Abstract

Providing service to end-users who have cross-linguistic communication needs is the societal role of interpreting as a profession. The contexts in which interpreting services are needed are very diverse. The degree of development of interpreting as a profession is diverse too: significant differences in interpreters’ wages, professional authority, and accountability for the quality of the service delivered are present across sectors. There is an equally diverse array of contextual factors, which have an imprint on the way interpreting is performed and is expected to be performed.