Issues of Culture and Language in the Training of Language Mediators for Public Services in Bologna. Matching Market Needs and Training

Language services for migrants in Italy today leave much to be desired; the use of unqualified interpreters is the rule rather than the exception, poor recognition of the profession and need for quality training and accreditation lead to the rampant use of ad-hoc solutions and a practically non-existent awareness of the numerous professional and cross-cultural issues involved in public service interpreting. The situation cries out for the implementation of interpreter-training programmes and for awareness-raising courses for service providers. This paper aims to examine some of the issues at stake in the training of language mediators, or community interpreters, in Italy today, focussing in particular on the need for culture-sensitive and interdisciplinary training. Pedagogical aspects of interpreter training will be discussed using classroom experience in a course of interpreter training. The paper argues that training interpreters to be prepared for and to deal with cross-cultural differences, to be able to identify and mediate these effectively, may contribute to improving the level of communication between migrant and institution in public services. Lastly, I would like to suggest the problem of role clarification in Italy today and the confusion between the figure and tasks of the cultural mediator versus the language mediator or interpreter should be addressed by both academic institutions and service providers.