Interpreters’ Perceptions on Their Profession and Quality in Malaysian Conference Interpreting

Abstract

Interpreters’ perceptions about their profession and quality of interpreting were explored by a survey in five international conferences to fill in the gap between research and practice in conference interpreting and quality expectations in a Malaysian setting. Open-ended questions formed the main part of the questionnaire, adapted from Moser (1995). Analysis of the eleven participants’ responses showed that interpreters describe their profession as “communication facilitators”. Interpreters indicated adapting with the speaker’s speed as the most difficult aspect of interpreting. Time constraints, lack of knowledge, familiarity with the terminology, and technical problems were the most problematic issues and main difficulties in conference interpreting. Environmental conditions, interpreters’ insufficient technical knowledge, incorrect terminology, and mistranslation were marked as other important problems of conference interpreting.