When linguistic and cultural differences are not disclosed in court interpreting
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Jieun Lee
Abstract
This paper explores the role of the court interpreter in cross-cultural and cross-linguistic communication in the courtroom. Drawing on the analysis of the discourse of witness examinations interpreted by Korean interpreters in Australian court proceedings, this paper argues that in the absence of cultural and/or linguistic explanations by the interpreter, evidence given by witnesses from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds may not be accurately or fully interpreted, and this can have potentially serious consequences for the witness in the adversarial context. The discussion highlights the significance of interpreters' disclosure of linguistic and cultural issues which are related to the accuracy of interpreting during court-room examination and suggests that ‘conduit’ interpreters may in fact adversely influence adversarial court proceedings.
© 2009 by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG, 10785 Berlin
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- Do English speakers address their Japanese colleagues by their first name, while talking in English in Japan?
- When linguistic and cultural differences are not disclosed in court interpreting
- The representations of French as part of the linguistic repertoire of young Anglo-Montrealers
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Class and categories: What role does socioeconomic status play in children's lexical and conceptual development?
- Do English speakers address their Japanese colleagues by their first name, while talking in English in Japan?
- When linguistic and cultural differences are not disclosed in court interpreting
- The representations of French as part of the linguistic repertoire of young Anglo-Montrealers
- Social factors for code-switching in Tunisian business companies: A case study
- Book reviews
- Publications received
- Contents Multilingua Volume 28 (2009)
