Which skill involves explaining communication breakdowns to all parties involved?

The correct answer is message recovery. This skill is crucial for interpreters as it involves addressing situations where communication has faltered or misunderstood points have arisen. By explaining the breakdowns to all parties involved, interpreters help to clarify the intent and meaning behind messages, ensuring that everyone is on the same page and that misunderstandings can be rectified.

Through effective message recovery, interpreters facilitate smoother communication and improve understanding among participants, which is vital, especially in high-stakes environments or settings where participants may have different backgrounds or perspectives. The process of message recovery can significantly enhance the overall effectiveness of interpretation by maintaining the flow of conversation and ensuring clarity.

The other options relate to different aspects of interpretation and communication. Lexical equivalency refers to finding words or phrases in one language that correspond to those in another, back-channeling involves providing feedback during a conversation to indicate understanding or engagement, and impartiality in interpretation focuses on remaining neutral and not allowing personal biases to interfere with the interpretation process. While all of these skills are important for an interpreter, they do not specifically address the need to explain and resolve communication breakdowns, which is the primary focus of message recovery.