THE IMPORTANCE OF MEDIATION IN TEACHING INTERPRETING and translation

 

Irina Meshkova¹, Olga Sheremetieva², Larissa Spynu³

¹Assoc. prof. PhD., Peoples‘ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Russia, meshiran1@gmail.com

²Senior lecturer, Peoples‘ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Russia, oasher@mail.ru

³Assoc. prof. PhD., Peoples‘ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University), Russia, lorance@rambler.ru

 

 

Abstract

In a pan-European context, mediation refers to the communicative activity of a language mediator, written or verbal, providing communication between people who cannot, for whatever reason, communicate directly with each other due to linguistic, cultural, semantic or technical barriers.

Mediation can be considered as a part of interpreting/translation activities that expands the boundaries of translation and is a valid form of translation. The goal of mediation is to eliminate the conflicting component of communication and harmonize communication. At the heart of communicative language mediation is a communicative initiative that reflects the social and psychological state of communicants.

The mediator can enter into communication and helps to overcome the language barrier between the participants of communication, sometimes expressing a personal attitude to the speech behaviour of communicants.

The interpreter/translator, unlike the mediator, has obligations to both parties on the quality of the translation and is characterized by the absence of an independent intention and should be as objective and impartial as possible. Some researchers assign the translator a role sufficiently dependent on the customer, the activity of the translator depends on the accuracy of determining the requirements that the translation addre5ssee presents to him.

Often, mediation’s activity is identified with interpreting or translation from one language to another in a certain communicative situation. However, “language mediation” is not identical to the concept of “translation”.

The formation of skills and abilities of mediation is carried out on the basis of the most diverse forms of work in the interaction of all components of foreign language communicative competence and contributes to the formation of key competences in teaching foreign languages ​​and translation training.

Keywords: foreign languages, mediation, skills and abilities of mediation, communicative competence.