Whereas research into conference interpreting is now well established, the investigation of dialogue interpreting as a professional activity is still in its infancy. This special issue of The Translator provides a forum for bringing together separate strands within this developing field and should create an impetus for further research. Viewing the interpreter as a gatekeeper, coordinator and negotiator of meanings within a three-way interaction, the descriptive studies included in this volume focus on issues such as role-conflict, in-group loyalties, participation status, relevance and the negotiation of face, thus linking the observation of interpreting practice to pragmatic constraints such as power, distance and face-threat and to semiotic constraints such as genres and discourses as socio-textual practices of particular cultural communities.