Inmigración y servicios de traducción en España

Abstract

The social evolution of Spain has caused changes in the relations between the members that constitute it: those who were alread y there and those who arrived, and cornmunication is fundamental for that coexistence. Within communication forms, when interlocutors do not share language and /or culture, translation and interpretation are two necessary and used key elements. The intention of these pages is to offer a vision of the translation practice, understood as the transfer of written information from one language to another, leaving for a different occasion the interpretation (or transfer of oral information from one language to another), conscious that they are two easily overlapped services, but with specific characteristics. In order to reach this objective, in the first place, I will describe in a general way the situation of the translation and interpretation in the public services (T&IPS) in Spain. Secondly, I will analyze the characteristics of translation paying special attention to factors affecting the process and product of the translation. Thirdly, I will report several studies dedicated to th e evaluation of quality and effectiveness of translated texts (TT). Finally, I will draw sorne conclusions and I will advance ideas for the future.