Interpreting as coordination in doctor-patient interaction: talk organization and (inter)cultural presuppositions

Studies of dialogue interpreting have shown that interpreters are active participants in the interaction and that their contributions are oriented to and oriented by both the local interactional context and the wider institutional system. Wadensjö, in particular, has discussed the work of the interpreters in the interaction on the basis of a distinction between two main interpreter activities: translating and coordinating (1998: 108-10). In this paper, we discuss the notion of coordination and we look at types of talk organization involving interpreters in healthcare services. Our thesis is that different contributions of the interpreter to a possibly translatable turn (non-rendition, rendition and which type of rendition) have different consequences in the interaction. They envisage different organizations of turn-taking and make reference to different participant expectations. We observe that coordination of turn-taking organization and of participants’ expectations has implications for either promoting intercultural dialogue and/or constructing cultural filters.