Reviewed by Diana Gorman Jamrozik, Columbia College Chicago
Nataly Kelly’s Telephone interpreting: A comprehensive guide to the profession introduces its readers to the emerging field of telephone interpreting. The text has an introductory glossary for terms used, twenty five chapters divided into five parts, and a bibliography. The entire text, including examples of interpreted phone calls, is in English.
Part 1, ‘Introduction to telephone interpreting’ (1–32), includes Ch. 1, ‘A brief history of telephone interpreting’, Ch. 2, ‘How it works’, and Ch. 3, ‘Industry trends’. These chapters introduce consumers and practitioners to the intricacies of telephone interpreting.
Part 2, ‘Working as a telephone interpreter’ (33–92), is divided into five chapters that offer interpreter practitioners a means to compare conference and community work to telephone interpreting. Part 2 includes Ch. 4, ‘Profile of the ideal candidate’, Ch. 5, ‘Finding employment as a telephone interpreter’, Ch. 6, ‘Home office vs. call center’, and Ch. 7, ‘Working from a home office’. In Ch. 8, ‘Quality in telephone interpreting’, K discusses misconceptions about the telephone interpreting industry, including consumer concerns regarding quality control and the confidentiality of calls.
Drawing on the codes of professional conduct that are already established for other interpreting venues and organizations, Part 3, ‘Ethics and standards’ (93–182), outlines K’s proposed seven part code of ethics for telephone interpreters. Examples of ethical dilemmas faced by telephone interpreters and exercises for practical applications of the tenets are provided. Part 3 includes Ch. 9, ‘Model code of ethics for telephone interpreting’, Ch. 10, ‘Model standards of practice for telephone interpreting’, Ch. 11, ‘Interpreting the standards: Explanations and exceptions’, Ch. 12, ‘Model standards of practice: Emergency settings’, Ch. 13, ‘Model standards of practice: Health care settings’, and Ch. 14, ‘Model standards of practice: Legal settings’.
K then offers mock telephone calls that include industry specific jargon for interpreters to analyze in Part 4, ‘Practice scenarios’ (183–248). Part 4 includes Ch. 15, ‘How to use the practice scenarios’, Ch. 16, ‘Practice scenarios: Utilities’, Ch. 17, ‘Practice scenarios: Travel and entertainment’, Ch. 18, ‘Practice scenarios: Telecommunications’, Ch. 19, ‘Practice scenarios: Finance’, Ch. 20, ‘Practice scenarios: Insurance’, Ch. 21, ‘Practice scenarios: Government’, Ch. 22, ‘Practice scenarios: Health care’, and Ch. 23, ‘Practice scenarios: Legal’.
In Part 5, ‘Client considerations’ (249–78), K provides consumers of telephone interpreting services information on how to work with the industry. In cases in which a multilingual corporation is in need of a vendor of telephone interpreting services, Ch. 24, ‘Selecting a telephone interpreting provider’, lists a number of questions to consider while researching vendors. In Ch. 25, ‘Working effectively with telephone interpreters’, K offers individual consumers of telephone interpreting services tips on how to have a successfully interpreted phone call, and includes explanations and examples.
Telephone interpreting: A comprehensive guide to the profession is written in a straightforward and accessible manner. It is an excellent introduction to the field of telephone interpreting and should be of interest to consumers of interpreting services, interpreter practitioners, and interpreter educators.