Training future mediators how (not) to take sides in language mediation

The great number of three-year degree courses in linguistic mediation and liaison interpreting now available in Italian universities offer specific training in the field of written and oral linguistic mediation in a variety of languages and methods. Should the students decide not to further their studies and specialise either as conference interpreters or specialised translators, they will graduate as translators and liaison interpreters , with a professional profile that will allow them to deal with and interpret a variety of written, oral and multimedia forms of communication in various professional settings and situations ranging from dialogue interpreting (e.g. community and public service interpreting) to liaison interpreting for businesses and institutions. Then, hopefully, they will enter the job market and work as interpreters and translators for an agency or as freelancers, or find a job in a small- or medium-sized business or company . On the contrary, they will be less likely to work as community interpreters, since in Italy this sector is not as developed and professionalised as in other countries. The teaching of oral language mediation involves not only the transmission of the abilities and training of the skills required in order to conduct a mediation between two persons/groups speaking different languages and belonging to different cultures; it also involves making the students aware of the fact that, in the course of the mediation, because of ideological reasons and/or financial commitments, they will, deliberately or unconsciously, take sides for one of the parties involved.