Quality Management in Interpreting

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Quality Management in Interpreting

• Sylvia Kalina
• Cologne University of Applied Sciences

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Overview

• 1. Principles of Quality Management
• - definitions, service quality, quality and CI
• 2. The Interpreting Process
• - model, empirical research, results
• 3. Practising QM in CI

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Definitions of Quality (ISO)

• Product which is fit for the purpose
• Totality of features or characteristics of a
  product that bear on its ability to satisfy a
  given need

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Principles of Quality Assurance (ISO)

• focused on providing confidence that quality
  requirements will be filfilled
• serves for measurement, analysis and improvement
• seeks to respond to the needs and expectations
  of customers

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A Process Model of QM (ISO)

• 8 Principles, among which
• Process approach to achieve desired result more
  efficiently
• Continual improvement as a permanent objective

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The Quality of Services

• Relative quality measuring up to predetermined
  standards and meeting those standards time and
  again
• Consistency
• Conformity(Sallis 1996)

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Procedural Concept of Quality

• Continuous improvement
• Concentration on excellence(Sallis 1996)
• Fitness for purpose
• Meet specifications of customer
• Fulfil own stated objectives(Harvey Green 1993)

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Service Characteristics (Bruhn 2004)

• Immateriality
• Intangibility
• Indivisibility
• Transience
• External factors to be integrated
• Given location
• Individuality, variability

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Quality and Conference Interpreting

• Product analysis and relativity (ST vs. TT)
• Capacity and quality (measurability?)
• External conditions and quality
• Focus on TT

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The ideal target text

• F. Pöchhacker (1994)
• A text which fully fulfills ist function, i.e.
• A text which is optimally understood by its
  recipients.
• M. Viezzi (1999) Usability

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Interpreting products and their characteristics

• Textuality characteristics (H. Bühler 1986)
• Correctness, Coherence, Comprehensibility
• Aedequacy, (terminology, style,communication)
• completeness, accuracy, no distortions,
  consideration of extralinguistic factors (B.
  Moser-Mercer 1996)

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Andrzej Kopczynski (1994)

• Contextual and situative variables
• Technical conditions
• Work load
• Framework of discourse
• Communicative framework

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Authentic corpus studies

• From M. Lederer (1981) Transcripts
• To A.R. Vuorikoski (2004) Interpreting at the
  European Parliament
• as well as Diriker, Pöchhacker, Kalina

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Limits of product research

• Authentic data are rare, problem presentation
  of data
• Heterogeneous products, situations and settings
  are very different (EP, technical conference, TV)
  
• Research ethics
• Detection of underlying causes ?

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Interpreter surveys

• L. Anderson (1979)
• Do interpreters work better when they have been
  given preparation material?
• Interpreters reply No.
• But Lamberger-Felber (1998) found they do!
• Relativity of findings

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User surveys ...

• ... and relativity
• Bühler, Kurz, Gile, et al.
• Mack Cattarruzza, Vuorikoski
• AIIC Study (1995)

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Dimensions of the interpreting process

• Pre-process(anything that comes before the act
  of interpreting)
• Peri-process (external factors during the act of
  interpreting)

• In-process(the act of interpreting and its
  product)
• Post-process( anything that comes after the act
  of interpreting)

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Pre-process Observation

• Theoretical description of methods of preparation
  Phases, methods, procedures
• Empirical observationinterpreter tools, work
  flow
• ... To be continued with in-process analyses

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Some Hypotheses

• 1. Preparation has an effect on IQ
• 2. Methods of preparation vary
• 3. Safety as a priority
• 4. Dependence on source text formats
• 5. Preparing for A into B differs from
  preparation for B into A

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Some preliminary results

• Interpreters keep no documentation
• Ealry preparation is thematically driven,
  in-process preparation is mainly search for
  terminology
• Room for improvement of organisation of knowledge
  resources
• Need for safety is confirmed numerous multiple
  entries in manuscripts

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Practising QM

• More research required
• Self-documentation
• QM standards
• Quality management for interpreting services is
  attainable

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ÖNORM 1202f.

• Specific to interpretingMinimum requirements for
  working conditions (1202)Handling of contracts
  (1203)
• Similar efforts underway in Germany (DIN)

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Documentation of QM

• Self-assessment on basis of transparent criteria
• Definition of interpreters own objectives
• Documentation of QM on Websites

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Thank you!

• Any suggestions to be addressed to
• Sylvia.Kalina_at_fh-koeln.de