Common Law in an Uncommon Courtroom


Book Description

This book takes you into a common-law courtroom which is in no way similar to any other courtroom where common law is practised. This uniqueness is characterised, in particular, by the use of English as the trial language in a predominantly Cantonese-speaking society and by the presence of other bilinguals in court, thus presenting specific challenges for the interpreters who work in it, and at times rendering the interpretation service superfluous. This study, inter alia, problematises judges’ intervention in the court proceedings, Chinese witnesses testifying in English, as well as English-language trials heard by Chinese jurors. It demonstrates how the use of chuchotage proves to be inadequate and inappropriate in the Hong Kong courtroom, where interpreting in an English-language trial is arguably provided to cater for the need of the linguistic majority. This book is useful to interpreters, language educators, legal professionals, forensic linguists and policy makers alike.




The Common Law in Two Voices


Book Description

Hong Kong is one of the very few places in the world where the common law can be practiced in a language other than English. Introduced into the courtroom over a decade ago, Cantonese has significantly altered the everyday working of the common law in China's most Westernized city. In The Common Law in Two Voices, Ng explores how English and Cantonese respectively reinforce and undermine the practice of legal formalism. This first-ever ethnographic study of Hong Kong's unique legal system in the midst of social and political transition, this book provides important insights into the social nature of language and the work of institutions. Ng contends that the dilemma of legal bilingualism in Hong Kong is emblematic of the inherent tensions of postcolonial Hong Kong. Through the legal dramas presented in the book, readers will get a fresh look at the former British colony that is now searching for its identity within a powerful China.




The Bilingual Courtroom


Book Description

“An essential text” that examines how interpreters can influence a courtroom, updated and expanded to cover contemporary issues in our diversifying society (Criminal Justice). Susan Berk-Seligson’s groundbreaking book presents a systematic study of court interpreters that raises some alarming and vitally important concerns. Contrary to the assumption that interpreters do not affect the dynamics of court proceedings, Berk-Seligson shows that interpreters could potentially make the difference between a defendant being found guilty or not guilty. The Bilingual Courtroom draws on more than one hundred hours of audio recordings of Spanish/English court proceedings in federal, state, and municipal courts, along with a number of psycholinguistic experiments involving mock juror reactions to interpreted testimony. This second edition includes an updated review of relevant research and provides new insights into interpreting in quasi-judicial, informal, and specialized judicial settings, such as small claims court, jails, and prisons. It also explores remote interpreting (for example, by telephone), interpreter training and certification, international trials and tribunals, and other cross-cultural issues. With a new preface by Berk-Seligson, this second edition not only highlights the impact of the previous versions of The Bilingual Courtroom, but also draws attention to the continued need for critical study of interpreting in our ever diversifying society.




Research Handbook on Jurilinguistics


Book Description

This Research Handbook offers a comprehensive study of jurilinguistics that not only presents the latest international research findings among academics and practitioners, but also provides a new approach to the phenomena and nature of communicative flexibility, legal genres, vulnerability of interlingual legal communication, and the cultural landscape of legal translation.




Interpreting in Legal and Healthcare Settings


Book Description

The importance of quality interpreting in legal and healthcare settings can never be stressed enough, when any mistake – no matter how small – can compromise the delivery of justice or put someone’s health at risk. This book addresses issues arising from interpreting in legal and healthcare settings by presenting cutting-edge research findings in interpreting and interpreter education in a number of countries around the world – including those which are relatively new to the field. It contains selected papers from a conference dedicated to such themes – the First International Conference on Legal and Healthcare Interpreting – as well as other invited papers related to the fields of legal and healthcare interpreting. This book is useful not only to scholars and educators, interpreters and translators working in legal or healthcare settings, but also to legal and healthcare professionals who work with interpreters in their day-to-day work, including judges, lawyers, police officers, doctors, midwives and nurses.




The Routledge Handbook of Public Service Interpreting


Book Description

The Routledge Handbook of Public Service Interpreting provides a comprehensive overview of research in public service, or community interpreting. It offers reflections and suggestions for improving public service communication in plurilingual settings and provides tools for dealing with public service communication in a global society. Written by leading and emerging scholars from across the world, this volume provides an editorial introduction setting the work of public service interpreting (PSI) in context and further reading suggestions. Divided into three parts, the first is dedicated to the main theoretical issues and debates which have shaped research on public service interpreting; the second discusses the characteristics of interpreting in the settings which have been most in need of public service interpreting services; the third provides reflections and suggestions on interpreter as well as provider training, with an aim to improve public service interpreting services. This Handbook is the essential guide for all students, researchers and practitioners of PSI within interpreting and translation studies, medicine and health studies, law, social services, multilingualism and multimodality.




The Routledge Handbook of Multilingualism


Book Description

The Routledge Handbook of Multilingualism provides a comprehensive survey of the field of multilingualism for a global readership and an overview of the research which situates multilingualism in its social, cultural and political context. This fully revised edition not only updates several of the original chapters but introduces many new ones that enrich contemporary debates in the burgeoning field of multilingualism. With a decolonial perspective and including leading new and established contributors from different regions of the globe, the handbook offers a critical overview of the interdisciplinary field of multilingualism, providing a range of central themes, key debates and research sites for a global readership. Chapters address the profound epistemological and ontological challenges and shifts produced since the first edition in 2012. The handbook includes an introduction, five parts with 28 chapters and an afterword. The chapters are structured around sub-themes, such as Coloniality and Multilingualism, Concepts and Theories in Multilingualism, and Multilingualism and Education. This ground-breaking text is a crucial resource for researchers, scholars and postgraduate students interested in multilingualism from areas such as sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, anthropology and education.




Global Insights into Public Service Interpreting


Book Description

This edited volume sets out to explore interdisciplinarity issues and strategies in Public Service Interpreting (PSI), focusing on theoretical issues, global practices, and education and training. Unlike other types of interpreting, PSI touches on the most private spheres of human life, making it all the more imperative for the service to move towards professionalization and for ad hoc training methods to be developed within higher institutions of education. PSI is a fast-developing area which will assume an increasingly important role in the spectrum of the language professions in the future. An international, dynamic and interdisciplinary exploration of matters related to PSI in various cultural contexts and different language combinations will provide valuable insights for anyone who wishes to have a better understanding when working as communities of practice. For this purpose, the Editors have collected contributions focusing on training, ethical issues, professional deontology, the role and responsibilities of interpreters, management and policy, as well as problems and strategies in different countries and regions. This collection will be a valuable reference for any student or academic working in interpreting, particularly those focusing on Public Service Interpreting anywhere in the world.




Fundamentals of Court Interpretation


Book Description

This volume explores court interpreting from legal, linguistic, and pragmatic vantages. Because of the growing use of interpreters, there is an increasing demand for guidelines on how to utilize them appropriately in court proceedings, and this book provides guidance for the judiciary, attorneys, and other court personnel while standardizing practice among court interpreters themselves. The new edition of the book, which has become the standard reference book worldwide, features separate guidance chapters for judges and lawyers, detailed information on title VI regulations and standards for courts and prosecutorial agencies, a comprehensive review of U.S. language policy, and the latest findings of research on interpreting.




Introducing Interpreting Studies


Book Description

This bestselling textbook, now fully updated, introduces students, researchers and practitioners to the fast-developing discipline of Interpreting Studies. Written by one of the world’s leading researchers in Interpreting Studies, Introducing Interpreting Studies covers interpreting in all its varied forms, from international conference to community-based settings, in both spoken and signed modalities. The book first guides the reader through the evolution of the field, reviewing influential concepts, models and methodological approaches. It then presents the main areas of research on interpreting, and identifies present and future trends in Interpreting Studies. This edition has been updated to reflect recent advances in areas from cognitive neuroscience to multimodal discourse analysis and to cover technology-assisted and technology-mediated forms of interpreting, and the role of technology in interpreter training. Featuring chapter summaries, guides to the main points covered, and suggestions for further reading, Franz Pöchhacker’s practical and user-friendly textbook is the definitive map of this important and growing discipline. Introducing Interpreting Studies gives a comprehensive overview of the field and offers guidance to those undertaking research of their own. The book is complemented by The Interpreting Studies Reader (Routledge, 2002), a collection of seminal contributions to research in Interpreting Studies, and by the comprehensive Routledge Encyclopedia of Interpreting Studies (Routledge, 2015).