Ethical Considerations for Interpreters and Translators - Assignment Example

Ethics for Interpreters and Translators Answer There are ethical considerations in making a decision aboutbeing contracted directly in future by a client that I worked for after being assigned the job through an agency to have an annually renewable contract. These include employment conduct which requires that a translator employed through an agency should present business cards that represent the employing agency. Personal cards will imply that such employees or translators are promoting their own interests. Therefore, it is prudent to wait till the task is over to terminate services offered by the agency, after which the client may be able to contact me directly. Even though the client for this assignment was impressed with my work and even if accepting this offer means that I can expect regular employment and income, my personal interests should be allowed to influence how I work. Answer 2 A mistranslation of a particular product in the books that have been set out as the standard nomenclature for all of the foodstuffs in those languages, to which a large number of food related items into several languages have to be translated has some ethical implications. These ethical issues in this scenario are professional solidarity and mutual respect. As translators, it is a requirement by the Code of Ethics that we have to translate everything by applying the best of our ability (AUSIT 8). Given that the terms that we are to translate are to become a database in a software application that allows the user to simply specify the product and the language and the label will magically appear in that language and that there has to be certification of the translations at the end of the job for each of the actual exporters to be happy, we have to ensure that the translation is as accurate as possible. This has to be adhered to, even though the books involved have been produced by the Australian Association that represents this industry and have been widely circulated for a number of years. The issues that may be at jeopardy are professionalism and respect of the translators from the Australian Association. In this case, we will have to take this matter to the translators from the Australian Association so that we can resolve the issue pertaining to the mistranslated product. We will ensure that we do this in the most professional and constructive manner possible. Given that we have to be honest and as accurate as possible in our translations, we will ensure that we agree with the translators from the Australian Association to alter their translation and use the accurate translation of the product in our translation. In case, the translators from the Australian Association fail to agree with us, we shall take this issue to our professional association for resolution (AUSIT 4). Answer 3 There are ethical implications involved when John, who has worked as a translator under contract with Agency X for a few years, getting a steady flow of documents to be translated for a big legal case and being paid low rates from his agency decides to ring the Solicitors Firm and offer his services directly to them and only charge 50% more than he charges Agency X. In this case, use of inside information is the main issue of ethics of profession involved. John’s realization from a staff member of Agency X that the Agency is charging almost 100% more to the Solicitors Firm for the work he does after getting feedback that the Solicitors Firm is very happy with the quality of translation is through inside information. The staff member of Agency X engaged in transmission of inside information of the Agency to John. The advice provided by the staff member of Agency X to John to eliminate the “middleman” so that he can get more money for his work amounts to misuse of inside information for personal gain. As much as the proposed action is perceived to benefit the lawyers, as they will be paying less for the same work, inside information shall have been misused. In addition, if John decides to offer his services to the Solicitors Firm directly and only charge 50% more than he charges Agency X, he shall have engaged in professional detachment and inappropriate self-promotion. Answer 4 In this case, I will have to be honest and translate the document as a three-year degree, if the client cannot allow me time to call a contact in my country to verify her information. Though the certificate of the higher education degree contains a term for the qualification obtained that denotes a three-year degree, similar to a Bachelor’s Degree in Australia, I will still translate the document as a three-year degree, even if my client will not present her documentation to Immigration Offices in Australia and she have to do so in New Zealand. Claimed changes in the education system of my client do not make her degree a Master’s Degree because this reform only took place long after the year shown on the certificate. Therefore, I will not write the word “Master’s” in there, as requested by my client on grounds that the education system has changed in the country. I will have to make a call and seek clarification from the country of origin. The offer made by the client to translate the degree to a Master’s Degree because the translation is urgent and that she needs to catch a flight to New Zealand so she will pay double what I quoted if I can do it right away as Master’s Degree amounts to dishonesty and unprofessional behaviour. Therefore, I will not accept any additional payment as an enticement to give in to the client’s request. In addition, accepting double payment is a form of gratuity, which is contrary to the Code of Ethics. Honesty, integrity and dignity require that a translator should not allow his or her interests or other interests to influence or prejudice their work. Independence and integrity should be maintained at all times. Answer 5 The ethical implications involved in this case are those of competence. These include qualification and accreditation, level of expertise and prior preparation (AUSIT 5). It is a requirement that translators should only accept to translate only what they are competent to perform. When it becomes clear that the expertise required in translation is beyond the competence of the translator, clients should be informed immediately and translators should withdraw from the assignment or decline the assignment. Finally translators should make necessary preparations after ascertaining what the translation assignment entails. Given that it may be difficult to translate the handwritten list of fragments of sentences and individual words that translator realizes she has copied from the labels of these products, written in hiragana or katakana, the translator should not do the job as requested. In addition, the originals are not included in what is to be translated. It is complex to read Chinese characters and accepting this task, may lead the translator to mistranslating some characters because most characters are only phonetic. Therefore, the client should have provided the translator with original information of the labels in advance to allow the translator sufficient time to ascertain what the translation of ingredients would contain and make prior preparations. Answer 6 A translator should only accept to translate assignments for which s/he is competent to perform. This means that a translator ought to specify to the clients the NAATI level for which they are accredited or recognized. In this case, it is worthy noticing that as a translator, I am accredited translator in one language with recognition credentials for another language. In translating the client’s driving license, I will not agree to adjust the certification to state that I am a Level 3 Translator so that my client can re-present her application to the Authority. In addition, I will not accept any payment that the client will offer to recompense me, if I adjust the certification to state that I am a Level 3 Translator because the Code of Ethics restricts translators from accepting any favours and fees for personal gain. Given that the translation that I have already certified has been rejected by the State roads and traffic authority because it has not been translated by a Level 3 Translator, I will request the client to seek the services of an accredited level 3 Translator in the most appropriate, polite and constructive manner. I will word my certification to be included at the bottom of the translated page as, “Translated by an accredited LOTE 1 translator, with recognition credentials in LOTE 2.” Answer 7 My reply to the agency that is seeking to employ the translator whose translations I have checked and found out to be of poor quality will be as; the Code of Ethics requires me as a translator not to disclose comments about the reputation of another translator. I therefore, refrain from making any offering any opinion as to whether the said translator should be employed by your agency to complete an important assignment. I urge the agency to carry out its own assessment to establish the translator’s competence and make an informed decision about employing him or her. The main ethical principle involved in this case is that of professional solidarity. This requires translators to abstain from making injurious comments about the reputation of other translators. Concerning the quality of the translation that I have checked, I will seek to support the translator by politely offering reasonable assistance, which will enable him or her to improve his or her competence. Answer 8 In this scenario, client information has been translated and it should remain to the client’s property. Deciding to invest my $10,000 in a project described at length in the document that I am working on involves ethical elements of confidentiality and professional conduct (AUSIT 4). Though I realize that the people involved in the deal can make my investment a good destination for my savings, I shall have used the client’s information for personal interest. Informing my partner about the information that I have translated, amounts to disclosure of client information without his or her consent. This involves a third party who even calls another party to participate in the investment. Even if my partner and his father vow total discretion about this negotiation, ethical conduct has already been broken. Taking the contact name of the person who is in charge of the project from my documents and giving it to my husband to start the investment process, as I don’t want my name to be involved for professional reasons, is allowing my personal interests to influence my work. Therefore, there is an ethical implication in confidentiality, which requires that translators should ensure that the information that they share in translation between them and their clients should be stringently confidential (AUSIT 5). Therefore, there should be no disclosure of such information unless it is permitted by the client or unless the law provides a mandate to translators to disclose such information. In this case, the information should have been protected as per the requirement of common rule law of legal professional privilege. Documents that have been translated by a translator should never be disclosed to a third party without the permission of the client, which should be expressed. This is because translated documents are a property of the client and in this case, the client has not provided such permission. Professional conduct requires that translators should not be influenced by personal or other interest in their work and any possible conflict of interest should be disclosed before accepting to translate client information or as soon as a translator realizes that there is a conflict of interest (AUSIT 4). Answer 9 I will decline the offer of translating this ‘how-to-vote’ card for Political Party B because there is a conflict of interest and the Code of Ethics for translators requires that this should be disclosed. Secondly, I might be unable to maintain impartiality. The fact that the federal election is imminent and that I am an ardent supporter of Political Party A renders me inappropriate to translate a ‘how-to-vote’ card for Party B, which I detest. I might find it difficult to translate the information that will be guiding voters on how to mark the ballot papers so as to vote for Party B. However, I need to determine if I will be able to maintain impartiality because of my political affiliations and current circumstances. The Code of Ethics requires translators to honestly disclose all the conflicts of interest that they might have with the information to be translated and withdraw from or decline any translation assignments in which it will be difficult to maintain impartiality (AUSIT 6). I will therefore, either opt to take a neutral stand in politics before accepting this assignment or practice honesty as required by the Code of Ethics so as to translate the ‘how-to-vote’ card for Party B impartially. Answer 10 To avoid breach of confidentiality in translating the information of the client with whom I have a confidentiality agreement, I will have to seek his or her consent or express permission before posting a query about a term that is not understood on an internet mailing list. This is because the text with the term that I do not understand may be of extreme privacy to the client. The Code of Ethics under confidentiality and information sharing requires that disclosure of client information is only permissible if the client provides his or her agreement (AUSIT 5). In addition, where there is a need of sub-contracting or seeking assistance in translation, the client should be consulted to give his or her permission. Therefore, I will first seek permission from the client to allow me post a query about it on an internet mailing list for translators, quoting one or two sentences from the original text so as to clarify the context to avoid breach of the confidentiality agreement. Answer 11 I will translate the date of birth as mentioned or indicated in the original divorce decree, after explaining politely to the client that honesty, integrity and dignity should be adhered to. By altering the date of birth on the original divorce decree provided by the client, the translator shall have breached honesty, integrity and dignity. As a requirement, translators should not allow personal interest or the interest of other people to influence their work or to prejudice their work. Though, the birth date on the passport of the client is different date from the birth date mentioned in the divorce decree, it is the decree that is being translated. Therefore, I will not accept the client’s request to change the birth date of the original divorce decree to the birth date mentioned in the passport in my translation, since that is supposed to be the correct one. Answer 12 I will first request the client to provide me with the details of the agency, which s/he claims to have translated the document in question, a couple of years ago. After getting the information, I will try to find out how the document reached to the premises of the client. I will ascertain whether the document is the one that I originally translated and why it is presented as though it was translated by a different agency. Obviously, there is a dispute in this case and it has to be solved in the right manner or by relevant authorities. Professional conduct requires that a translator should not posses documents translated by other translators and trade them as his or her own. However, I will seek to resolve the issue in a professional, constructive and cooperative manner. I might consider referring this case to the executive committee of my professional association for a conclusive direction (AUSIT 4). Answer 13 In this case, I will not accept to carry out the translation assignment for the agency for the same department of the Commonwealth government that I have been carrying out translation work for. This is because the agency shall be subcontracting translation assignment that it has received from the Commonwealth government department without the consent or permission of the Commonwealth government department. I will also not contact the Commonwealth government department to seek assignment directly from it. The ethical principle involved in this case is that of professional conduct. To avoid jeopardizing effective communication, I will decline the assignment politely and wait to obtain endorsement from the Commonwealth government department. Seeking to contact the Commonwealth government department directly so that I can work for my old client with a good reputation in payment will lead to jeopardy, which I avoid by all means (AUSIT). Work Cited AUSIT. AUSIT Code of Ethics. 2013. 4 June 2014. . Read More