From Campus to Camps: The Linguistic Challenges of Training Humanitarian Interpreters to Work in Mental Health Clinics

Abstract

Jordan is a major hosting country for Syrian refugees, who can access mental health clinics run by international organizations, where interpreting is usually needed. Interpreting is not a regulated profession in Jordan which risks the quality of the interpreting service in such fragile context. The current research examined the ability of a group of Yarmouk University MA Translation students, enrolled in interpreting module, to interpret expressions that reflect different intensities of emotions commonly used in therapy. It also explored whether Jordanian students were able to interpret colloquial Syrian idioms of emotion and expressions of distress. Interpretations were analyzed, evaluated then categorized in two ways.  The first focused on exploring how many shades of meaning students were able to convey into their B language, then again into their A language. The second focused on the implication of errors in translating colloquial Syrian idioms and expressions of distress, and its possible consequences on the therapist’s understanding and diagnosis. The research showed that only 20.8% of the interpreters were able to convey all shades of meaning when translating into their B language, compared to 42.4% when translating into their A language. This is also prevalent in more complex situations when translating idioms and expressions of distress, where a mere 8.63% were adequate and accepted, while the remaining were either partially accepted (43.15%), or not accepted (48.23%). The study concludes that the capacity building of humanitarian interpreters in Jordan is vital to improving the accuracy and efficiency of their interpretations, particularly in mental health settings.