Exploring Interlinguistic Intercultural Mediation in healthcare settings in Italy

Intercultural Mediation plays a fundamental role in our globalized society; intercultural mediators contribute to giving a voice to cultural minorities in public institutions and in particular in health-care settings through their pragmatic intercultural competence (Bettoni 2006). Several studies have highlighted the importance of intercultural mediation, stressing that the mediator is not simply “a machine-box enabling communication among speakers” (Gavioli & Zorzi 2008: 155), but a ratified participant (Goffman 1981) or a “new breed of linguist” (Amato 2011), co-constructing meanings (Davidson 2002) and enabling reciprocal understanding and sharing of information (Baraldi & Gavioli 2007). This study investigates the pragmatic intercultural competence (Bettoni 2006) of mediators in patient-mediator-doctor interactions, with a particular focus on emotive capacity (Caffi & Janney, 1994: 326). The research questions were identified as follows: RQ1) Does the pragmatic intercultural competence (Bettoni 2006) of the mediator have a “specific” pattern? RQ2) How is the mediator’s pragmatic intercultural competence contributing to reciprocal understanding and sharing of information? RQ3) Is the translation of mediators a translation? The data consist of recorded conversations, collected in 2010 at the Istituti Ospedalieri of Cremona (Italy), in naturally-occurring bilingual bicultural encounters, involving a female Indian mediator, a female Indian patient and a doctor (Pignataro 2012). Data were transcribed according to Jefferson’s conventions and analysed through a Conversation Analysis (CA) approach (Sacks 1995, Heritage 1992). Preliminary findings will be presented regarding the pragmatic function of emotive communication in a health-care setting, the active role of the mediator in coordinating dialogue and the role of the mediator as a responder and co-constructor of meanings. The pedagogical implications of the study concern the possibility of providing tools for intercultural mediators, taking into consideration a combined approach involving intercultural pragmatic competence and interpreting techniques in specific contexts.