Interpreter linguistic intervention in the strategies employed by police in investigative interviews

Police interviews are high-stakes activities that bear legal consequences when the cases move to court proceedings. A wide range of literature exists on police interviewing strategies aiming to obtain complete information from the interviewee; however, this literature focuses primarily on monolingual settings only. This paper reports on an empirical study examining the word choices made by interpreters of 11 selected languages in three scripted police interview excerpts. The study found that considered verbal strategies deliberately employed by police in investigative interviewing may be interfered with by the interpreter in a bilingual setting. The authors discuss the implications of such linguistic intervention for police interview outcomes and propose improvements for the training of interpreters and police

Lost in communication: language and symbolic violence in Australia's public services

This research examined an often overlooked social problem that affects the lives and welfare of a significant number of Australians. This phenomenon is the interaction between public services and citizens who are either not proficient in or unable to speak the common language used by the society in general and by public services in particular. The phenomenon has implications for engagement, participation, equality and ultimately, social inclusion. There is a need for serious academic scrutiny that identifies ‘inconsistencies’ or ‘contradictions’ in the ways in which ordinary people with language barriers experience inequality in their relationship with public services today. This study examined this phenomenon and its implications in Australia in the context of public service provision. This study addressed this gap by examining two interrelated issues: the inequalities at play in accessing critical services by citizens with language barriers within a supposedly socially inclusive public service environment, and the politics at play in the use of translators and interpreters, a key independent communication method, in public service provision. To do this, this study, aided by the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice, closely examined the practices and lived experiences of public service providers, translators and interpreters, and citizens with language barriers. First, gaining a rare insight into the circumstances and lives of community members with language barriers, this study exposed the vulnerabilities of these community members and the everyday incidents of symbolic violence they experience in essentially ‘forced encounters’ (forced by necessity) with public services. Second, through an examination of the everyday practices of public services, the study demonstrated serious gaps between access and equity policies and their implementation, revealing an ‘unchanging culture’ in the habitus of public services regarding communication with ethnic minorities. Finally, by providing an understanding of the work environments of interpreters and translators, this study revealed the vulnerability and uncertainty experienced by them. Given the multi-disciplinary nature of the research questions, spanning language, sociology and anthropology, this study incorporated a multi-faceted research strategy, interweaving qualitative and quantitative research paradigms and consisting of surveys, semi- structured narrative interviews, narrations and examination of publicly available reports and websites. The data obtained through this research strategy were analysed through statistics, content analysis and triangulation. Data came from three key players in this field of practice: public service agencies, interpreters and translators, and citizens with language barriers in Melbourne, Australia

A study of interpreting accreditation testing formats in Australia

Advanced and affordable video conferencing technology has led to an increase in remote interpreting services via video, which has become a significant alternative to telephone and face-to-face interpreting. In keeping with this development, training providers are now incorporating video conference interpreting in their training. Video and audio resources are also increasingly being used as e-learning resources in online learning tools such as Blackboard and other university student learning portals. This has implications for the testing of interpreting skills, and the RMIT University Translating and Interpreting Program in Melbourne, Australia has started phasing in video assessment in examination and accreditation tests. In Australia, three test modes are commonly used: audio, video, and live-simulated tests. This article reports on a small-scale study that compared the three testing modes in terms of their potential impact on student examination results and also in terms of testing efficiency for training providers. Due to a lack of relevant research on the topic in the interpreting discipline, the discussion draws on relevant studies in diverse fields such as applied psychology, behavioral science, and musical performance. This study has implications for interpreter training strategies, for designing and administering interpreter assessment tests, and for resourcing in training programs

The 2015 parliamentary elections in Turkey - A Turkish Spring?

The results of the Turkish election of June 2015 were not what President Erdogan had sought. The party he controls did not get the number of seats needed for constitutional changes or even a majority in parliament. Support for the Justice and Development Party (AKP) declined as the economy faltered and corruption increased unchecked. Erdogan and his government had become increasingly repressive, censoring the media and arresting dissenters. Risky foreign policy was causing concern. The Kurdish backed Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) gained support from progressive voters and crossed the ten per cent threshold thus being able to win eighty parliamentary seats. Erdogan is expected to call another election rather than rely on a coalition

Training refugees to become interpreters for refugees

The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), in partnership with the Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC), has, since 2002, been offering a Diploma of Interpreting program in rare and emerging languages which has been approved by the Australian National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI). In addition to the usual challenges of initiating programs in relatively new languages - such as recruiting teaching staff and developing bilingual teaching materials - the training in these languages presented some unique challenges which required modified and/or alternative approaches. This paper will outline the structure of the Diploma program given in 2008 in two language streams, Burmese and Swahili (Kiswahili), and present the findings of a research case study which investigated both the academic and the professional reactions from both staff and students. The findings of this study have implications for the provision of interpreter training programs in rare and emerging languages. There are also implications for both teachers and students in the area of cross-cultural communication

The community-of-inquiry framework in online interpreter training

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Managing language barriers in policing

Since the end of the Second World War, economic migration and humanitarian resettlement in many developed countries has led to mass movements of people. Such human movements to date on a global scale have brought social, economic and political changes to destination countries. One of the significant changes the countries have experienced is increased linguistic diversity and cultural make-up, which manifests in terms of various dynamics among citizens interacting with essential public services in their daily lives. One of these challenges is the effective communication in the course of public service provision including policing and crime fighting, and, increasingly, counter-terrorism and counter-extremism efforts. Government agencies including law enforcement agencies adopt a range of communication methods. However, such methods largely appear to be top-down approaches. Certain perceived or real issues such as the feeling of being harassed or targeted by law enforcement expressed by members of some ethnic communities appear to remain the same despite decades of communication efforts. This study offers insight into the preferences of ethnic communities about communication with public services in Australia. A survey was completed by 258 members of diverse ethnic communities from 21 language backgrounds in Melbourne, Australia. The findings are presented and their potential implications are discussed for policymakers and frontline staff. A number of research areas are identified for follow-up studies

Domestic violence in Australia: A wicked problem

Australia is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, with advanced welfare and healthcare systems and an advanced democracy. However, despite increased government and community initiatives, the persistence of Domestic Violence (DV) in Australia is proving to be a wicked problem, affecting mostly women from members of all cultures, ages and socio-economic groups. This chapter introduces background information and recent national data in Australia relating to prevalence and attitudes among different sections of the community, milestone events and initiatives aimed at dealing with domestic violence. It identifies and discusses the complexity of the problem in terms of Rittel & Weber's concept of the wickedness of problems and makes recommendations about approaches for action in the light of data that show worsening trends in some key measures in recent years

Vicarious trauma among interpreters

Public service interpreters in Australia work in a range of areas including welfare, health, education and criminal justice. Some of their assignments contain traumatic client material, which may be confrontational, upsetting or off-putting for an interpreter, potentially impacting on their perceived cognitive processes and emotions during and after the interpreting assignment. Through a large-scale online survey of 271 practicing interpreters in Victoria, Australia, the authors explore the extent of exposure to traumatic client material, interpreters' ways of coping with such material, and how institutional care and self-care are administered, if they are at all. The findings of the survey are presented in this article and the implications for public service interpreters are discussed from an occupational health and safety perspective. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future research are outlined