Frequently requested articles

Dean & Pollard, 2011

This article is titled, Context-based Ethical Reasoning in Interpreting: A Demand Control Schema Perspective. In this article, we outline in detail the constructs and terms that interpreters can use to explain how they might respond to the context and the consequences of their interpreting work. Responding to the context and consequences is what ethicists call teleology. Teaching teleology is different from how most interpreters learned to make decisions -- usually by following rules.

Dean & Pollard, 2018

This chapter is titled, Promoting the use of Normative Ethics in the Practice Profession of Interpreting. In this chapter, we outline what it means to claim that community interpreters are practice professionals, what values and principles should be included in our ethical codes and standards of practices, and how the use of case conferencing and supervision is missing from the types of  professional development regularly offered to interpreters.

Dean & Pollard, 2022

This article is titled, Improving Interpreters' Normative Ethics Discourse by Imparting Principled-Reasoning through Case Analysis.  In this article, we argue that interpreters have been taught the vocabulary of rules-based decisions. They instead need to learn the language of and how to apply principles in their work decisions. This is done most effectively when interpreters engage in case analysis with their colleagues.