Accuracy and beyond: situated dialogues for strong message transfer practice in interactional interpreting

Abstract

This paper discusses the value of bringing to the fore skills-development for accurate message-transfer in dialogue interpreter training. This is the rationale behind the methodology for creating Situated Dialogues, a collection of materials that support message-transfer practice. After several rounds of action-research (some of them publicly funded) today the collection includes 43 dialogues in 8 language pairs. Strengths, limitations, and opportunities for future development of this collection are discussed under the frame of supporting skills for accuracy. I argue that an emphasis on accuracy should be of co-equal importance with attention to the interactional dimension of dialogue interpreting. While a sophisticated understanding through empirical research of the interactional aspect of dialogue interpreting has successfully highlighted the uniqueness of this kind of interpreting (especially as opposed to conference interpreting), interpreting is still interpreting, and its message-transfer essence is both challenging and defining across modes. A collection of practice materials that helps interpreters develop skills for accuracy in an interactionally relevant way and across settings, also effectively highlights the shared stem of all interpreting