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Chapter 3. Modes of interpretation and audience roles in interpreted trial discourse

  • Eva N.S. Ng
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Common Law in an Uncommon Courtroom
This chapter is in the book Common Law in an Uncommon Courtroom

Abstract

The previous chapter provided an overview of the practice of interpreting in the Hong Kong courtroom from the early times to the present days. This chapter focuses on the present-day Hong Kong courtroom and explains the modes of interpretation commonly adopted and the audience roles of court actors in a trial conducted in Hong Kong courts, as opposed to other courtroom settings. It compares the audience roles of court actors in interpreted court proceedings in two bilingual legal settings. The first one is a common bilingual setting where interpretation is provided for the linguistic minority; the other is the unusual bilingual Hong Kong courtroom, where interpreting service is necessitated because the linguistic majority do not speak the language of the court. This chapter evaluates the modes of interpretation used in the two different settings with reference to the participation status of individual court actors and thus the implications for their power in the judicial process.

Abstract

The previous chapter provided an overview of the practice of interpreting in the Hong Kong courtroom from the early times to the present days. This chapter focuses on the present-day Hong Kong courtroom and explains the modes of interpretation commonly adopted and the audience roles of court actors in a trial conducted in Hong Kong courts, as opposed to other courtroom settings. It compares the audience roles of court actors in interpreted court proceedings in two bilingual legal settings. The first one is a common bilingual setting where interpretation is provided for the linguistic minority; the other is the unusual bilingual Hong Kong courtroom, where interpreting service is necessitated because the linguistic majority do not speak the language of the court. This chapter evaluates the modes of interpretation used in the two different settings with reference to the participation status of individual court actors and thus the implications for their power in the judicial process.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of tables xiii
  4. List of figures xv
  5. Transcription symbols and abbreviations used in this book xvii
  6. Abbreviations used in the transcripts and in this book xix
  7. Acknowledgements xxi
  8. Foreword xxiii
  9. Chapter 1. Introduction 1
  10. Chapter 2. The practice of court interpreting in Hong Kong 11
  11. Chapter 3. Modes of interpretation and audience roles in interpreted trial discourse 39
  12. Chapter 4. The interpreter as one of the bilinguals in court 49
  13. Chapter 5. Interpreter intervention in witness examination 73
  14. Chapter 6. Judges’ intervention in witness examination 91
  15. Chapter 7. Chinese witnesses testifying in English 111
  16. Chapter 8. English trials heard by Chinese jurors 129
  17. Chapter 9. Who is speaking? 147
  18. Chapter 10. Conclusions 171
  19. References 191
  20. Appendices
  21. Appendix 1. Timeline of the use of Chinese in courts 205
  22. Appendix 2. Percentage of criminal cases conducted in Chinese in various courts 207
  23. Appendix 3. Scale points for Court Interpreter and Simultaneous Interpreter under the Master Pay Scale for Civil Servants 209
  24. Appendix 4. Transcript of the exchanges between the judge, the court clerk and the foreman of the jury, interspersed with remarks of the defence counsel 211
  25. Appendix 5. Questionnaire on The use of direct or reported speech in court interpreting 217
  26. Index 221
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.144.c3

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of tables xiii
  4. List of figures xv
  5. Transcription symbols and abbreviations used in this book xvii
  6. Abbreviations used in the transcripts and in this book xix
  7. Acknowledgements xxi
  8. Foreword xxiii
  9. Chapter 1. Introduction 1
  10. Chapter 2. The practice of court interpreting in Hong Kong 11
  11. Chapter 3. Modes of interpretation and audience roles in interpreted trial discourse 39
  12. Chapter 4. The interpreter as one of the bilinguals in court 49
  13. Chapter 5. Interpreter intervention in witness examination 73
  14. Chapter 6. Judges’ intervention in witness examination 91
  15. Chapter 7. Chinese witnesses testifying in English 111
  16. Chapter 8. English trials heard by Chinese jurors 129
  17. Chapter 9. Who is speaking? 147
  18. Chapter 10. Conclusions 171
  19. References 191
  20. Appendices
  21. Appendix 1. Timeline of the use of Chinese in courts 205
  22. Appendix 2. Percentage of criminal cases conducted in Chinese in various courts 207
  23. Appendix 3. Scale points for Court Interpreter and Simultaneous Interpreter under the Master Pay Scale for Civil Servants 209
  24. Appendix 4. Transcript of the exchanges between the judge, the court clerk and the foreman of the jury, interspersed with remarks of the defence counsel 211
  25. Appendix 5. Questionnaire on The use of direct or reported speech in court interpreting 217
  26. Index 221
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