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Chapter 4. The interpreter as one of the bilinguals in court

  • 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 explained the modes of interpretation and the audience roles in court proceedings, monolingual and bilingual. It compared the audience roles in two different bilingual settings, a common bilingual courtroom as well as the bilingual Hong Kong courtroom, where interpreters nowadays often have to work with court actors who share their bilingual knowledge. This chapter examines how the audience roles of the court actors, as construed in the previous chapter, affect their power and thus control over the interpreter-mediated interaction. In particular, this chapter illustrates an augmentation in the power of bilingual counsel while at the same time manifests a denial of the interpreter’s latitude in the interpretation of contextual clues and his/her loss of power in a courtroom with the presence of other bilinguals.

Abstract

The previous chapter explained the modes of interpretation and the audience roles in court proceedings, monolingual and bilingual. It compared the audience roles in two different bilingual settings, a common bilingual courtroom as well as the bilingual Hong Kong courtroom, where interpreters nowadays often have to work with court actors who share their bilingual knowledge. This chapter examines how the audience roles of the court actors, as construed in the previous chapter, affect their power and thus control over the interpreter-mediated interaction. In particular, this chapter illustrates an augmentation in the power of bilingual counsel while at the same time manifests a denial of the interpreter’s latitude in the interpretation of contextual clues and his/her loss of power in a courtroom with the presence of other bilinguals.

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.c4

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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