Showing papers in "Interpreting in 2010"
TL;DR: In this paper, a large-scale experimental study designed to evaluate the feasibility and implications of the use of remote interpreting (RI) in the European Parliament and other large multilingual settings, where the introduction of a growing number of languages requires the extension of existing arrangements.
Abstract: The article describes the aims, methods, conclusions and recommendations of a large-scale experimental study designed to evaluate the feasibility and implications of the use of remote interpreting (RI) in the European Parliament and other large multilingual settings, where the introduction of a growing number of languages requires the extension of existing arrangements. While the study reveals a relatively small impact on either the quality of the interpreting or interpreters’ health and objective measures of stress, it nevertheless points to considerable psychological effects, including an increase in feelings of isolation and alienation. The study recommends greater use of technological support through the possible introduction of individually computerized workstations and a user-friendly working environment.
89 citations
TL;DR: A discourse analysis of how the participation status of asylum-seeking children is interactively constructed in interpreter-mediated asylum hearings finds that 5-year-old boys are more likely to participate in hearings than girls.
Abstract: This article is a study of how the participation status of asylum-seeking children is interactively constructed in interpreter-mediated asylum hearings. We have undertaken a discourse analysis of 5 ...
35 citations
TL;DR: The authors examined how Korean interpreters handled the general preference for indirect reported speech by court interpreters and found that the tendency among interpreters to convert indirect into direct reported speech in English renditions may have implications for the accuracy of interpreted evidence.
Abstract: Drawing on the discourse of interpreter-mediated examinations of Korean-speaking witnesses in an Australian courtroom, this paper explores court interpreters’ renditions of reported speech contained in witnesses’ evidence. Direct reported speech is generally preferred in the courtroom because of the evidentiary rule against the admission of hearsay. However, Korean-speaking witnesses who are not familiar with this rule and with the discursive practices of the court tend to use indirect reported speech. This paper examines how Koreans’ general preference for indirect reported speech is handled by court interpreters. The findings suggest that the tendency among Korean interpreters to convert indirect into direct reported speech in English renditions may have implications for the accuracy of interpreted evidence.
18 citations
TL;DR: This paper investigated interpreters' performances for evidence of audience design, with particular attention to the output of two experienced and respected interpreters in a group of Gambian churches where biblical discourse is rendered from English into Manjaku, the language of an immigrant community.
Abstract: There has been little empirical research into the practice of interpreter mediation of biblical discourse by natural (untrained) interpreters. As a contribution to this under-researched field, this paper first describes the sociolinguistic setting, the attitudes of participants, and the modes in use — short-segment consecutive and sight interpreting — in a group of Gambian churches where biblical discourse is rendered from English into Manjaku, the language of an immigrant community. Little is understood of the processes by which untrained bilinguals gain recognition in their communities as gifted interpreters. To address this issue, the paper investigates the interpreters’ performances for evidence of audience design, with particular attention to the output of two experienced and respected interpreters in the group. The findings indicate that they interpret biblical discourse in a highly communicative and persuasive manner, accommodating to audience expectations; and that they show a strong sense of responsibility to convey source text meanings faithfully, which is also expected of them by their audiences, though this is not always achieved with the same degree of success. Some suggestions are made for training at the level of fidelity.
18 citations
17 citations
TL;DR: This paper investigated why interpreters were needed in the concentration camps, who they were, how they were recruited for the job, what their language combinations were, their duties were, when the interpreters are required, and how they performed their duties as well what their roles were.
Abstract: This paper is based on a study of the records of prisoners in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp with the aim of uncovering as much information as possible about camp interpreters, their work and their attempts to ease the hardships of other prisoners, often risking their own lives in the process. As will be demonstrated, the generally accepted deontological norms for interpreting in community settings were not applicable to concentration camps, and different norms were adopted which were clearly justified, under the circumstances. The paper in particular investigates why interpreters were needed in the concentration camps, who they were, how they were recruited for the job, what their language combinations were, what their duties were, when the interpreters were required, and how they performed their duties as well what their roles were.
14 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a case study of an interpreting event in a Danish courtroom setting is presented, where the interpreter's influence on the interaction as well as factors influencing the behaviour of all the participants involved are investigated.
Abstract: This paper presents a case study of an interpreting event in a Danish courtroom setting. The study investigates the interpreter’s influence on the interaction as well as factors influencing the behaviour of all the participants involved. The study also investigates what happens when the interpreter’s performance is perceived by participants as inadequate in order to achieve the communicative goal of the event. The model of translation culture, in which cooperativeness, loyalty and transparency are key concepts, is used as an explanatory tool. Although the interaction under study, like all courtroom interaction, is determined by the inherent institutional power differential, it is appropriate to describe it in terms of cooperativeness. The conflict regarding the interpreter’s non-normative behaviour is negotiated and settled by way of consensus, and the trial is carried through with the same interpreter despite doubt about her competence. The paper concludes by discussing the effect of special contextual conditions, as well as ethical implications.
14 citations
13 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine how the findings of psychological research concerning creativity can be explored within the framework of interpreting studies and suggest that creativity in interpreting can be examined on three levels, depending on the aspect we are focusing on: (1) the products; (2) mental processes; or (3) the behaviour of the interpreter.
Abstract: The objective of this paper is to examine how the findings of psychological research concerning creativity can be explored within the framework of interpreting studies. I will begin by reviewing the literature on the psychology of creativity, followed by the presentation and analysis of an empirical survey. Finally, I will suggest that creativity in interpreting can be examined on three levels, depending on the aspect we are focusing on: (1) the products; (2) mental processes; or (3) the behaviour of the interpreter. In the first case, the primary object is the product, while in the second and third, it is the process. What makes interpreting a special area of study in terms of creativity is not only the creative nature of the mental processes involved, but also, and perhaps even primarily, the creativity required of interpreters in terms of their professional behaviour in a communicational situation, where they are present but in which they are not natural participants.
12 citations
TL;DR: Pochhacker et al. as discussed by the authors presented Interpreting Studies and Beyond: A Tribute to Miriam Shlesinger, a tribute to Daniel Gile, and a model for interpreting and translation research.
Abstract: Review of Franz Pochhacker, Arnt Lykke Jakobsen & Inger Mees (Eds.) Interpreting Studies and Beyond: A Tribute to Miriam Shlesinger. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur 2007 & Gyde Hansen, Andrew Chesterman & Heidrun Gerzymisch-Arbogast. Efforts and models in interpreting and translation research: A tribute to Daniel Gile. Amsterdam/Philadelphia 2008: Benjamins
11 citations
TL;DR: This article found that the two largest groups of potential shifters are clients who wish to revert to their (chronologically) first acquired language and those who shift from a ‘national’ or ‘majority-group’ language to a'minority' or'regional’ one spoken in their country of origin.
Abstract: Shifting from one language of interpretation to another (i.e. from language a and language x to language a and language y) is not an unknown phenomenon in mediated interactions between bi- or multi-lingual clients and multilingual interpreters. Typically, this occurs when clients wish to shift to their dominant language and interpreters also have proficiency (and accreditation) in this language. Twenty Australian-based interpreters (out of a sample of sixty) reported engaging in shifting in the course of interpreting. Language combinations and circumstances motivating clients to shift are presented and systematised to show that the two largest groups of potential shifters are clients who wish to revert to their (chronologically) first acquired language and those who shift from a ‘national’ or ‘majority-group’ language to a ‘minority’ or ‘regional’ one spoken in their country of origin. Responses to hypothetical shifts in the language of interpretation are discussed in which interpreter informants provide acceptability judgements of courses of action and justifications for accepting — or refusing to accept — a shift in the language of interpretation.
TL;DR: Two cases — two multilingual Friedrichsberg patients who assumed the function of interpreters in each case of a foreign “insane re-migrant” — will be described in detail.
Abstract: Between 1900 and 1914 many so-called “insane re-migrants” (geisteskranke Ruckwanderer) from America were admitted to the psychiatric institution in Hamburg-Friedrichsberg These patients were mainly East European emigrants who had left Europe via Hamburg, had been classified insane and had been sent back by the US authorities A total of 446 relevant medical files are available This article concentrates on the years 1900 through 1903, and focuses on the issue of foreign language interpreting in psychiatric practice Two cases — two multilingual Friedrichsberg patients who assumed the function of interpreters in each case of a foreign “insane re-migrant” — will be described in detail The interpreters played a significant role in the reconstruction and documentation of the medical histories of their fellow patients Conversations and interrogations carried out by them and recorded by their own hand have been passed down in the medical files of the patients they “examined” The files of the multilingual patients themselves were also found in the archives Thus, their activity as asylum interpreters can be viewed in the context of their own medical histories, ie their own mental condition