Chapter 2
Tell us about that
Using audiovisual clips to allow students to practise
interpreting authentic court questions
This chapter contains a discussion of the
findings of a small study in which the authors applied voice
recording technology to enable student interpreters to practise
authentic legal question-and-answer discourse from the
examination-in-chief and cross-examination phases of two jury trials
in New Zealand. The chapter discusses the purpose of lawyers’
questions in the common law adversarial courtroom, and identifies
the question types used in the video clips shown to students. It
then focuses on student renditions, identifying which types of
questions were interpreted most accurately, and which types of
questions were interpreted least accurately. The authors offer some
suggestions as to why some question forms may pose difficulties for
interpreters, and make some practical suggestions to improve student
understanding of the pragmatic intent of questions in the different
parts of the trial process.
Article outline
- Introduction
- 1.Court interpreting discourse: The language of examination and cross-examination
- 2.Methodology
- 2.1Error analysis of student interpreters’ renditions
- 2.1.1Clip one
- 2.1.2Clip two
- 2.1.3Clip three
- 2.2Findings of analysis of renditions by Mandarin-speaking
students
- 3.Findings
- 4.Analysis of question types
- 5.Discussion and conclusion
-
References
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Cited by (2)
Cited by two other publications
Burn, Jo Anna
2023.
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