The Use of Traditional Terminology-Management Tools for Last Minute Preparation of Interpreting Assignments: An Exploratory Study

Extensive research has been done on the use of terminology and terminology management applications for translation. On the other hand, very little has been done so far in connection with interpreting so far. Rethinking terminology with the interpreter in mind could help broaden the view of Wüster’s theory and offer interpretation-based solutions to complement the current translation-oriented approaches. The first stage in researching the current practices and strategies in interpretation-based terminology management is to describe the interpreters’ use of traditional termbases. We propose to measure the termbase usefulness on the basis of two variables: (1) the tool content and features and (2) the interpreting assignment characteristics at both textual and extratextual level. The best case scenario researched for this exploratory study the behaviour of a pool of interpreters working in a specific context where a dedicated traditional terminology management tool is provided. TERMDAT (www.termdat.ch) is the official termbase of the Swiss administration. Its multilingual glossaries have been freely available online since March 2013. The Terminology Section of the Federal Chancellery has been successfully collaborating with federal translators, but not with interpreters. Therefore, there is no evidence that the content and the features of this in-house termbase are geared towards interpreters' specific needs. Two parallel surveys have been conducted among both parliamentary interpreters and community interpreters having two or more national languages (German, French and Italian) as their working languages. The aim is to assess if and to what extent interpreters employed at federal institutions in Switzerland use TERMDAT, and if there is any room for improvement of both the content and features of the termbase. The survey results set the basis for a future comparison between parliamentary and community interpreters as to the usefulness perceived.