Cover not available
Article published In:
Interpreting
Vol. 26:1 (2024) ► pp.80–113

Coordination in telephone-based remote interpreting

 | Leibniz Institute for the German Language | University of Mainz
 | Leibniz Institute for the German Language | University of Mainz
Telephone-based remote interpreting has come into widespread use in multilingual encounters, all the more so in times of refugee crises and the large influx of asylum-seekers into Europe. Nevertheless, the linguistic practices in this mode of communication have not yet been examined comprehensively. This article therefore investigates selected aspects of turn-taking and clarification sequences during semi-authentic telephone-interpreted counselling sessions for refugees (Arabic–German). A quantitative analysis reveals that limited audibility makes it more difficult for interpreters to claim their turn successfully; in most cases, however, turn-taking occurs smoothly. The trouble sources that trigger queries are mainly content-related and interpreters vary greatly in the ways they deal with such difficulties. Contrary to what one might expect, the study shows that coordination fails only rarely during telephone-based remote interpreting.
Keywords: telephone interpreting, turn-taking, trouble sources, Arabic, German, dialogue interpreting
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Previous research on telephone-based interpreting in bilateral community settings
  • 3.The TIGA Corpus: Data collection and transcription
    • 3.1Data collection
    • 3.2Data transcription
  • 4.Categories of analysis
    • 4.1Turn-taking
      • 4.1.1Types of turn acquisition: Smooth vs forced turn-taking
        • Smooth turn-taking
        • Forced turn-taking
      • 4.1.2Failed turn-taking (turn claims)
        • Claiming the turn at a transition relevance place
        • Claiming the turn at a non-transition relevance place
    • 4.2Trouble sources
      • 4.2.1Acoustic perception
      • 4.2.2Lack of visual cues, lack of transparency: Irritated interlocutors
      • 4.2.3Dialect
      • 4.2.4Content
      • 4.2.5“Cognitive load”
      • 4.2.6Mix of trouble sources
  • 5.Quantitative analysis
    • 5.1Turn-taking
      • 5.1.1Interpreters’ successes and failures at taking over: Turn acquisitions vs turn claims
      • 5.1.2Limited audibility as a challenge to turn-taking
    • 5.2Trouble sources
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 25 September 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/intp.00097.far
References (87)
References
Aldoukhi, R., Procházka, S. & Telič, A. (unter Mitarbeit von N. Grigoryan) (2014). Lehrbuch des Syrisch-Arabischen 2: Damaszenisch für Fortgeschrittene (Semitica Viva – Series Didactica 5,2). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.Google Scholar
Aldoukhi, R. & Procházka, S. & Telič, A. (unter Mitarbeit von N. Grigoryan) (2016). Lehrbuch des Syrisch-Arabischen 1: Praxisnaher Einstieg in den Dialekt von Damaskus. (Semitica Viva – Series Didactica 5,1), 2. Aufl. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.Google Scholar
Amato, A. (2018). Challenges and solutions: Some paradigmatic examples. In A. Amato, N. Spinolo & M. J. G. Rodríguez. (Eds.), Handbook of remote interpreting. SHIFT in Orality Erasmus+ Project. Shaping the interpreters of the future and today. Bologna: University of Bologna, Department of Interpretation and Translation, 79–101.Google Scholar
Amato, A., Spinolo, N. & Rodríguez, M. J. G. (Eds.) (2018). Handbook of remote interpreting: SHIFT in Orality Erasmus+ Project. Shaping the interpreters of the future and today. Bologna: University of Bologna, Department of Interpretation and Translation. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Andres, D. & Falk, S. (2009). Information and communication technologies (ICT) in interpreting: Remote and telephone interpreting. In D. Andres & S. Pöllabauer. (Eds.), Spürst Du, wie der Bauch rauf-runter? Fachdolmetschen im Gesundheitsbereich. München: Martin Meidenbauer, 9–27.Google Scholar
Angelelli, C. V. & Ross, J. M. (2021). Contextual diversity in telephone interpreting: Voices from healthcare interpreters in Scotland. Linguistica Antverpiensia: New Series – Themes in Translation Studies 20 1, 74–93. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Angermeyer, P. & Meyer, B. (2021). Forms and functions of non-renditions in community interpreting: A corpus-based study. The Translator 27 (1), 119–136. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Apfelbaum, B. (2004). Gesprächsdynamik in Dolmetsch-Interaktionen: Eine empirische Untersuchung von Situationen internationaler Fachkommunikation unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Arbeitssprachen Deutsch, Englisch, Französisch und Spanisch. Radolfzell: Verlag für Gesprächsforschung.Google Scholar
(2008). Professionelles Dolmetschen in dialogisch organisierten beruflichen Handlungsfeldern. Jahrbuch Deutsch als Fremdsprache 34 1, 112–125.Google Scholar
Baraldi, C. & Gavioli, L. (2012a). Understanding coordination in interpreter-mediated interaction. In C. Baraldi & L. Gavioli. (Eds.), Coordinating participation in dialogue interpreting. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 1–21. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(Eds.) (2012b). Coordinating participation in dialogue interpreting. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bassiouney, R. (2020). Arabic sociolinguistics (2nd ed.). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press [2009].Google Scholar
Belczyk-Kohl, Y. (2016). Some remarks on transcript translation in discourse analysis. European Journal of Applied Linguistics 4 (1), 139–164. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bischoff, A. & Grossmann, F. (2006). Telefondolmetschen im Spital. Universität Basel: Institut für Pflegewissenschaft.Google Scholar
Bolden, G. B. (2000). Toward understanding practices of medical interpreting: Interpreters’ involvement in history taking. Discourse Studies 2 (4), 387–419. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2018). Understanding interpreters’ actions in context. Communication & Medicine 15 (2), 135–149. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Braun, S. (2015a). Remote interpreting. In H. Mikkelson & R. Jourdenais. (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of interpreting. London: Routledge, 352–367.Google Scholar
(2015b). Remote interpreting. In F. Pöchhacker. (Ed), Routledge encyclopedia of interpreting studies. London: Routledge, 346–348.Google Scholar
Brockelmann, C. et al. (1935). Die Transliteration der arabischen Schrift in ihrer Anwendung auf die Hauptliteratursprachen der islamischen Welt. Denkschrift dem 19. Internationalen Orientalistenkongreß in Rom, vorgelegt von der Transkriptionskommission der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft. Leipzig: Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft in Kommission bei F. A. Brockhaus.Google Scholar
Bucholtz, M. (2000). The politics of transcription. Journal of Pragmatics 32 1, 1439–1465. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Couper-Kuhlen, E. & Selting, M. (2018). Interactional linguistics: Studying language in social interaction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Cutler, A. & Pearson, M. (1985). On the analysis of prosodic turn-taking cues. In C. Johns-Lewis. (Ed.), Intonation in discourse. London: Croom Helm, 139–155.Google Scholar
Davitti, E. & Braun, S. (2020). Analysing interactional phenomena in video remote interpreting in collaborative settings: Implications for interpreter education. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 14 (3), 279–302. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Davitti, E. (2019). Methodological explorations of interpreter-mediated interaction: Novel insights from multimodal analysis. Qualitative Research 19 (1), 7–9. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
de Boe, E. (2020). Remote interpreting in dialogic settings: A methodological framework for investigating the impact of telephone and video interpreting on quality in healthcare interpreting. In H. Salaets & G. Brône. (Eds.), Linking up with video: Perspectives on interpreting practice and research. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 79–105. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2023). Remote interpreting in healthcare settings. Oxford: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Duncan, S. (1972). Some signals and rules for taking speaking turns in conversations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 23 (2), 283–292. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1973). Toward a grammar for dyadic conversation. Semiotica: Journal of the International Association for Semiotic Studies 9 (1), 29–46. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ehlich, K. (1993). HIAT: A transcription system for discourse data. In. J. A. Edwards & M. D. Lampert. (Eds.), Talking data: Transcription and coding in discourse research. New York: Psychology Press, 123–148.Google Scholar
Farag, R. (2019). Conversation-analytic transcription of Arabic–German talk-in-interaction. Working Papers in Corpus Linguistics and Digital Technologies: Analyses and Methodology 2 1, 1–50. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2021). Kommunikative Verfahren beim Telefondolmetschen Arabisch-Deutsch in der institutionellen Kommunikation mit Geflüchteten. In B. Kreß, K. Roeder, K. Schweiger & K. Vossmiller. (Eds.), Mehrsprachigkeit, Interkulturelle Kommunikation, Sprachvermittlung. Internationale Perspektiven auf DaF und Herkunftssprachen. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 241–269.Google Scholar
Farag, R. & Meyer, B. (2022). Telefondolmetschen Arabisch-Deutsch: Gesprächstranskription im Spannungsfeld von Mehrsprachigkeit, schriftlichem Standard und Varietätenvielfalt. In S. Grawunder & C. Schwarze. (Eds.), Transkription und Annotation gesprochener Sprache und multimodaler Interaktion. Konzepte, Probleme, Lösungen. Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 219–243.Google Scholar
Fischer, W. & Jastrow, O. (Eds.) (1980). Handbuch der arabischen Dialekte. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.Google Scholar
Fox, B. A., Benjamin, T. & Mazeland, H. (2013). Conversation analysis and repair organization: Overview. In Chapelle, C. A. (Eds.), The encyclopedia of applied linguistics. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 1–3.Google Scholar
Gravano, A. & Hischberg, J. (2011). Turn-taking cues in task-oriented dialogue. Computer Speech and Language 25 1, 601–634. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Grotzfeld, H. (1965). Syrisch-Arabische Grammatik: Dialekt von Damaskus. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.Google Scholar
Gutiérrez, R. L. (2021). Remote (telephone) interpreting in healthcare settings. In Ş. Susam-Saraeva & E. Spišiaková. (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of translation and health. London: Routledge, 216–231. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hansen, J. P. B. & Svennevig, J. (2021). Creating space for interpreting within extended turns at talk. Journal of Pragmatics 18 (2), 144–162. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Harrell, R. (1962). A short reference grammar of Moroccan Arabic. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Hoogland, J. (2016). Marokkanisch-Arabisch: Ein Lehrbuch für Selbststudium und Unterricht. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag.Google Scholar
Hopper, R. (1992). Telephone conversation. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Kelly, N. (2007). Telephone interpreting in health care settings: Some commonly asked questions. The ATA Chronicle. [URL] (accessed 3 May 2022).Google Scholar
(2008a). Telephone interpreting: A comprehensive guide to the profession. Victoria, BC: Trafford Publishing.Google Scholar
(2008b). A medical interpreter’s guide to telephone interpreting. International Medical Interpreters Association. [URL] (accessed 14 May 2022).
Kelly, N. & Pöchhacker, F. (2015). Telephone interpreting. In F. Pöchhacker. (Ed.), Routledge encyclopedia of interpreting studies. London: Routledge, 412–415.Google Scholar
Knapp-Potthoff, A. & Knapp, K. (1986). Interweaving two discourses: The difficult task of the non-professional interpreter. In J. House & S. Blum-Kulka. (Eds.), Interlingual and intercultural communication: Discourse and cognition in translation and second language acquisition studies. Tübingen: Gunter Narr, 151–168.Google Scholar
Ko, L. (2006). The need for long-term empirical studies in remote interpreting research: A case study of telephone interpreting. Linguistica Antverpiensia: New Series – Themes in Translation Studies 5 1, 325–338.Google Scholar
Korak, C. A. (2012). Remote interpreting via Skype: A viable alternative to in situ interpreting. The Interpreters’ Newsletter 17 1, 83–102.Google Scholar
Kuhnt, E. (1958). Syrisch-Arabischer Sprachführer. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.Google Scholar
Labov, W. (1972). Sociolinguistic patterns. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar
Langer, T. & Wirth, S. (2014). Einsatz von Telefondolmetschern zur Überwindung von Sprachbarrieren: Erste Erfahrungen in einer deutschen Kinderklinik. Zeitschrift für Evidenz, Fortbildung und Qualität im Gesundheitswesen 108 (5–6), 278–282. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Locatis, C., Williamson, D., Gould-Kabler, C., Zone-Smith, L., Detzler, I., Roberson, J., Maisiak, R. & Ackerman, M. (2010). Comparing in-person, video, and telephonic medical interpretation. Journal of General Internal Medicine 25 (4), 345–350. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maas, U. (2011). Marokkanisches Arabisch: Die Grundstrukturen. München: Lincom Europa.Google Scholar
Martini, M. (2008). Deutsch-Kubanische Arbeitsbesprechungen: Eine gesprächs-analytische Studie zu gedolmetschter Kommunikation in internationalen Hochschulkooperationen. Tübingen: Stauffenburg.Google Scholar
Mason, I. (2009). Dialogue interpreting. In M. Baker & G. Saldanha. (Eds.), Routledge encyclopedia of translation studies, 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 81–84.Google Scholar
Merlini, R. (2015). Dialogue interpreting. In F. Pöchhacker. (Ed.), Routledge encyclopedia of interpreting studies. London: Routledge, 102–107.Google Scholar
Meyer, B. (2002). Untersuchungen zu den Aufgaben des interkulturellen Mittelns. In J. Best & S. Kalina. (Eds.), Übersetzen und Dolmetschen. Eine Orientierungshilfe. Tübingen: Francke Attempto, 51–59.Google Scholar
(2012). Ad hoc interpreting for partially language-proficient patients: Participation in multilingual constellations. In C. Baraldi & L. Gavioli. (Eds.), Coordinating participation in dialogue interpreting. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 99–113. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Meyer, B. & Farag, R. (2023). Telephone Interpreting German–Arabic (TIGA) / Telefondolmetschen Arabisch-Deutsch (TeDo) (Version 1.0) [Data set]. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mondada, L. (2007). Multimodal resources for turn-taking: Pointing and the emergence of possible next speakers. Discourse Studies 9 (2), 194–225. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nestler, F. (1957). Tel-Interpret: Begründung und Grundlagen eines deutschen Telefon-Dolmetschdienstes. Lebende Sprachen 2 (1), 21–23. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nikander, P. (2008). Working with transcripts and translated data. Qualitative Research in Psychology 5 1, 255–231. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ozolins, U. (2011). Telephone interpreting: Understanding practice and identifying research needs. Translation & Interpreting 3 (1), 33–47.Google Scholar
Pöchhacker, F. (2020). “Going video”: Mediality and multimodality in interpreting. In H. Salaets & G. Brône. (Eds.), Linking up with video: Perspectives on interpreting practice and research. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 13–46. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rehbein, J., Schmidt, T., Meyer, B., Watzke, F. & Herkenrath, A. (2004). Handbuch für das computergestützte Transkribieren nach HIAT. Hamburg: Sonderforschungsbereich 538 Mehrsprachigkeit.Google Scholar
Rodríguez, M. J. G. & Spinolo, N. (2017). Telephonic dialogue interpreting: A short teaching course. In L. Cirillo & N. Niemants. (Eds.), Teaching dialogue interpreting: Research-based proposals for higher education. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 242–257. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rosenberg, B. A. (2007). A data driven analysis of telephone interpreting. In C. Wadensjö, B. Englund Dimitrova & A. -L. Nilsson. (Eds.), The Critical Link 4: Professionalisation of interpreting in the community. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 65–76. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Roy, C. B. (2000). Interpreting as a discourse process. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A. & Jefferson, G. (1974). A simplest systematics for the organization of turn-taking for conversation. Language 50 (4), 696–735. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schegloff, E. A. (1991). Conversation analysis and socially shared cognition. In L. B. Resnick, J. M. Levine & S. D. Teasley. (Eds.), Perspectives on socially shared cognition. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 150–171. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schmidt, T. (2009). Creating and working with spoken language corpora in EXMARaLDA. In V. Lyding. (Ed.), Proceedings of the Second Colloquium on Lesser Used Languages and Computer Linguistics (LULCL II). Bozen: EURAC, 151–164.Google Scholar
(2011). Overview of HIAT transcription conventions. [URL] (accessed 14 May 2022).
(2012). EXMARaLDA and the FOLK tools: Two toolsets for transcribing and annotating spoken language. In N. Calzolari, K. Choukri, T. Declerck, M. U. Doğan, B. Maegaard, J. Mariani, A. Moreno, J. Odijk & S. Piperidis. (Eds.), Proceedings of the Eighth Conference on International Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC-12), Istanbul, Turkey. European Language Resources Association (ELRA), 236–240.Google Scholar
Schmidt, T. & Wörner, K. (2014). EXMARaLDA. In J. Durand, U. Gut & G. Kristoffersen. (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of corpus phonology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 402–419.Google Scholar
Schmidt, T., et al. (2016). EXMARaLDA Partitur-Editor: Manual. Version 1.6. [URL] (accessed 7 May 2023).
Selting, M. (2000). The construction of units in conversational talk. Language in Society 29 (4), 477–517. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Spinolo, N., Bertozzi, M. & Russo, M. (2018). Basic tenets and features characterising telephone- and video-based remote communication in dialogue interpreting. In A. Amato, N. Spinolo & M. J. G. Rodríguez. (Eds.), Handbook of remote interpreting: SHIFT in Orality Erasmus+ Project. Shaping the interpreters of the future and today. Bologna: University of Bologna, Department of Interpretation and Translation, 12–26.Google Scholar
Stahl, J. (personal communication). Bereich Personalservice, Leiter Fachbereich Interner Service Personal/Interner Dienstbetrieb.
Steensig, J. (2012). Turn-taking in conversation. In G. Andersen & K. Aijmer. (Eds.), Pragmatics of society. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton, 501–536.Google Scholar
Wadensjö, C. (1992). Interpreting as interaction: On dialogue-interpreting in immigration hearings and medical encounters. Linköping: Linköping University.Google Scholar
(1999). Telephone interpreting and the synchronization of talk in social inter-action. The Translator 5 (2), 247–264. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2002). The double role of a dialogue interpreter. In F. Pöchhacker & M. Shlesinger (Eds.), The interpreting studies reader. London: Routledge, 355–370.Google Scholar
(2015). Discourse management. In F. Pöchhacker (Ed.), Routledge encyclopedia of interpreting studies. London: Routledge, 165–167.Google Scholar
Wang, J. & Fang, J. (2019). Accuracy in telephone interpreting and on-site interpreting. Interpreting 21 (1), 36–61. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wang, J. (2018). “I only interpret the content and ask practical questions when necessary”: Interpreters’ perspective of their explicit coordination and personal pronoun choice in telephone interpreting. Perspectives 29 (4), 1–18.Google Scholar
Woidich, M. (2006). Das Kairenisch-Arabische: Eine Grammatik. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz:Google Scholar
Xu, H., Hale, S. & Stern, L. (2020). Telephone interpreting in lawyer-client interviews: An observational study. Translation & Interpreting 12 (1), 18–36. DOI logoGoogle Scholar