Abstract
Throughout this chapter, the author will examine the current professional standards, and the perceived problems with these standards in the Public Service Interpreting industry. She will then focus on the importance of achieving standards in the training of public service interpreters, including a description of the current awards and training courses available as well as the description of the author’s experience of developing and delivering a suite of short continuous professional development (CPD) courses for PSI, at a UK university. Finally, and by way of conclusion, the author will offer potential solutions to the previously highlighted problem that the PSI industry is currently facing, that of achieving much-needed professional standard which can be agreed upon, delivered and adhered to. This chapter will focus on spoken interpreting rather than on BSL interpreting.
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Notes
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As of August 2015. Nevertheless, we would like to fully acknowledge the flexibility and rapid growth of the industry as well as new developments such as the publication of the BS ISO 3611 or the expected new tender for the MoJ Framework Agreement in 2016, which may result in further changes to these standards sooner rather than later.
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The Independent Review of Quality Arrangements under the MoJ Language Services Framework Agreement was commissioned by the Ministry of Justice to an independent consultant (Optimity Advisors) and published in November 2014.
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Available from the SOMI website: http://somiukltd.com/blog/.
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Rabadán-Gómez, M. (2016). Professionalisation and Standardisation of Public Service Interpreting. In: Munyangeyo, T., Webb, G., Rabadán-Gómez, M. (eds) Challenges and Opportunities in Public Service Interpreting. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-45000-5_3
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