Health Interpreting and Health Interpreter Education in New Zealand: Some Empirical Studies

Abstract

In 1990 New Zealand was possibly the first country in the world to run non-language specific health interpreting courses at tertiary education level, when a former conference interpreter launched the Certificate in Healthcare Interpreting course at what was then Auckland Institute of Technology. The lead author was one of 17 students on that course, and her first language (Dutch) was one of 13 different languages spoken by those who attended that very first program. Other attendees spoke Khmer (Cambodian), Samoan, Cook Islands Māori and French, to mention just a few. From 1991 onwards, the author herself taught the health interpreting module, based on her knowledge and experience as a Registered Nurse in both New Zealand and the Netherlands. Thirty years on, she has become New Zealand’s first full Professor of Translation and Interpreting, and her passion for health interpreter education continues unabated. From 2021 onwards, the authors have been preparing students to sit the NAATI certification tests, since the New Zealand government wants all interpreters to be NAATI certified. The lead author managed to achieve NAATI endorsed qualification status for all interpreting and translation programs offered by her University. This means that students are also prepared for the NAATI certification tests as much as possible. This chapter will provide an overview both of historical developments and more recent developments, challenges and solutions. This chapter will outline what has happened with regard to the early beginnings of health interpreter education in New Zealand in terms of policy and legislation, and what the most in-demand languages for healthcare interpreting are today. It will provide an overview of the literature on healthcare interpreting and health interpreter education, before reporting on some studies involving non-language specific health interpreter education in New Zealand, focusing in particular on situated learning, self-reflective practices and peer feedback, idiomatic language in interpreter education and shared interprofessional learning. Next, the chapter will report on the findings of doctoral research which looked at authentic health interpreter-mediated interactions in a large tertiary teaching hospital in Auckland, New Zealand. Observational data were supplemented by data from interviews with interpreters, patients and health professionals. The chapter concludes with recommendations for further research, based on the findings of the research studies reported.