The Impact of Translation on the Process of Bilingual Groups

ABSTRACT

Group workers in multicultural settings often work with groups in which multiple languages are used to communicate and in which translation is employed to aid understanding. This paper explores the consequences of different translation strategies on group processes, such as roles, mutual aid, and power dynamics. Attention is given to the values implied by how different languages are used in groups and to the dangerous possibility of recreating oppressive social dynamics in small groups.

KEYWORDS:

• Group work
• bilingual
• language
• multicultural
• transcultural
• Hispanic
• Latino