Gile presents IR as a discipline but even within the field of IR there are differences which mark out one branch from another.

(1) PSI, as it is known in the UK, is an emergent profession (see also the two booklets at www.rln-northwest.com/shop, which are a first attempt at disseminating information to Public Service Providers (PSPs]). Practitioners cope on a routine basis with emotionally charged atmospheres and emotional language such as endearments, jokes and curses. These include 'gallows humour': tension-release type jokes, which a physician would want to know about, as indicators of the patient's frame of mind and attitude to their illness.

(2) Public Service Interpreters do not have passive languages - all their languages must be active. They therefore tend to deploy, or claim, fewer languages than interpreters working in other fields. Besides coping with an unpredictable volume of work, many PSls work at night and weekends on a 'how soon can you be here?' basis. This often makes briefing impossible in practical terms, and anything demanding routines - such as research work -becomes less appealing.

(3) As Daniel Gile has pointed out, Iow levels of pay among PS interpreters mean that the freedom to take on unpaid work is reduced. The academic community seems to have a bit of a blind spot about the meaning of the word 'freelance'. It means a person without the support of an institution of any kind - no 'auspices', no library facilities and nobody paying for one's time let alone costs, when doing anything other than interpreting, These factors will necessarily depress any trend towards practitioners taking part in research or attending conferences.

(4) PS interpreters regularly work with clients of non-English-speaking back-ground (NESB). In linguistic terms one of the major challenges for PS interpreters is the constant shift in register between client and Public Service Provider (PSP), and the use of dialect words and idiosyncratic language by an NESB client group of vulnerable, frightened and often not well-educated people. If a PS interpreter is going to fulfil his/her duty as 'alter ego' to each speaker, they must be adept at these register shifts and able to relay the eurses and the rude bribr, For intepreters from some cultural backgrounds, this can present particular challenges, especially for the

women, in assignments such as rape or child abuse. Furthermore, it is not always possible to avoid sending a female interpreter to an assignment with a male client (or the other way about) and/or doctor which deals with an intimate subject. The 'face threat' for some interpreters that is involved in having to use words like 'penis', 'discharge' or 'penetration' in a face-to-face situation can be more than they can cope with. The training implications of this type of challenge must not be overlooked. Vicarious trauma and the need for confidential support are also real issues.

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