Coping without glossaries and terminology : the Maltese context

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand how interpreters working to and from the Maltese Language are coping and managing to work professionally without the presence and availability of already-prepared and standardised terminology and glossaries in various fields. The aim of this work is to give the Maltese interpreter and especially the student-interpreter a written documentation about the professional experiences of Maltese interpreters, as well as to otter terminology and glossaries in some of the fields in which the Maltese interpreter is expected to work. Before Malta became a member of the European Union, the Maltese language was not recognised as a working-language in any international forum. In this project, I will refer to the effect that the professional preparation and work of the interpreters and translators had on the Maltese language as a whole - an effect which includes both the reviving of already-existing Maltese terminology as well as the introduction and adaptation of new terminology and glossaries. At the moment, research is being carried out on glossaries and new terminology. The focus of my enquiry is not being directed to glossaries and terminology AS SUCH but rather on the progress that is extremely important to the interpreter. This study will take into account how interpreters have been working in a professional sphere WITHOUT the aid of existing terminology and glossaries and what they did in order to overcome these problems. In so doing, I will be working on various case-studies of interpreters at work in a number of meetings and how they tackle various difficulties that they encounter.