이주여성 경찰통역요원들의 경찰통역에 대한 인식

A Survey of Police Interpreters’ Perspectives on Police Interpreting: A Case Study of Migrant Women Working as Interpreters

The majority of the interpreter engaged in police settings are untrained interpreters who lack interpreting skills. Against this backdrop, a survey of civilian interpreters who are registered with a regional police headquarters was conducted. This paper is based on the questionnaire-based survey, which contains 37 closed-ended questions and one open-ended question. The survey canvassed 41 interpreters’ personal background including their education, interpreter and translator training, interpreting experiences, and their perspectives on police interpreting and their role as interpreters. The results indicate that the interpreters lack understanding of the impartiality required of police interpreters, which points to the need for training, particularly with respect to the ethics and roles of the interpreter in legal settings. The respondents also support that training is a solution to improve the quality of police interpreting. Given that provision of interpreting by competent interpreters is important in police settings, this study suggests training for not only interpreters but also police officers so that they can work effectively with each other while respecting the norms in police interpreting.