Actitudes y percepciones del colectivo chino en cuanto a la comunicación en los servicios públicos : ejemplos del contexto catalán

Chinese immigrants' attitudes and perceptions towards communication in public services: examples from the Catalan context. Not knowing the official languages is one of the main barriers for foreign immigrants to access public services. The present article focuses on the Chinese community in Catalonia and seeks to analyse their perception and experiences in relation to communication in public services. For this purpose, a quantitative method was chosen and questionnaires were distributed among a sample of Chinese citizens. The statistical analysis of the data confirms the reality of linguistic barriers in public services. It shows the different ad hoc solutions employed to overcome those barriers and reveals users' expectations towards public service interpreting and intercultural mediation. In the conclusions, the article discusses the positive impact that solutions such as public service interpreting could -and should- have in the empowerment of migrated communities