IMIA Featured Books of the Month

These books have been selected and recommended by the IMIA Board or members as books that might be of interest to medical interpreters. If any member is interested in setting up a Book Club, please contact Marzena Laslie at imiaml@aol.com

IMIA Library

The books on this list are available to be borrowed by current members.  The process is simple.

1. Pick a book.
2. Send a $30 check made out the IMIA (In the memo please write the title of the book)
    In the event that the book in not received back in 4 weeks, the check will be cashed
    to replace the borrowed book.  Send the check to:
    IMIA
    750 Washington St
    NEMC Box 271
    Boston, MA 02111
    Please include your name, address, email address, contact number and Title of the book
    you wish to borrow.
3. By participating in the book lending program, you agree to return the book, in the 
    pre-paid, return envelope provided within 4 weeks.  If book is not received back, the
    IMIA has the right to cash the deposit check, to repurchase the borrowed book.

If you have any questions, please email Marzena Laslie at imiaml@aol.com.

Triadic Exchanges by I. Mason

Dialogue interpreting is a generic term covering a diverse range of fields of interpreting which have in common the basic feature of face-to-face interaction between three parties: the interpreter and (at least) two other speakers. The interaction consists of spontaneous dialogue, involving relatively short turns at talk, in two languages. It is usually goal-directed in the sense that there is some outcome to be negotiated. The studies in this volume cover several different fields: courtroom interpreting, doctor-patient interviews, immigration interviews, etc., and involve a range of different languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, More and Austrian Sign Language. They have in common that they view the interpreter as just one of the parties to this three-way exchange, in which each participant's moves can affect each other participant and thus the outcome of the event.

In Part I, new research directions are explored in studies which piece together evidence of the ways dialogue interpreters actually behave and the effects of their behavior. This is followed by two studies which discuss traditional interpreter roles - the 'King's Linguist' in Burkina Faso and the Oranda Tsûji, official interpreters employed in isolationist eighteenth-century Japan to ensure contact with the outside world. Finally, issues involved in training are the subject of two chapters relating to Austria and the UK. The variety of aspects and approaches represented in the volume - linguistic, cultural, pragmatic, and historical - offer a rich and fascinating overview of the field of dialogue interpreting studies as it now stands.

Basic Concepts and Models for Interpreter and Translator Training by Daniel Gile

This book is a classic! Although it is most relevant to trainers, all interpreters will benefit from reading it. The author deals with essential translation and interpretation phenomena and difficulties encountered by students and professionals alike. The underlying theory is based on

insights from psycholinguistics, cognitive psychology and I/T research. The concepts and models are easy to understand and the chapters include teaching suggestions and examples. To purchase this book, see http://www.benjamins.com/cgibin/t_bookview.cgi?bookid=BTL%208

How Doctors Think by Jerome Groopman

On average, a physician will interrupt a patient describing her symptoms within eighteen seconds. In that short time, many doctors decide on the likely diagnosis and best treatment. Often, decisions made this way are correct, but at crucial moments they can also be wrong -- with catastrophic consequences. In this myth shattering book, Jerome Groopman pinpoints the forces

and thought processes behind the decisions doctors make. Groopman explores why doctors err and shows when and how they can -- with our help -- avoid snap judgments, embrace uncertainty, communicate effectively, and deploy other skills that can profoundly impact our health. This elegant, tough-minded book recounts stories about how doctors and patients interact with one other and is very useful for medical interpreters who want to better understand the issues that affect patient-provider communication. Thank you to Greg Figaro, President of Culturesmart, IMIA Corporate member, for recommending this book.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

This book tells the true story of Lia Lee, an infant born to a Hmong refugee family. Lia's doctors determined that she was suffering from a severe case of epilepsy, a misfiring of the brain's neurons. Her parents, however, believed that her seizures were caused by the flight of her soul from her body and called her condition by its Hmong name: qaug dab peg ("the spirit catches you and you fall down"). Through her telling of the story, Fadiman communicates the essence of two very different worldviews, and holds out the hope that they might one day be reconciled. This is truly a cultural competency

 The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman

If you've already read it, read it again. This new edition of The World Is Flat is Thomas L. Friedman's account of the great changes taking place in our time, as lightning-swift advances in technology and communications put people all over the globe in touch as never before-creating an explosion of wealth in India and China, and challenging the rest of us to run even faster just to stay in place. This updated and expanded edition features more than a hundred pages of fresh reporting and commentary, drawn from Friedman's travels around the world and across the American heartland--from anyplace where the flattening of the world is being felt. You can't help but think how it will affect the interpreter's work and the delivery of language services.

The Art of Possibility, Transforming Professional and Personal Life by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander

This book offers a set of breakthrough practices for creativity in all human enterprises. Infused with the energy of their dynamic partnership, the book invites us to all become passionate communicators, leaders, and performers whose lives radiate possibility into the world. Thanks to Christopher Robinson for recommending this book. www.BHSPress.org

Healing Invisible Wounds: Paths to Hope and Recovery in a Violent World by Dr. Mollica

Dr. Mollica breaks with what he says is the conventional wisdom that torture victims are untreatable. In limpid prose, Mollica, director of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, celebrates instead "the capacity of persons to recover from violent events and to engage in self-healing." He explains how his clinic offers traumatized refugees to America housing, emotional support, counseling in their own language and participation in therapeutic self-healing programs. Demonstrating the importance of cultural sensitivity, especially to language, and the significant healing power of attuned listening to the "trauma story," Mollica writes: "Survivors must be allowed to tell their stories their own way." Buy at Amazon  Thanks to our member Zarita Araujo-Lane for recommending this book.

 Introducing Interpreting Studies by Franz Pochhacker

His book guides the reader through international conference, court and hospital interpreting, in both signed and spoken modalities. The book begins by exploring the ways in which the field evolved, looking at historical developments, concepts, influential models and methodological approaches. It then moves on to consider the main areas of research in the field, before reviewing the major trends of Interpreting Studies and reflecting on how the subject will develop in the future and offering direction to those undertaking research of their own.

Medical Interpreting and Cross-cultural Communication by Claudia V. Angelelli

This book has been around, and if you have not read it, I recommend it, as not many books focus on medical interpretation. In this book - the first ever ethnographic study of a bilingual hospital - Claudia Angelelli explores the role of medical interpreters, drawing on data from over 300 medical encounters and interviewing the interpreters themselves about the people for whom they interpret, their challenges, and how they characterize their role. Traditionally the interpreter has been viewed as a language conduit, with little power over the medical encounter or the relationship between patient and provider. This book presents an alternative view, considering the interpreter's agency and contextualizing the practice within an institution that is part of a larger society. Bringing together literature from social theory, social psychology, and linguistic anthropology, this book will be welcomed by anyone who wants to discover the intricacies of medical interpreting first-hand; particularly researchers, communication specialists, policy makers, and practitioners.