The cross-cultural dimension of public service translation/interpreting among minority/immigrant groups

Abstract

Multicultural societies embrace a wide array of language and cultural diversity. An important source of such pluralism is immigrant/minority groups. In this context, speakers of less-established languages face challenges and find it difficult to assimilate and integrate. The proposed study shows how translation/interpreting services require optimum collaboration and interaction in the fields of translation and intercultural studies, leading to coexistence and harmony in multilingual and multicultural societies. Taking the Arabic-speaking immigrant groups in Europe and North America as a case in point, the present study investigates the role of translation/interpreting services in bringing such groups into the sociocultural norms of the larger community (inclusion) or else resulting in a state of exclusion. To maximize the value, translation and interpreting services should be professionalized, and practitioners should be subjected to robust certification and accreditation criteria, supported by intensive training programs. Three methods of data collection were used: social media applications, a questionnaire, and protocols of face-to-face interviews. The preliminary findings draw a thin line between the role of translation/interpreting as a tool of “inclusion” or “exclusion” of immigrant groups in the indigenous societies. After all, the outcome depends on the linguistic and cultural literacy of both translators/interpreters and minority groups.