PROFESSIONAL ETHICS IN THE SML: TRANSLATING AND INTERPRETING Dr Sandra Salin School of Modern Languages Thanks to Angela Uribe de Kellett and Francis Jones

▪ Undergraduate and Postgraduate Levels ▪ 3 examples: Undergraduate level: → Introduction to liaison interpreting → The Real Translation project Postgraduate Level: → Assessment and Research Methods

GENERAL CONTEXT ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM Ethics: “The basic concepts and principles of right human conduct”. ( INSTITUTE OF TRANSLATION & INTERPRETING CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT → STANDARDS OF CONDUCT → STANDARDS OF WORK

STANDARDS OF CONDUCT Between members of the professional body Mutual assistance : assist each other / conduct themselves loyally Members unable to accept without infringing the provisions of this Code / cannot complete by the deadline → to another member who has the necessary skills. Exploitation of knowledge acquired: Members must carry out all work with complete impartiality. Confidentiality: Members must maintain complete confidentiality at all times.

STANDARDS OF WORK - EXAMPLES Translation: ▪ Translate only into a language which is either their mother tongue or languages they can demonstrate they have the requisite skills. ▪ At all times maintain the highest standards of work according to their abilities, ensuring fidelity of meaning and register. ▪ draw attention on any significant ambiguities, errors, omission or imprecise language in the material on which they work.

STANDARDS OF WORK- EXAMPLES Interpreting ▪ Take all reasonable steps to ensure complete and effective communication between the parties, including intervention to prevent misunderstanding and incorrect cultural inference.

UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL ▪ Final year students ▪ Language skills / professional skills Introduction to interpreting → Methods of assessment (Meaning / Language / Management) Management: « Take all reasonable steps to ensure complete and effective communication between the parties, including intervention to prevent misunderstanding and incorrect cultural inference → pauses / delays / breakdowns → register (formal / informal) → cultural awareness / asking for explanations → attitude / politeness / body language etc

UNDERGRADUATE LEVEL: THE REAL TRANSLATION PROJECT PROFESSIONALISM WITH AN ETHICAL AIM ▪ Professional practice with real translation tasks completed in groups ▪ Texts provided by charities (local / national / international) “Ethics includes the study of universal values such as human rights, concern for health and safety and, increasingly, also for the natural environment”. ( ( → Make the students work ethically on ethical issues for the benefit of an ethical institution.

THE REAL TRANSLATION PROJECT Work ethically: ▪ Respect deadlines / individuals etc ▪ Impartiality (inc. awareness of target audience) ▪ Work in groups: “Assist each other” to get “the necessary skills” to complete the task “to the highest standard of work according to their abilities”. ▪ « Draw attention on any ambiguities, errors or omissions” (inc. direct contact with charities). On ethical issues such as Children rights in Benin / Human rights in Bolivia / Education for all in Newcastle / English heritage in Wallington / Campaign against racism on line etc For ethical institutions such as Plan International / Sucess4All, National Trust etc.

THE REAL TRANSLATION PROJECT: OPTIONAL MODULE? ▪ Ethics = integral part of the curriculum ▪ Theory = professional codes of conduct (guidelines on professional competence) ▪ Practice = personal code of ethics (personal moral dilemmas) / charity work Examples: To translate or not to translate? « You receive some documents to translate. While reading them, you realise that they are about ante-natal testing to determine birth defects and procedures including abortion ». ▪ What would you do if you were against abortion? ▪ What about if it was to be used in a country where abortion is illegal? → Right and duty to refuse (example of the European Commission). → Give students a choice of sources.

POSTGRADUATE LEVEL: MA programmes in translating and interpreting Translation projects : ▪ Copyrights – permission to translate ▪ Marking criteria – Example: Transfer quality (1st): No critical errors (i.e. errors that may carry legal, safety, health or financial consequences or errors that may result in potentially offensive statements) No major errors (errors that result in a significant change in meaning where the user may be misled; serious omissions and mistranslations which misrepresent ST; etc Less than 10 minor errors (accuracy errors that result in slight changes in meaning; formatting errors, minor errors of grammar and syntax, typos and misspellings that do not result in a loss of meaning) Session: “Ethics and working with people” → Introduction to ethical awareness for questionnaires and interviews Dissertations: Ethics awareness form – to complete and discuss in the first supervision meeting Supervisor to monitor implementation during the supervision process.

CONCLUSION SML: ▪ Professional ethics introduced progressively → Introduced via concrete situations → Reinforced in practical sessions on ethics → Applied in assessments and research methods ▪ Use ethics and ethical issues in different ways → To develop professional skills → To learn to act, behave and think loke a professional translator / interpreter → As a subject → For ethical clients and purposes