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Article
Publication date: 30 September 2014

Cheng Shu Yang

During the period of Japanese rule after 1895, the language barrier resulted in social and political problems. Thus, the Japanese implemented an interpretation examination system

Abstract

Purpose

During the period of Japanese rule after 1895, the language barrier resulted in social and political problems. Thus, the Japanese implemented an interpretation examination system, with an aim of encouraging rank-and-file members of the police force to learn interpretation. The system included tiers and stipends, and offered incentives such as career advancement. This policy, which started at the early period of Japanese rule, lasted up to 40 years. The purpose of this paper is to conduct an analysis of the contents of examinations and statements from interpreters in the system of multiple role interpreters during the period of Japanese rule in Taiwan.

Design/methodology/approach

Through analysis of several hundred examination questions on Japanese-Taiwanese interpretation, and dozens of pieces of literature examining the interpreter reactions toward this system and the examination questions, this study will explore the examination methodology, content of examination questions, and the difficulty of the examinations.

Findings

The tangible aspects of colonial rule can be seen through the contents of the examinations, and the roles and functions granted by the rulers to the interpreters can be described.

Originality/value

The establishment of a database for police interpretation examination questions and analysis of said questions in database.

Details

Asian Education and Development Studies, vol. 3 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2046-3162

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 April 2017

Yuhki Shiraishi, Jianwei Zhang, Daisuke Wakatsuki, Katsumi Kumai and Atsuyuki Morishima

The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues on how to achieve crowdsourced real-time captioning of sign language by deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) people, such that how a…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the issues on how to achieve crowdsourced real-time captioning of sign language by deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) people, such that how a system structure should be designed, how a continuous task of sign language captioning should be divided into microtasks and how many DHH people are required to maintain a high-quality real-time captioning.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors first propose a system structure, including the new design of worker roles, task division and task assignment. Then, based on an implemented prototype, the authors analyze the necessary setting for achieving a crowdsourced real-time captioning of sign language, test the feasibility of the proposed system and explore its robustness and improvability through four experiments.

Findings

The results of Experiment 1 have revealed the optimal method for task division, the necessary minimum number of groups and the necessary minimum number of workers in a group. The results of Experiment 2 have verified the feasibility of the crowdsourced real-time captioning of sign language by DHH people. The results of Experiment 3 and Experiment 4 have shown the robustness and improvability of the captioning system.

Originality/value

Although some crowdsourcing-based systems have been developed for the captioning of voice to text, the authors intend to resolve the issues on the captioning of sign language to text, for which the existing approaches do not work well due to the unique properties of sign language. Moreover, DHH people are generally considered as the ones who receive support from others, but our proposal helps them become the ones who offer support to others.

Details

International Journal of Pervasive Computing and Communications, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-7371

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 2006

Nadia Robb and Trisha Greenhalgh

This article explores issues of trust in narratives of interpreted consultations in primary health care.

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Abstract

Purpose

This article explores issues of trust in narratives of interpreted consultations in primary health care.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on empirical data from a qualitative study of accounts of interpreted consultations in UK primary care, undertaken in three north London boroughs. In a total of 69 individual interviews and two focus groups, narratives of interpreted consultations were sought from 18 service users, 17 professional interpreters, nine family member interpreters, 13 general practitioners, 15 nurses, eight receptionists, and three practice managers. The study collected and analysed these using a grounded theory approach and taking the story as the main unit of analysis. It applies a theoretical model that draws on three key concepts: Greener's taxonomy of trust based on the different “faces” of power in medical consultations; Weber's notion of bureaucratic vs traditional social roles; and Habermas' distinction between communicative and strategic action.

Findings

Trust was a prominent theme in almost all the narratives. The triadic nature of interpreted consultations creates six linked trust relationships (patient‐interpreter, patient‐clinician, interpreter‐patient, interpreter‐clinician, clinician‐patient and clinician‐interpreter). Three different types of trust are evident in these different relationships – voluntary trust (based on either kinship‐like bonds and continuity of the interpersonal relationship over time, or on confidence in the institution and professional role that the individual represents), coercive trust (where one person effectively has no choice but to trust the other, as when a health problem requires expert knowledge that the patient does not have and cannot get) and hegemonic trust (where a person's propensity to trust, and awareness of alternatives, is shaped and constrained by the system so that people trust without knowing there is an alternative). These different types of trust had important implications for the nature of communication in the consultation and on patients' subsequent action.

Research limitations/implications

The methodological and analytic approach, potentially, has wider applications in the study of other trust relationships in health and social care.

Practical implications

Quality in the interpreted consultation cannot be judged purely in terms of accuracy of translation. The critical importance of voluntary trust for open and effective communication, and the dependence of the latter on a positive interpersonal relationship and continuity of care, should be acknowledged in the design and funding of interpreting services and in the training of both clinicians, interpreters and administrative staff.

Originality/value

This is the first study in which interpreted consultations have been analysed from a perspective of critical sociology with a particular focus on trust and power relations.

Details

Journal of Health Organization and Management, vol. 20 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1477-7266

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 12 October 2011

Mary-Rose Mueller, Stergios Roussos, Linda Hill, Nadia Salas, Veronica Villarreal, Nicole Baird and Melbourne Hovell

In an effort to address health care disparities, U.S. laws mandate that health care organizations provide free language interpreting and translation anytime a patient and health…

Abstract

In an effort to address health care disparities, U.S. laws mandate that health care organizations provide free language interpreting and translation anytime a patient and health care provider cannot communicate in the same language. The heretofore absence of legislative and professional oversight in health care interpreting allows for anyone to interpret. A qualitative study was conducted to understand the conditions and practices of bilingual staff who interpret as a secondary part of their job in community health clinics.

Four focus groups were conducted as part of a study on shared decision-making during interpreted medical visits in a busy, urban clinic serving a large number of limited English proficient (LEP) patients. The focus groups were designed to understand the process of interpreting and how interpreters influence medical decisions between LEP patients and their health care providers. To understand the interpreting process from multiple perspectives, one focus group was conducted with users of interpreters – monolingual health care providers (N=6), two with Spanish speaking men (N=10) who were experienced with interpreted health visits, and one with bilingual staff (N=5) who interpret as an ad hoc feature of their job, also known as dual-role medical interpreters.

Dual-role interpreters use different styles while interpreting what is communicated between health care providers and patients. In some cases, they provide near word-for-word interpretation of what is said. In other cases, they summarize and or paraphrase multiple sentences, seek clarity through questions, and deconstruct culturally laden and technical terms. In still other cases, dual-role interpreters combine interpretation styles within a single interactional exchange. Each of the three major styles of interpreting has advantages in medical settings. Specific style is influenced by health care provider preference, interpreter–health care provider trust and familiarity, and interpreter medical knowledge. Interpreters are challenged by the patients’ dialects, educational level, provider personalities, gender issues, and out of clinic relationships with the patients. Contextual conditions and contingencies of reinforcement contributed to varying methods of interpretation. These conditions included organizational policies, language and bilingual communication, and social relations with both the health care providers and the patients.

These findings demonstrate the complexity of medical interpretation and the critical involvement of health care providers and bilingual staff in facilitating interpreted encounters. Findings suggest the need for training both health care providers and interpreters and possible change in reimbursement for services.

Details

Access to Care and Factors that Impact Access, Patients as Partners in Care and Changing Roles of Health Providers
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-0-85724-716-2

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 19 November 2015

Christina M. Borders, Molly Herman, Kristi Probst and Molly Turner

General education and special education teachers may have limited experience working with students who are deaf/hard of hearing and be unaware of the professionals and specialist…

Abstract

General education and special education teachers may have limited experience working with students who are deaf/hard of hearing and be unaware of the professionals and specialist who may work with those students. When a student has a hearing loss, there are a variety of additional professionals with whom teachers must collaborate. The roles of these professionals may be different than those experienced by other educators. An understanding of the roles of these various professionals is important to ensuring the most appropriate service provision for students with hearing loss. This chapter will specifically discuss the roles of teachers of the deaf, interpreters, and audiologists as well as some other related service providers within the context of a fictional case scenario.

Details

Interdisciplinary Connections to Special Education: Key Related Professionals Involved
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-663-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 September 2017

Shengnan Zhao and Dallen Timothy

Despite the significance of tour guiding and interpreting in the tourism system, relevant research is lacking in both depth and breadth. Current scholarly work tends to ignore…

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Abstract

Purpose

Despite the significance of tour guiding and interpreting in the tourism system, relevant research is lacking in both depth and breadth. Current scholarly work tends to ignore tour guides’ self-expectations and assumes they are altruistic mediators who carry out their tasks without question. Considering tourism intermediaries are rational individuals who attempt to maximize their own benefits, the purpose of this paper is to situate tour guiding and interpreting practices in a larger political and social context, to explore the external and intrapersonal factors that might influence the content and approaches of interpreting Chinese communist heritage.

Design/methodology/approach

Considering tourism intermediaries are rational individuals who attempt to maximize their own benefits, this study situates tour guiding and interpreting practices in a larger political and social context, to explore the external and intrapersonal factors that might influence the content and approaches of interpreting Chinese communist heritage.

Findings

The study reveals that institutional arrangements, environmental settings, characteristics of tourists and tourist-intermediary onsite interactions can have salient repercussions on intermediaries’ job skills, career attitudes and orientation, and self-perceived roles, and further shape their way of interpreting the past. Several managerial implications regarding enhancing the effectiveness of tour guiding and interpreting are also discussed.

Originality/value

It is mentioned above. The Chinese government has invested enormously in red tourism to achieve a political end. In reality, however, there are always gaps between official narratives and actual interpretation. To lessen such deviation, efforts are needed to understand the dynamics of tour guiding practices. Anchoring interpretation and guiding practices in a broader political, social, and economic context, this paper attempts to improve the static research by comparing two major types of intermediaries, site interpreter and tour guide, with regard to the content of, and approach to their interpretation of red heritage. It provides an in-depth insight into the meaning-making process of the communist heritage tourism in China.

Details

International Journal of Tourism Cities, vol. 3 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-5607

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 8 November 2019

Peter Simon Sapaty

The chapter describes the basics of developed high-level spatial grasp technology (SGT) and its spatial grasp language (SGL) allowing us to create and manage very large…

Abstract

The chapter describes the basics of developed high-level spatial grasp technology (SGT) and its spatial grasp language (SGL) allowing us to create and manage very large distributed systems in physical, virtual and executive domains in a highly parallel manner and without any centralized resources. Main features of SGT with its self-evolving and self-spreading spatial intelligence, recursive nature of SGL and organization of its networked interpreter will be briefed. Numerous interpreter copies can be installed worldwide and integrated with other systems or operate autonomously and collectively in critical situations. Relation of SGT, with capability of holistic solutions in distributed systems, to the gestalt psychology and theory, showing unique qualities of human mind and brain to directly grasp the whole of different phenomena, will be explained too, with SGT serving as an attempt to implement the notion of gestalt for distributed applications.

Details

Complexity in International Security
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78973-716-5

Article
Publication date: 12 September 2023

Mimi Li, Wenqing Xu, Weiwei Liu and Huiyi Cao

This study aims to explore the patterns and transformational dynamics of the executive–interpreter network in the innovation processes of small- and medium-sized enterprises in…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore the patterns and transformational dynamics of the executive–interpreter network in the innovation processes of small- and medium-sized enterprises in hospitality.

Design/methodology/approach

Grounded in social network theory and adopting a case-based approach, this study features a multi-case design focusing on three Chinese boutique hotels. Data were collected through Web page and document reviews, participant observations and semistructured interviews.

Findings

Results capture how executive–interpreter network dynamics contribute to innovation in small- and medium-sized hotels. Key factors in social networks (e.g. size, scope and strength) shift throughout innovation. This study presents a design-driven approach as a means of innovation. Findings also delineate the network development conditions under which innovation dynamically occurs in boutique hotels.

Practical implications

Practical implications center on how network dynamics help small- and medium-sized hotels innovate more effectively. These insights can assist hotel operators and prospective market entrants in improving their hotels’ performance and competitiveness.

Originality/value

This study blends social network theory with a design-driven approach to explore innovation mechanisms in small- and medium-sized hotels. It offers empirical evidence for practitioners regarding design-driven innovation. Findings enrich the body of knowledge on both design-driven innovation theory and hospitality innovation.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 36 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 24 August 2011

Morten H. Abrahamsen

The study here examines how business actors adapt to changes in networks by analyzing their perceptions or their network pictures. The study is exploratory or iterative in the…

Abstract

The study here examines how business actors adapt to changes in networks by analyzing their perceptions or their network pictures. The study is exploratory or iterative in the sense that revisions occur to the research question, method, theory, and context as an integral part of the research process.

Changes within networks receive less research attention, although considerable research exists on explaining business network structures in different research traditions. This study analyzes changes in networks in terms of the industrial network approach. This approach sees networks as connected relationships between actors, where interdependent companies interact based on their sensemaking of their relevant network environment. The study develops a concept of network change as well as an operationalization for comparing perceptions of change, where the study introduces a template model of dottograms to systematically analyze differences in perceptions. The study then applies the model to analyze findings from a case study of Norwegian/Japanese seafood distribution, and the chapter provides a rich description of a complex system facing considerable pressure to change. In-depth personal interviews and cognitive mapping techniques are the main research tools applied, in addition to tracer studies and personal observation.

The dottogram method represents a valuable contribution to case study research as it enables systematic within-case and across-case analyses. A further theoretical contribution of the study is the suggestion that network change is about actors seeking to change their network position to gain access to resources. Thereby, the study also implies a close relationship between the concepts network position and the network change that has not been discussed within the network approach in great detail.

Another major contribution of the study is the analysis of the role that network pictures play in actors' efforts to change their network position. The study develops seven propositions in an attempt to describe the role of network pictures in network change. So far, the relevant literature discusses network pictures mainly as a theoretical concept. Finally, the chapter concludes with important implications for management practice.

Details

Interfirm Networks: Theory, Strategy, and Behavior
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78052-024-7

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 August 2013

Majid Al‐Taee, Ayman Z. Zayed, Suhail N. Abood, Mohammad A. Al‐Ani, Ahmad M. Al‐Taee and Hussein A. Hassani

An arterial blood gas (ABG) interpretation remains indispensable tool to assess and monitor critically ill patients in the intensive care unit or other critical care settings…

Abstract

Purpose

An arterial blood gas (ABG) interpretation remains indispensable tool to assess and monitor critically ill patients in the intensive care unit or other critical care settings. This paper proposes a mobile‐based interpreter for ABG tests with the aim of providing accurate diagnosis in face of multiple acid‐base and oxygenation disorders. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

A rule‐based expert system is designed and implemented using interpretation knowledge gathered from specialist physicians and peer‐reviewed medical literature. The gathered knowledge of ABG tests are organized into premise‐explanation pairs to deliver reliable evaluation with the appropriate differential in a timely manner.

Findings

Performance of the developed interpreter prototype was assessed using a dataset of 74 ABG tests gathered from medical literature and clinical practice. The obtained results demonstrated that the identified acid‐base and oxygenation disorders and their differential diagnoses are accurately correlated with those assessed manually by consultant specialist physicians.

Research limitations/implications

This application is foreseen to be an everyday tool for clinicians at various levels; however, further studies are needed to evaluate its eventual impact on patients’ outcomes.

Originality/value

The contribution of this paper is the development of a new ABG interpreter which combines both the acid‐base and oxygenation disorders in a single application. Unlike existing ABG interpreters, it is comprehensive and capable of accurately identifying all kinds of acid‐base disorders and their combinations. In addition, it utilizes urine electrolytes which are useful tools in the differential diagnosis of normal anion gap metabolic acidosis and metabolic alkalosis. The interpretation algorithm is also designed to be flexible for some clinical settings which lack some input test data.

Details

International Journal of Pervasive Computing and Communications, vol. 9 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1742-7371

Keywords

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