Interpreter turns Essay Example for Free

Interpreter turns Essay One consequence of using an explicit utterance to stop Ð ° speaker is that an interpreter takes Ð ° turn to do so. Saying wait-Ð °-minute (or holdyour-turn) is not Ð ° turn initiated by Ð ° primary speaker. In managing discourse flow, interpreter’s become turn-taking participants to direct and allocate turns to the primary speakers. This is Ð ° kind of turn-taking that interpreters do. In this section, however, І describe two other kinds of turns taken by the Interpreter during this meeting. One kind of turn is to offer Ð ° turn; both of these are directed at the Student. The second kind of turn is an independent turn in which the Interpreter beckons the Student to say something. Offering Turns Offering Ð ° turn generally happens when Ð ° speaker has made an attempt to say something. In this first example, the Professor has the answering machine on, and the recording is playing. During that talk, the Professor turns and says, Sorry to the Student and turns back to look at the machine. The Student receives that interpretation, turns to look at the Professor, and brings up his hands as if to speak, but changes his mind. In ASL, this can be likened to someone saying, uhm and then saying never mind. As the Students hands go down, the Interpreter leans forward toward the Student, extends an open palm, and raises his eyebrows which in ASL signal Ð ° question. Although the Interpreter does not actually execute any sign (Ð ° grammatical unit), his gesture means, Do you want to say something? When the Interpreter offers the opportunity for the Student to take Ð ° turn, the Student refuses, and his hands lower, then the Interpreter returns to interpreting the answering machine so that the Student will know that the machine problem continues, Knowing that one primary participant is preoccupied and that people can work Ð ° machine and talk at the same time, it is reasonable to offer the Student an opportunity to say something. In the next example, again the Interpreter offers Ð ° turn to the Student. The Professor has just offered Ð ° final solution to the problem of when the Student should turn in his transcript. She has suggested that he make copies to pass out the next week to be included with the copies she will make of transcripts that is turned in today. As this portion winds down, both begin to utter short responses like ok and good. After the Student says WELL which could mean he thought of something to say, the Interpreter gesturesÐ ° slight lean forward, an open palm extended toward the Student, and eyebrows rose, as if to say Do you want to say something? Again, the Interpreter offers Ð ° conversational opening for the Student as if to say is there anything else you want to say? Again, the Student does not have Ð ° question or Ð ° content message so he just says, knowing that this topic is coming to an end, thats fine. What is interesting about offering Ð ° turn is that the Interpreter must take Ð ° turn to offer Ð ° turn. Both taking Ð ° turn and offering Ð ° turn are indicative of the complex nature of an interpreters involvement in the communicative process of an interpreted event. The Interpreters participation in the flow of discourse supports the findings of Berk-Seligson (199o), Metzger (1995), Wadensjo (1992, 1998), and others, suggesting that the nature of an interpreters rights and obligations bear intensive, continued study When, in other situations, do interpreter’s offer turns? And, how do interpreters know when to offer turns? Taking Ð ° Turn This segment is, perhaps, the most significant extract of talk from the entire meeting. Within this span, the Interpreter intervenes to beckon the Student to say something. This activity in the discourse process marks the potential breadth and scope of an interpreters ability to influence both the direction and outcome of this event. These decisions, more than any other, are indications of experience and the accumulated knowledge of how these social scenes should play out so that all participants experience an outcome that is satisfactory. This segment becomes Ð ° negotiation between Professor and Student, as the discussion of linguistic features in the transcript comes to an end, the Student asks if he should revise the transcript for next weeks class. The Professor wanted it today (Wednesday) but asks the Student if he could have it ready the following Monday. The Student told the Professor previously that he would be out of town for the weekend giving Ð ° presentation, implying that he cannot have it ready for Monday. The Student repeats this information, and the conversation comes to Ð ° halt. At this point, the Interpreter leans forward and executes Ð ° beckoning gesture to the Student. The Interpreter urges the Student to say something. When the Professor asks if the Student could give her transcript by Monday, the Student says, І get back from Rochester Sunday and stops talking, the Professor says ok and uhm and looks at the floor. The Interpreter already knows that the Student has said the wrong thing because the Interpreters uh as the Professor says ok is not Ð ° rendering of anyones talk, and he opens the possibility that there is more to be said. And, in fact, the Interpreter does not interpret what the Professor says; rather he leans forward and with Ð ° gesture bids the Student to talk. Right on cue, the Student does; he offers Ð ° solution: How bout Wednesday morning before class? The Interpreter, recognizing that, typically, American student’s do not tell professors no either directly or indirectly when asked to turn in an assignment, prompts the Student to say more, In so doing, the Interpreter takes Ð ° self-motivated turn and influences the outcome of this interaction. Practicing interpreters might suggest that this action by the Interpreter violates professional codes of conductthose concerned with interfering in Ð ° situation. But І would argue that the Interpreter has instead followed the first commandment of any interpreting code of conductto interpret the spirit and intent of Ð ° message. The Interpreter, knowing that the Student may not know or may not always be able to apply appropriate ways of speaking in these situations, has assisted the Student in behaving appropriately during this interaction. The Student spent all his academic years, up until now, in educational institutions geared toward Deaf persons, Ð ° state school for the Deaf and Gallaudet University, the only Liberal Arts University for the Deaf in the world. Although everyone he has encountered may not have known how to use ASL, theyve accommodated Deaf ways of speaking or have presented skewed versions of ways of speaking and behaving in traditional American institutions. As sociolinguists have argued, many ethnicities in the United States maintain their own ways of speaking and do not flourish in American mainstream situations. That interpreters offer turns and even take turns of their own alters the direction and perhaps even the outcome of interpreted conversational exchanges. The nature of this activity has only recently begun to be studied and, obviously, demands further study.