5. Code-switching and coordination in interpreter-mediated interaction
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Laurie Anderson
Abstract
This chapter describes and compares code-switching (CS) by lay participants and institutional representatives in data involving English-speaking migrants collected in legal and healthcare settings in Northern Italy. In both settings CS by foreign end-users is found to be relatively common in sequentially ‘reactive’ positions; with the exception of nonce borrowings, lay participants take the initiative in CS more rarely, mainly when pressing personal concerns are at issue. CS by institutional representatives shows a functional sensitivity both to broad institutional aims and to the specific sub-aims of the various phases of the encounter; its greater prevalence in the healthcare setting can, it is argued, be traced to the need to create a collaborative relationship in order to successfully diagnose and treat the patient. Implications of the results for theories of mediated interaction and for the training of community interpreters are discussed.
Abstract
This chapter describes and compares code-switching (CS) by lay participants and institutional representatives in data involving English-speaking migrants collected in legal and healthcare settings in Northern Italy. In both settings CS by foreign end-users is found to be relatively common in sequentially ‘reactive’ positions; with the exception of nonce borrowings, lay participants take the initiative in CS more rarely, mainly when pressing personal concerns are at issue. CS by institutional representatives shows a functional sensitivity both to broad institutional aims and to the specific sub-aims of the various phases of the encounter; its greater prevalence in the healthcare setting can, it is argued, be traced to the need to create a collaborative relationship in order to successfully diagnose and treat the patient. Implications of the results for theories of mediated interaction and for the training of community interpreters are discussed.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments ix
- Foreword xi
- Introduction: Understanding coordination in interpreter-mediated interaction 1
- 1. Interpreting or interfering? 23
- 2. Interpreting participation 45
- 3. “You are not too funny” 71
- 4. Ad hoc interpreting for partially language-proficient patients 99
- 5. Code-switching and coordination in interpreter-mediated interaction 115
- 6. Ad hoc -interpreting in multilingual work meetings 149
- 7. Gaze, positioning and identity in interpreter-mediated dialogues 177
- 8. Minimal responses in interpreter-mediated medical talk 201
- 9. Mediating assessments in healthcare settings 229
- 10. Challenges in interpreters’ coordination of the construction of pain 251
- 11. Cultural brokerage and overcoming communication barriers 269
- 12. Interpreting as dialogic mediation 297
- Authors’ bio sketches 327
- Index 331
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments ix
- Foreword xi
- Introduction: Understanding coordination in interpreter-mediated interaction 1
- 1. Interpreting or interfering? 23
- 2. Interpreting participation 45
- 3. “You are not too funny” 71
- 4. Ad hoc interpreting for partially language-proficient patients 99
- 5. Code-switching and coordination in interpreter-mediated interaction 115
- 6. Ad hoc -interpreting in multilingual work meetings 149
- 7. Gaze, positioning and identity in interpreter-mediated dialogues 177
- 8. Minimal responses in interpreter-mediated medical talk 201
- 9. Mediating assessments in healthcare settings 229
- 10. Challenges in interpreters’ coordination of the construction of pain 251
- 11. Cultural brokerage and overcoming communication barriers 269
- 12. Interpreting as dialogic mediation 297
- Authors’ bio sketches 327
- Index 331
