| Summary: | Thesis in compliance with the requirements for the Doctor's Degree in
Technology: Language Practice, Durban University of Technology, 2011. === This research deals with the development of a model of interpreting services
for a newly merged multilingual University of Technology, the Durban
University of Technology. The rationale for the study was the urgent need to
give students whose mother tongue is not the medium of instruction (i.e.
English) equity of access to higher-degree education. The research was
carried out within a critical realist approach, which seeks to transform society
by practical application of theory. Unlike previous studies in interpreting, this
research focuses on the service provision aspect of interpreting. It falls within
the field of educational interpreting, but goes beyond the classroom situation in
considering other university interpreting needs, such as seminars and in-house
conferences, graduation and other ceremonies, operational meetings and
labour-related meetings. Franck‟s modelling process was used to formulate a
theoretical model of the interpreting service delivery mechanism using data
gathered during visitations to local and international universities. The
theoretical model, or system of essential functions, was used to arrive at the
applied aspect of the mechanism, termed an empirical model of interpreting
service delivery. The model was then validated in terms of its application in
various contexts at the Durban University of Technology. It is suggested that
the theoretical and practical models developed have application not only for
educational interpreting, but also in other interpreting contexts. The models
are also considered to have relevance for service delivery in general, which is
a critical issue at present in South Africa.
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