The input and the output relationship
In mediation tasks, there is always the two-way dynamic relationship between the input (text in Language A such as a video, an audio extract, a newspaper article etc.) and the output (oral or written text/product in Language B) which is dependent upon the context of situation set by the task (task requirements).
The context of situation refers to:
- the source (input) and target (output) text-type or genre (e.g., an email, a leaflet, a report, a formal letter, an announcement at the airport, a news bulletin etc.); what are the characteristics of a radio show and how someone could transfer this information to a newspaper article, or how the information taken from a poster could be presented in an e-mail or how the content of a movie could become a podcast discussion?
- the relationship between interlocutors (between friends, from a student to his/her teacher etc.); What is the level of formality according to the addressees?
- the purpose for which they communicate. The mediator produces a text which may: inform, clarify, explain, analyse in detail, present, promote, urge, suggest etc.
- the languages involved.
These aspects, which affect the final output of mediation, need to be considered by the mediator and should be clear in the task description.
