The Interpreter and Translator Trainer

A selection of papers dealing which different aspects of legal translation

Biel, Łucja. 2017. "Enhancing the communicative dimension of legal translation: comparable corpora in the research-informed classroom." The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 11 (4): 316-336. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399x.2017.1359761.

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how comparable corpora may be used in the classroom to increase the commu- nicative dimension of legal translations, an aspect which tends to be neglected in training. The perspective is that of an English- Polish translator trainer in the Master’s translation programme. The author proposes two complementary applications: Method 1–Use of corpora to translate: hands-on experience during the translation process; and Method 2–Study of corpora to reflect on the transla- tion process. The first application, whereby corpora are used as a decision-making aid and a resource during the translation process, is oriented towards increasing the textual fit of trainees’ transla- tions by raising the awareness of target legal conventions, allow- ing for more nuanced terminology/phraseology work, reduced interference and a selection of more familiar patternings. The second method is used to study professional translations to develop critical thinking for translation purposes and strengthen the strategic sub-competence. Overall, both methods contribute to the training of functional translators who are aware of their role in translator-mediated legal communication.

internal-pdf://0304088634/Biel-2017-Enhancing the communicative dimensio.pdf

Crezee, Ineke H. M., Wei Teng, and Jo Anna Burn. 2017. "Teething problems? Chinese student interpreters’ performance when interpreting authentic (cross-) examination questions in the legal interpreting classroom." The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 11 (4): 337-356. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399x.2017.1359756.

Abstract: The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, it aims to introduce new assessment criteria to test the quality of interpreted renditions, based on functionalist approaches to translation theory. Secondly, it aims to test these criteria by analysing the English to Chinese interpreted renditions of authentic legal language undertaken by a small number of student interpreters in an undergraduate legal interpreting course at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. The analysis will test student interpreter performance using the criteria outlined, and will focus on two very common syntactical constructions in Chinese which were used to interpret polar interrogatives and positive/negative declaratives with tag questions. The findings suggest that some of the Chinese constructions used by student interpreters resulted in interpretations which significantly deviated from the original involving loss of illocutionary intent.

internal-pdf://2795514891/Crezee-2017-Teething problems_ Chinese student.pdf

Davitti, Elena, and Sabine Braun. 2020. "Analysing interactional phenomena in video remote interpreting in collaborative settings: implications for interpreter education." The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 14 (3): 279-302. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399x.2020.1800364.

Abstract: Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) is a modality of interpreting where the interpreter interacts with the other parties-at-talk through an audio- visual link without sharing the same physical interactional space. In dialogue settings, existing research on VRI has mostly drawn on the analysis of verbal behaviour to explore the dynamics of these ‘triadic’ exchanges. However, understanding the complexity of VRI requires a more holistic analysis of its dynamics in different contexts as a situated, embodied activity where resources other than talk (e.g. gaze, gestures, head and body movement) play a central role in the co- construction of the communicative event. This paper draws on extracts from a corpus of VRI encounters in collaborative contexts (e.g. nurse- patient interaction, customer services) to investigate how specific interactional phenomena already explored in traditional settings of dialogue interpreting (e.g. turn management, dyadic sequences, spa- tial management) unfold in VRI. The paper will identify the coping strategies implemented by interpreters to deal with various chal- lenges. This fine-grained, microanalytical look at the data will comple- ment the findings provided by research on VRI in legal/adversarial contexts and provide solid grounds to evaluate the impact of different moves. Its systematic integration into training will lead to a more holistic approach to VRI education.

internal-pdf://3516616164/Davitti-2020-Analysing interactional phenomena.pdf

Hunt-Gómez, Coral Ivy, and Paz Gómez-Moreno. 2015. "Reality-based court interpreting didactic material using new technologies." The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 9 (2): 188-204.

Abstract: Training for future court interpreters has traditionally been based on role-play exercises, recreations of actual trials or audios based on prototypical communicative situations. In the case of interpreting in court these kinds of simulations are not enough to train future court interpreters, since they do not fully reflect the great complexity of real communication in court. This article is intended to present a new reality-based audiovisual training material specifically devoted to court interpreters training in Spain. The material was inspired by the positive results of the conference interpreting teaching materials developed using real videos at the University of Granada. One of the most interesting aspects of the material presented here is its exclusivity, as it is, to date, the only didactic material for court interpreting training that achieves such a high degree of authenticity, since it works on the basis of real criminal trials. The material takes into account well-known translation subcompetences and it specifically addresses students who have previously received training in conference interpreting.

internal-pdf://3172685270/Hunt-Gómez-2015-Reality-based court interpreti.pdf

Liu, Xin, and Sandra Hale. 2018. "Achieving accuracy in a bilingual courtroom: the effectiveness of specialised legal interpreter training." The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 12 (3): 299-321. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399x.2018.1501649.

Abstract: Courtroom interpreting requires a high level of accuracy due to the strategic use of language in such an institutional setting. It is generally agreed among interpreting scholars that quality interpreting in court should accurately relay both propositional content and illocutionary force of the original utterances. This high standard of accuracy poses challenges to practitioners who may have only received generic training, if any at all, but little specialised legal interpreter training. A number of studies have shown alterations in the dynamics of interpreter-mediated courtroom examinations. Consequently, there has been a call for specialised training to improve the practice of court interpreting. However, there is a lack of discussion and a dearth of empirical studies addressing the effectiveness of such training. This paper will therefore present results of an experimental study that aimed to gauge whether specialised legal interpreter training is effective in improving interpreting accuracy among trainee interpreters. Using a quasi-experiment, the study found that specialised training is conducive to improving interpreters’ pragmatic accuracy and that interpreters who receive more training tend to perform better on accuracy than those who receive less. These results affirm the value of specialised training.

internal-pdf://0945117029/Liu-2018-Achieving accuracy in a bilingual cou.pdf

Martín Ruano, M. Rosario. 2015. "(Trans)formative theorising in legal translation and/or interpreting: a critical approach to deontological principles." The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 9 (2): 141-155. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399x.2015.1051767.

Abstract: This article argues for a critical, transformative approach to established principles and recurrent maxims in normative discourses in the training of legal translators and interpreters. It advocates a didactic approach going beyond the socialisation of the student in the norms and deontological principles governing the profession. The role of theorising is defended as an empowering tool for future professionals who will have to work in very diverse settings radically transformed by globalisation and migration. The significance of transformative approaches for a profession that must face unprece- dented challenges is analysed and exemplified focusing on two recurrent principles expected in legal interpreting and translation: equivalence and neutrality.

internal-pdf://3692101078/Martín Ruano-2015-(Trans)formative theorising.pdf

Monzó-Nebot, Esther. 2008. "Corpus-based Activities in Legal Translator Training." The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 2 (2): 221-252. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399X.2008.10798775.

Abstract: Driven by increasingly demanding and competitive market pressures, translation professionals have turned to computer- assisted tools and other specialized electronic resources to improve their productivity without compromising the quality of their output. This paper discusses the usefulness of corpus-driven activities and electronic corpus-based tools for the purposes of legal translator training. It begins with an overview of legal translation as an idiosyncratic field of specialized mediation and a survey of previ- ous corpus-based approaches to translator training. A number of discourse effects which characterize legal texts are then defined – universalization, neutralization and defamiliarization. Drawing on relevant examples, the author argues that corpus-based legal translator training is particularly helpful for trainees to identify the textual manifestations of these effects and to decide how they should be transferred across languages and legal systems. Within this framework, a range of specific corpus-driven activities are proposed and this pedagogical approach is shown to foster the students’ active involvement in the management of their own learning. Whilst the activities outlined here are restricted to the domain of legal texts, this paper aims to inspire fellow trainers to explore the advantages of corpus-based teaching across different translation fields and trainee backgrounds.

internal-pdf://1953197930/Monzó Nebot-2008-Corpus-based Activities in Le.pdf

Monzó-Nebot, Esther. 2015. "Understanding legal interpreter and translator training in times of change." The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 9 (2): 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399X.2015.1051766.

Abstract: This article is the guest editor’s introduction to the special issue of The Interpreter and Translator Trainer on ‘Legal Interpreting and Translation’ (LIT). Monzó examines what fluctuations and advances are affecting the contents and methods proposed for training future legal interpreters and translators and argues that the changing legal, social and economic conditions, including an evolving linguascape and law reforms pertaining to LIT, demand professionals who can constantly adapt the services they offer to new settings and new conditions. Trainers need to be aware of the changing nature of the profession to adapt their own roles, and to set learning outcomes for a variety of learning contexts that allow future professionals to thrive in a changing society. As much as translators and trainers need to adapt, so do the curricula themselves. Recent reforms in higher education have introduced substantial changes, purportedly to better correspond to market and States’ needs. As new frameworks and methodologies are enforced and introduced in higher education, several mismatches and inadequacies regarding societal and market needs have to be redressed. Trainers across regions enjoy different policy space regarding planning and delivery but they all face a new genera- tion of citizens, a global citizenship which has been said to be the most qualified generation in history and yet faces unprecedented unemployment rates. Against this background, Monzó questions the ownership of the curricula and examines how trainers themselves struggle with changes impacting their professional discretion and identities.

internal-pdf://2119738958/Monzó Nebot-2015-Understanding legal interpret.pdf

Monzó-Nebot, Esther. 2015. “Training Legal Interpreters and Translators.” Special issue of The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 9 (2). https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399X.2015.1051766.

Ordóñez-López, Pilar. 2015. "A critical account of the concept of ‘basic legal knowledge’: theory and practice." The Interpreter and Translator Trainer: 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399x.2015.1051768.

Abstract: Subject knowledge is, according to most definitions, one of the basic components of legal translation competence. There is widespread agreement that legal translators must have some basic knowledge of the legal systems involved in order to perform satisfactorily. Nevertheless, no concrete proposals have been put forward and no real consensus can be observed with regard to the elements which should be covered by the notion of ‘basic legal knowledge’. In this study, a critical account of this concept is provided through the examination of the undergraduate modules on legal transla- tion taught at Spanish universities, focusing on the legal topics covered as well as the materials included in these modules. The aim of this review is to shed some light on how this concept is incorporated into the teaching of legal translation, in order to identify, by means of a bottom-up approach, which components are considered most central to the blanket notion of ‘basic legal knowledge’.

internal-pdf://0913419433/Ordóñez-López-2015-A critical account of the c.pdf

Rodríguez-Castro, Mónica, and Clare E. Sullivan. 2015. "Rethinking the legal translation classroom: a course for legal translation professionals." The Interpreter and Translator Trainer: 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399x.2015.1051771.

Abstract: Over the last two decades the translation profession has undergone a significant transformation that has led to increasing volume, often requiring a high level of subject matter expertise. As the demand for legal translation continues to grow, specialisation and task complexity are particularly relevant to translation professionals in the legal domain. Since many changes in the translation profession have occurred over a short span of time, the traditional curriculum needs to be adjusted so as to incorporate additional competences into the course content. This article proposes a graduate course on legal translation that is motivated by four main factors: (a) refining learning outcomes for the legal translation classroom since they differ significantly from general translation curriculum; (b) implementing a task-based methodology; (c) incorporating professional skills that are essential in the current industry; and (d) including a process and product-based approach for portfolio assessment. Furthermore, expert mentoring and a professional legal translation workshop are combined into the curriculum as key enhancements for the new course. The proposed learning outcomes for this course have been piloted with a graduate class at the University of Louisville, and the assessment of some of the learning outcomes is discussed. Preliminary data has been gathered from student portfolios and from a questionnaire completed by the students.

internal-pdf://2779403934/Rodríguez-Castr-2015-Rethinking the legal tran.pdf

Salmi, Leena, and Tuija Kinnunen. 2015. "Training translators for accreditation in Finland." The Interpreter and Translator Trainer: 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399x.2015.1051772.

Abstract: This article discusses the training of translators in relation to their accreditation to produce legally valid translations. A particular case study is taken – the system currently used in Finland. This grants the translator the right to use the title of ‘authorised translator’ and it is supervised by the Authorised Translators’ Examination Board, operating in conjunction with the Finnish National Board of Education. Accreditation is based on either an examination consisting of translation assignments and a test on professional practices, or a higher university degree in translation studies that includes specific courses in authorised translation. The right is granted for one working language pair at a time; in the latter case, for the language pair included in the degree. Finnish universities decide independently on the education given within their curricula. This article discusses both the pros and cons of this kind of system, reflects on the experiences the authors have collected as university lecturers in courses on authorised translation and assessing the students’ translations, and gives examples of implementing the courses. It focuses on the challenges of evaluating the students’ competence within the field of authorised translation and on the authors’ responsibility as teachers in educating qualified translators.

internal-pdf://2324548432/Salmi-2015-Training translators for accreditat.pdf

Solová, Regina. 2015. "The Polish sworn translator: current training profile and perspectives." The Interpreter and Translator Trainer: 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399x.2015.1051773.

Abstract: The article offers a description of the training profile of Polish sworn translators based on two surveys that compare their education background before and after new legisla- tion was introduced in the country for the accreditation of sworn translators. Past and present training possibilities for translators in Poland are also described. The article analyses the results of introducing new legislation (2004): an increasing number of translators undertake professional training, which they treat as preparation for the state examination or as an element of professional training. Although university courses for future translators hardly ever take into consideration the legal translation/interpreting training and despite the fact that some specialist training courses do not guarantee an appropriately high level of instruction, the observed trends and changes are positive and show the increased importance given to training among future sworn translators and the increased amount of specific training possibilities in Poland.

internal-pdf://3646099282/Solová-2015-The Polish sworn translator_ curre.pdf

Stern, Ludmila, and Xin Liu. 2019. "See you in court: how do Australian institutions train legal interpreters?" The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 13 (4): 361-389. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399x.2019.1611012.

Abstract: Legal and court interpreters require advanced professional skills to perform their demanding tasks. How well does Australia prepare interpreters to fulfil the linguistic needs of its numerous communities, including ‘established’ migrant, indigenous, ‘new and emerging’ and deaf, in a variety of legal settings? Based on the online data and interviews with educators, this study provides an overview of formal legal interpreter training offered by two types of educational institu- tions, academic and vocational. The survey of the existing courses, curricula, aims and outcomes, content and settings, teaching methods and assessment, identifies the characteristics of these two approaches, considers advantages and disadvantages of each system, and ques- tions their effectiveness for preparing competent graduates for legal settings. Relying on the educators’ opinions, we consider what road- blocks Australian educational institutions encounter in meeting the requirements of the legal system and satisfying the needs of commu- nities where qualified legal interpreters are particularly lacking.

internal-pdf://0570840503/Stern-2019-See you in court_ how do Australian.pdf

Sycz-Opoń, Joanna. 2019. "Information-seeking behaviour of translation students at the University of Silesia during legal translation – an empirical investigation." The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 13 (2): 152-176. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399x.2019.1565076.

Abstract: This article presents the results of an investigation into information- seeking behaviour of trainee translators, observed during translation of a legal text from English into Polish. The translator’s workspace has significantly changed over the last twenty years. Now translators have at their disposal not only traditional printed publications but also a variety of sources available in an electronic form. The study presented in this article aims to discover how this repertoire of available sources is utilized during a specific task – legal translation. The group under scrutiny are the students of a translation pro- gramme at the University of Silesia, Poland. The method of investiga- tion combines observation and think-aloud protocol. The results obtained show, among others, the information most often looked- up in sources, the sources most often consulted, the level of satisfac- tion with source consultation, the reasons for non-satisfaction, and the problems commonly encountered during the search for informa- tion. The article ends with the list of characteristic information-seek- ing behaviours exhibited by the group in question.

internal-pdf://1376941057/Sycz-Opoń-2019-Information-seeking behaviour o.pdf

Wallace, Melissa. 2015. "A further call to action: training as a policy issue in court interpreting." The Interpreter and Translator Trainer: 173-187. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399x.2015.1051769.

Abstract: This article gathers research from three studies conducted by industry stakeholders in US court interpreting – research which provides a blueprint for prioritising quality in courtroom language access and which concretely links court interpreter training to policy decisions in the areas of language access and interpreter certification testing. The first study examines training experiences of Spanish/English court interpreters in one US state (Wisconsin); the second surveys practising court interpreters in the same state to demarcate specific skill domains and content in which court interpreters wish to receive training; and the third study examines failure rates on the state-level oral court interpreting exams on a national level over a 15-year period, suggesting some key strategies to mitigate such failure. In light of the aforementioned studies, as well as in response to the National Center for State Court’s recent publication entitled A National Call to Action, this article represents a further call to action, beseeching educators and policymakers to create meaningful training opportunities, to acknowl- edge the relationship between lack of training and widespread oral exam failure, and to reward and incentivise training and credentialing through proactive policy decisions.

internal-pdf://0081598332/Wallace-2015-A further call to action_ trainin.pdf

Wu, Di, Lawrence Jun Zhang, and Lan Wei. 2019. "Developing translator competence: Understanding trainers’ beliefs and training practices." The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 13 (3): 233-254. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750399x.2019.1656406.

Abstract: Translator trainers are faced with the challenges of helping trans- lator trainees develop translator competence that meets the needs of the current language services industry. However, the existing literature provides little information on translator trai- ners’ beliefs about translator competence or their actual training practices. The study reported here adopted a mixed methods approach, in which both quantitative and qualitative data were collected to investigate translator trainers’ beliefs and training practices in the Chinese context. Analysis of the responses to a questionnaire as well as the interview and classroom observa- tion data suggests that there were discrepancies between Chinese translator trainers’ beliefs and their training practices. It was found that the translator trainers generally recognised the importance of all the sub-competences of translator competence. However, they primarily focused on developing trainee’s bilin- gual and translation knowledge sub-competences and margin- alised other sub-competences in their training practices. The observed discrepancies could be attributed to several internal factors (e.g., self-efficacy and motivation) and external factors (e.g., students’ abilities, curricula, examinations, colleagues and facilities). Based on these findings, several implications for the (self-)training of translator trainers are elaborated.

internal-pdf://1337856128/Wu-2019-Developing translator competence_ unde.pdf