Interpreting International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting · 2013 · 117 citations · 0 references
Language StudiesCommunicationLinguisticsDiscourse AnalysisIntercultural CommunicationInterpreting StudiesDialogue AnalysisDialogue InterpretingIntercultural DiscourseInterpreter RolesInterpreter-mediated CommunicationInterpreting ProcessDescriptive Case StudyInterpreter Role AlignmentInterpreter Role NegotiationInterpreter Role Relationship DynamicsInterpreter-mediated NegotiationInterpretersParent - Teacher CollaborationParent-teacher Collaboration
Research on dialogue interpreting shows that interpreters do not simply convey speech content, but also perform crucial coordinating and mediating functions. This descriptive study explores the activity of qualified dialogue interpreters in three video‑recorded parent‑teacher meetings involving immigrant mothers, focusing on how they handle evaluative assessment, often introducing an “upgrading rendition” in target speech. The study examines English‑Italian meetings in the UK and Italy, transcribing extracts for micro‑analysis of each actor’s (dis)engagement and gaze patterns annotated by dedicated software. Results show that the interpreter promotes alignment by emphasizing positive considerations to the mother, yet this leads to the mother accepting but not being empowered to co‑construct a negotiated solution.
Research on dialogue interpreting shows that interpreters do not simply convey speech content, but also perform crucial coordinating and mediating functions. This descriptive study, which is based on PhD research conducted at the University of Manchester, explores the activity of qualified dialogue interpreters in three video-recorded parent-teacher meetings involving immigrant mothers. English and Italian are the languages used, the meetings having taken place in the UK (one case) and Italy (two cases). The study focuses on interpreters’ handling of evaluative assessment, in many cases introduced by them in the target speech as an “upgrading rendition”. Transcribed extracts are examined in a micro-analytical perspective, the dynamics of each actor’s (dis)engagement towards interlocutors being studied in relation to gaze patterns annotated by dedicated software. Results show that the interpreter actively promotes alignment between the parties; however, s/he often does so by emphasising positive considerations to the mother. The outcome of this approach is that the mother accepts, but is not encouraged to co-construct a negotiated solution: she is assimilated, not empowered.