ABSTRACT
Modern linguistics embraces the idea that human sense making of words and other communicative resources is a social, dynamic activity. A significant number of studies show that spontaneous interpreter-mediated interaction, spoken and/or signed, are complex events, both linguistically and socially. Interpreting, particularly in public service, has not been of interest exclusively to linguists and interpreting/translation scholars. Strongly related to the conduit metaphor in meta-language about language and communication is the everyday perception of interpreters as performing word-by-word translation. In spontaneous spoken interaction, the meaning that participants attribute to what is said and done is instantly co-created as interaction unfolds. From the end of the 1990s, the interest of dialogue interpreting research has moved more and more to on-field inquiries, based on the collection and analysis of data. Service seekers requiring interpreting services are typically people who not only speak a different language, but who often come from backgrounds with different institutional systems, traditions, habits and values.
