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Chapter 17. Seeing brokering in bright colours

Participatory artwork elicitation in CLB research
  • Ira Torresi
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Non-professional Interpreting and Translation
This chapter is in the book Non-professional Interpreting and Translation

Abstract

A recurrent issue in child language brokering (CLB) research is how to best adjust ethnographic methodologies in order to collect data from young children. There are a number of practical considerations in addition to the necessary ethical aspects. Questionnaires and other methods relying on the written word may prove inadequate for first- and second-graders, and even for older bilingual or multilingual children who may not have the same level of literacy in all their languages. Methods relying on the spoken word, such as interviews, focus groups or participant observation, may prove similarly problematic when groups of respondents have mixed language proficiency levels. Artwork elicitation, on the contrary, can be an effective and inclusive way to collect qualitative data about young children’s feelings and perceptions about CLB. It has the potential to elicit visual narratives from large groups of children (e.g. entire classes or schools), while leaving them free to include aspects of the phenomenon being investigated that would otherwise be difficult for them to describe in words. This chapter explores primary school children’s experience of CLB as it emerges from artwork submitted for the “Budding translators” competition described by Antonini (this volume), and proposes an analysis that draws mainly on visual and social semiotics.

Abstract

A recurrent issue in child language brokering (CLB) research is how to best adjust ethnographic methodologies in order to collect data from young children. There are a number of practical considerations in addition to the necessary ethical aspects. Questionnaires and other methods relying on the written word may prove inadequate for first- and second-graders, and even for older bilingual or multilingual children who may not have the same level of literacy in all their languages. Methods relying on the spoken word, such as interviews, focus groups or participant observation, may prove similarly problematic when groups of respondents have mixed language proficiency levels. Artwork elicitation, on the contrary, can be an effective and inclusive way to collect qualitative data about young children’s feelings and perceptions about CLB. It has the potential to elicit visual narratives from large groups of children (e.g. entire classes or schools), while leaving them free to include aspects of the phenomenon being investigated that would otherwise be difficult for them to describe in words. This chapter explores primary school children’s experience of CLB as it emerges from artwork submitted for the “Budding translators” competition described by Antonini (this volume), and proposes an analysis that draws mainly on visual and social semiotics.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Chapter 1. Introducing NPIT studies 1
  4. Part 1. State of the art of research on NPIT and general issues
  5. Chapter 2. Unprofessional translation 29
  6. Chapter 3. We are all translators 45
  7. Chapter 4. Dialoguing across differences 65
  8. Part 2. NPIT in healthcare, community and public services
  9. Chapter 5. Intercultural mediation and “(non)professional” interpreting in Italian healthcare institutions 83
  10. Chapter 6. More than mere translators 107
  11. Chapter 7. Issues of terminology in public service interpreting 131
  12. Chapter 8. From confinement to community service 157
  13. Chapter 9. The role and self-regulation of non-professional interpreters in religious settings 177
  14. Chapter 10. Simultaneous interpreting and religious experience 195
  15. Chapter 11. Beyond the professional scope? 213
  16. Chapter 12. Language-related disaster relief in Haiti 231
  17. Part 3. NPIT performed by children
  18. Chapter 13. Bilingual youngsters’ perceptions of their role as family interpreters 259
  19. Chapter 14. Child language brokers’ representations of parent–child relationships 281
  20. Chapter 15. Child language brokering in private and public settings 295
  21. Chapter 16. Through the children’s voice 315
  22. Chapter 17. Seeing brokering in bright colours 337
  23. Chapter 18. Language brokering 359
  24. Chapter 19. Not just child’s play 381
  25. Index 411
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.129.17tor

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Chapter 1. Introducing NPIT studies 1
  4. Part 1. State of the art of research on NPIT and general issues
  5. Chapter 2. Unprofessional translation 29
  6. Chapter 3. We are all translators 45
  7. Chapter 4. Dialoguing across differences 65
  8. Part 2. NPIT in healthcare, community and public services
  9. Chapter 5. Intercultural mediation and “(non)professional” interpreting in Italian healthcare institutions 83
  10. Chapter 6. More than mere translators 107
  11. Chapter 7. Issues of terminology in public service interpreting 131
  12. Chapter 8. From confinement to community service 157
  13. Chapter 9. The role and self-regulation of non-professional interpreters in religious settings 177
  14. Chapter 10. Simultaneous interpreting and religious experience 195
  15. Chapter 11. Beyond the professional scope? 213
  16. Chapter 12. Language-related disaster relief in Haiti 231
  17. Part 3. NPIT performed by children
  18. Chapter 13. Bilingual youngsters’ perceptions of their role as family interpreters 259
  19. Chapter 14. Child language brokers’ representations of parent–child relationships 281
  20. Chapter 15. Child language brokering in private and public settings 295
  21. Chapter 16. Through the children’s voice 315
  22. Chapter 17. Seeing brokering in bright colours 337
  23. Chapter 18. Language brokering 359
  24. Chapter 19. Not just child’s play 381
  25. Index 411
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