ABSTRACT
The author discusses the following issues, an implicit claim in the literature on interpreter roles is that interpreters are aware of the diversity of roles and make specific decisions related to their performance. Conceptualizing interpreter-mediated medical encounters through interpreter roles allows researchers to identify interpreter's systematic behaviors based on certain identities they assume during the medical encounter. The pursuit of neutrality challenges interpreters to justify their performances. In the literature on bilingual health care, interpreters are often conceptualized as individuals without communicative goals as they are only the voices of others. However, if this were the case, one would not expect interpreters to experience frustration during interpreter-mediated medical encounters. Their physical presence in the medical encounter and their functions in eliminating language and cultural barriers between providers and patients make it difficult for interpreters to claim that they are truly faceless or nonexistent. Some interpreters claim a non-thinking status to justify their interpreting strategy.
