Community interpreting and the specifics of the training of translators in the social and legal spheres

Kameneva Nataliia Alexandrovna ORCID: 0000-0002-4768-6383 PhD in Economics Associate professor, Department of Foreign Languages and Speech Communication, ANO VO "Moscow International University"; Associate professor, department of philosophy, history and intercultural communications, Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics (MTUCI) 115191, Russia, Moscow, ul. Serpukhov Val, 17 n-kameneva@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

In modern professional and scientific literature, surprisingly little attention is paid to the specifics of the work of translators in the social sphere (protection of citizens' rights, education, healthcare, etc.).

Due to a variety of external circumstances, such as natural disasters, the spread of poverty, poverty, hunger, unemployment, etc., the number of migrants, refugees and other displaced persons who are in urgent need of the services of interpreters of this kind is increasing all over the world ^{[2, p.36]}. Such specialists are often called "community interpreters" or "community translators" – "communal translators".

Numerous educational institutions around the world offer full-time, individual and distance courses for the education and training of certified translators in the field of social sphere, legal issues, medical care to help migrants and refugees ^[4].

It is no secret that one of the most difficult and "closed" types of translation is translation in various spheres of everyday life to meet the social needs of citizens of both native and foreign countries. The discussion on determining the status of communal transfer still does not lose its relevance ^{[1, p.173]}. The most popular areas of translation in the social, legal, medical and administrative spheres are presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Main topics of "communal" translation

To begin with, it is necessary to determine what is meant by the term "communal transfer". It should be noted that this issue is not completely new, and in the most generalized form, the term "communal translation" refers to interpretation (simultaneous, sequential or, less often, in some cases written), the purpose of which is to simplify the process of interaction between government officials and private individuals (who are not native speakers of the state language) in public for example, in police departments, social welfare centers, institutions of secondary and higher professional education and numerous medical organizations, assistance in settling in a new place.

The number of English-language terms used to denote this type of translation and its components belonging to various thematic discourses, which are given in Table 2, is also interesting.

Table 2. Discursive components of communicative translation

For all its indisputable relevance, the training of specialists in this area, "communal" translation does not receive due publicity, although it is known that the work of an interpreter in this area requires enormous efforts and puts a strain on both the psycho-emotional and physical condition.

Thus, an important role in considering the issue of specialized training of judicial and public translators can be played by the formation of a state register of professional translators in these areas, as well as the creation of a separate institute of judicial (communal) translation, which would carry out certification and help in ensuring compliance with legal rights, provide opportunities for professional development

The translation procedure itself can be carried out in person (personal, individual), remotely (via computer, telephone), synchronously or sequentially. The most popular type of communal translation in the form of execution is sequential, however, in some cases simultaneous translation ("shushutazh") can also be carried out. One of the main features of the "communal" translation is that it is a process of transfer (deverbalization and verbalization) of confidential information from one language to another, the purpose of which is an accurate and error-free transformation of the lexical unit of the source language into the language of translation, as well as a guarantee of mutual understanding and successful cooperation of the parties. The translator must strictly comply with the provision on ensuring the protection of personal data of wards. Table 3 shows the possible types of translation.

Table 3. Types of translation

A competent and experienced translator defines and creates his own communicative model of the translated dialogue, conversations with the ward, the structure of the text, a written document, using omissions, additions, compensations, explication (descriptive translation) and other translation methods, modeling the process and creating a procedure for transmitting the meaning of the document, text, dialogue, polylogue.

The participation of an interpreter in criminal proceedings is dictated by the need to respect and exercise the legal rights of all its participants in accordance with article 15 (Language of criminal proceedings) The Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation. However, the role of an interpreter is often played by representatives of various ethnic groups, ethnic groups, bilinguals who do not have the appropriate professional training (linguistic and/or legal education), i.e. the so-called "natural translators". If a native speaker of the language of one of the participants in the proceedings is able to understand and interpret the speech uttered during the trial at a basic level, then this practice does not guarantee ethical observance and implementation of the legal rights of participants in the proceedings, since there is a risk that the translator will not act independently and impartially and may even take the side of one of the participants in the trial. The modern practice of providing linguistic assistance in court proceedings reveals the real need for the training of court interpreters and the creation of the institute of court translators.

Based on the analysis of international experience, it is worth noting the difference in attitude towards communal translators. In many countries, the institute of judicial translators has already been established, and the activities of translation agencies are subject to mandatory state licensing. The Institute of Certification of Court Interpreters has been established in a number of the USA, Canada, Australia, Austria and other countries. Many experts believe that for successful work in the field of communal translation, it is necessary not only to have a higher education in the specialty "Linguistics" or "Translation and Translation Studies", but also to receive additional specialized training in the form of advanced training courses in the required areas in order to master professional vocabulary, terminology, abbreviations, etc. ^{[3, c. 461]} The translator involuntarily becomes a kind of center during the court session, which requires him to be more responsible for authenticity (i.e. completeness, accuracy and adequacy) and the quality of translation, which cannot be achieved without mobilizing all his knowledge and skills of professional activity.

Conclusion

As a result of the study, conclusions are made:

· A distinctive feature of communal translation is its versatility, wide coverage of various aspects of life, which leads to the use of a variety of terminology, different types of discourses and speech styles, the presence of slang, dialects, abbreviations of different subjects.

·                   In general, the topic of communal translation and translation of court sessions in our country is not often covered in publications of various kinds, and the problem of creating a specialized institute of judicial, social and communal translators, the creation of a registry remains relevant. Translators in the fields of various household and legal issues provide comprehensive assistance to persons in need who are not native speakers of the language of their country of residence.

·          The modern practice of providing linguistic assistance in court proceedings reveals the real need for the training of court translators and the creation of the institute of court translators. Translators in the fields of various household, social and legal issues provide comprehensive assistance to migrants and refugees who are not native speakers of the country of residence.

·            The specialist who carries out this type of translation must possess not only linguistic competencies, but also skills and knowledge of socio-cultural competence in order to settle issues of providing legal protection, medical and social services, draw up court claims and contribute to the adaptation of migrants and refugees to life in a new country.