%56.3% of respondents are considering offering training to their membersworking in crises. Training plans Yes 56.3%No 43.8%87.5% of respondents encourage their members who have experiencedworking in crisis contexts to share their experiences with others. Sharing and mentoringYes 87.5No 12.5%The 16 responses provide a clear overview: some support has been offered over the yearsand there are plans to train members who may be working in traumatic conditions or workingin crisis settings. The respondents did not mention any formal or regular training for translatorsbut often referred to ad hoc support and training for interpreters. 2.1 Key factsAlthough the survey collected responses from 27% of FIT Europe’s member associations,the respondents’ answers confirm that there is growing attention towards the need tosupport the mental well-being of the individuals who are members of nationalassociations providing language services in traumatic contexts. In fact, 56.3% of theresponding associations stated that they were planning to introduce training, eventhough 81.3% of them reported that they were not offering any training in 2022. It will be extremely useful to identify in the future whether the 43.7% of associationsthat do not have any plans for training face legislative or operational restrictions.There may be locally valid and specific rationales for these choices, which maydepend on national legislation on well-being and mental health. They may depend onthe specialisms of association members, they may depend on the statute of theorganizations, their funding, their resources, their priorities among budgetaryrestrictions, and many other factors. However, if their restrictions are operational –such as access to established training practices – the next steps after this survey willbe to identify whether good practices available in some sectors (e.g., healthcarerefugee interpreting or broader emergency response services) may provide usefulmodels of training opportunities that could be opened up to other professionalcategories (translators, intercultural mediators, etc).For 87.5% of the respondents, sharing training experiences is important. Understandingwhy 12.5% of respondent associations reported that they do not encourage their ownmembers to share their experiences would be important. Are there cultural or legalreasons behind these positions? Or are these simply matters of logistics and managingexpectations within budgetary constraints? Are there structural limitations (e.g.,aftercare or preventative well-being and post-traumatic training are not allowed bythe association’s code of conduct)?Regarding training plans, only six respondents reported on their training plans. Theyhave been introducing training in support of translators and interpreters in relation tothe war in Ukraine (1 organization), considering training workshops (1), andconsidering plans to support members with training without a fully-fledged plan inplace yet (4).Translating and interpreting in Crisis Settings - Training Options Report 20232.2 Current, Future, and Collaborative TrainingOverall, preventative training is offered ad hoc; most training is primarily delivered tointerpreters with a focus on post-traumatic support, and some specific training isoffered to professionals operating in refugee centres.Six respondents specified that they offer aftercare support to members that havebeen affected by working in dangerous contexts or in crises. Each associationreported different approaches and none has a systematic approach, but they haveused meetings, dedicated emails or phone lines open to their members, executiveboard resolutions, and ad hoc support to individual members.There is a need to understand whether providing a model syllabus for cross-disciplinary training supported by psychologists, psychiatrists, and other specialistsmay enable national associations to adjust training to their needs andlegal/professional frameworks. It may be worth discussing at national, network, andworldwide levels FIT’s potential role in creating a framework of reference with trainingoptions made available by FIT with implementation determined exclusively by needs,resources, and the operational context of local associations.National associations with past experience in organizing aftercare training with adhoc and specialist support provided insightful reminders that training could only bedesigned by working with psychiatrists and psychologists. In the free text replies, 12national associations responding to the survey emphasized the need to include cross-disciplinary expertise in any training developed to support translators, interpreters,and language service providers operating in crises.Translating and interpreting in Crisis Settings - Training Options Report 20232.2 Current, Future, and Collaborative TrainingTraining should aim to..."understand the psychological risks of the work in crisiscontexts, how to deal with the stress, how to reduce thestress, how to take care of your ability to work inchallenging contexts, how to deal with PTSD and stress-related mental health risks"Although the evidence from this survey cannot be conclusive given its small samplesize, the responses highlight three fundamental points:3. GOING FORWARDThere is an interest in training for multilingual crisis communicationsupport. 01   —   Training NeededThere is limited but valuable experience of providing aftercare supportamong national associations on which to build.02   —  Build on Experience There is a need to discuss whether model training can and should beprovided to enable national associations to embed it in their continuingprofessional development (CPD) programmes. 03  —  Training ModelTranslating and interpreting in Crisis Settings - Training Options Report 2023The COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have presented tragic opportunities totake stock of what it means deontologically to support the mental well-being ofprofessionals affiliated with national associations. Protecting the longevity of careerssqueezed by economic crises and multi-factor sectoral pressures (e.g., continued hypeon translation and interpreting technologies as standalone solutions rather thanprofessional tools; contractions of fees and deadlines) will require supportingprofessionals who have to manage stressful situations in addition to all of the above andprotecting them from vicarious trauma caused by extraordinary pressures. The results suggest that further collaboration and a more detailed understanding of thecurrent state of play are necessary to ascertain whether national associationsworldwide might be interested in accessing training opportunities (in the form ofinternational training, training templates to recruit local specialists, or syllabi of shortprofessional training courses to adopt once appropriately adjusted to meet the localneeds). NEW QUESTIONS Q U E S T I O N  1Should training changes be suggestedcentrally at the regional or central levelamong FIT members? Q U E S T I O N  2Should training models be articulated andproposed to be adapted and adopted withguidance at the level of nationalassociations?Q U E S T I O N  3Should recommendations for a syllabus bemade within FIT committees to allownational associations to adaptrecommendations and suggestions forgeneral training provisions to their locale?The small-scale pilot opened up some big questions:Translating and interpreting in Crisis Settings - Training Options Report 2023If so, please list the topics hereDoes your association offer any training to your members regarding working in contextsthat pose risks to their health? By 'risk to health' we mean exposure or effects from, forexample, exposure to an unstable environment after an earthquake, exposure to radiation,or exposure to mental trauma. 01  If you answered yes to the question above, and if you can and are willing to share withother associations, please provide examples of existing training if applicableDo you offer preventative training, preparing your members to deal with emotional fatigue,stress-related mental health risk, post-traumatic stress disorder, vicarious trauma, or anyrelevant condition affecting personnel working in emergency situations?02  If you answered yes, can you provide more details about the type of support you offerDoes your association provide any support "after the fact" to members who require support?03  If you have anything else you would like to comment on in relation to these matters, please usethis space to do so If training to provide emotional and mental health support for language professionals wereavailable, what should it include? 06  Regardless of whether training on these topics is offered by your organisation, do you encouragecolleagues to informally or formally share their experiences of working in risky contexts with eachother as a way of dealing with the potential stress?05  If you answered yes to the question above, if you have plans for offering such training in thefuture, please provide examples of these plans you are willing to share with other associations.If your association is not currently offering training does your association plan to offer any trainingto support its members working in contexts where they are exposed to risks beyond those ofnormal professional practice? (Such as preventative training and/or mental health supportmentioned in the previous two questions). 04  APPENDIX 1: THE QUESTIONSThe following questions were asked in this pilot survey.Translating and interpreting in Crisis Settings - Training Options Report 2023ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSWe thank the participants for engaging with the surveyand member associations of FIT Europe for sharing the survey.The survey was co-designed by Sharon O'Brien, Dublin City University, IrelandJohn O'Shea, Chairperson of FIT EuropeFederico M. Federici, University College London, United KingdomThe results were analysed and written up by Federico M. Federici, Sharon O'Brien, and John O'SheaReport designed on a Canva template.Errata Corrige: in Section "2.1 Key facts", the percentages on Sharing and Mentoring had been accidentally inverted. They were corrected on 13 February 2023.Translating and interpreting in Crisis Settings - Training Options Report 2023Cite as:Federici, Federico M., O'Brien, Sharon, and O'Shea, John (2023). Translating and Interpreting in CrisisSettings. Training Options Report. London: CenTraS. http://doi.org/10.53241/FIT_DCU_CenTraS.

Translating and Interpreting in Crisis Settings. Training Options Report

https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10169860/1/FIT_DCU_CenTraS_1053241_2023%20Report.pdf

Translating and Interpreting in Crisis Settings. Training Options Report

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

UCL Discovery