ARABIC-TURKISH HOSPITAL INTERPRETERS: A CASE STUDY ON KAHRAMANMARAS, GAZIANTEP, SANLIURFA AND ADIYAMAN PROVINCES

Abstract

Our study unveils the views of hospital interpreters who work in community translation and hospital interpretation in the City and Training and Research Hospitals of Kahramanmaraş, Gaziantep, Şanlıurfa and Adıyaman provinces of Turkey. Community interpreting, which emerged at the end of the 20th century especially in Western countries receiving immigration, constitutes a new field of interpreting. Turkey, which was a country of emigration until the Syrian civil war in 2011, has developed into a country of immigration after this period, and this resulted in high demand for community translators. As of particular note to this demand, there is a growing need for hospital interpreters, who build a communication bridge between Syrian refugees and health workers in Turkey; namely, between Arabic and Turkish languages.

In this study, interviews with a total of 16 hospital interpreters who worked in the above-mentioned provinces were carried out on a face-to-face question-and-answer basis. All participants, who joined the interviews voluntarily were refugees. They were asked 32 questions under the following five headings: a- education, b- work environment, c- translation area, d- professional perspective and e- social relations. The obtained responses were voice recorded. The data set, created by transcribing the oral responses, forms the basis of our qualitative study, which is also supported by quantitative data.

The aim of our study is to present the current professional status of hospital interpreters in the investigated provinces, to make suggestions for the inadequacies which were identified and to contribute to the improvement of the hospital interpreting profession