Cover not available
Article published In:
Tangible translation: Migration and materiality
Edited by Andrea Ciribuco and Anne O’Connor
[Translation and Interpreting Studies 17:1] 2022
► pp. 42–65

Plurilingualism, multimodality and machine translation in medical consultations

A case study

ORCID logo | ICAR Lab (ENS de Lyon)

This contribution deals with the use of Google Translate as one among many resources that participants mobilize to overcome the language barrier in plurilingual medical consultations. It is grounded on a two-hour interaction involving a family of Albanian asylum seekers newly arrived in France and a French general practitioner. To reach mutual comprehension, participants rely on the mediation of a lay interpreter (one of the family’s children) who translates for the doctor and the other family members. In this interaction, English is used as a lingua franca, while machine translation is conducted between French and Albanian. The analysis will focus on the interactional work that participants accomplish in order to: (1) propose or solicit the use of Google Translate and make the computer accessible to all participants; (2) detect and repair misunderstandings caused by an unsuitable translation.

Keywords: healthcare interactions, machine translation, multimodality, plurilingualism, English lingua franca
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Doctor-patient interactions and digital tools
    • 2.1Research on translation devices in medical settings
  • 3.Methodology and context of the study
    • 3.1The case study
  • 4.Select excerpts
    • 4.1Rearranging the space
    • 4.2Trying to reach mutual comprehension
  • 5.Final discussion and perspectives
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 11 February 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.21012.pic
References
Antonini, Rachele
2010 “The study of child language brokering: past, current and emerging research.” mediAzioni 101: 1974–4382.Google Scholar
Antonini, Rachele, Letizia Cirillo, Linda Rossato, and Ira Torresi
(eds) 2017 Non-professional Interpreting and Translation: The State of the Art and Future of an Emerging Field of Research. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Baraldi, Claudio, and Laura Gavioli
(eds) 2012 Coordinating Participation in Dialogue Interpreting. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Béal, Arnaud, and Nicolas Chambon
2015 “Le recours à l’interprète en santé mentale : enjeux et problèmes.” Rhizome 55(1): 9–19. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bot, Hanneke
2005 Dialogue Interpreting in Mental Health. Amsterdam: Rodopi. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bowker, Lynne, and Jairo B. Ciro
2019 Machine Translation and Global Research: Towards Improved Machine Translation Literacy in the Scholarly Community. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brisset, Camilla, Yvan Leanza, and Karine Laforest
2012 “Working with interpreters in health care: A systematic review and meta-ethnography of qualitative studies.” Patient Education and Counseling 91(2): 131–140. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Chang, Dwayne, Isaac Thyer, Dickon Hayne, and Darren
2014 “Using mobile technology to overcome language barriers in medicine.” Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England 96(6): 23–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ciribuco, Andrea
2020 “Translating the village. Translation as part of the everyday lives of asylum seekers in Italy.” Translation Spaces 9(2): 179–201. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cox, Antoon and Katrijn Maryns
2021 “Multilingual consultations in urgent medical care”, The Translator 27(1): 75–93. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cosnier, Jacques, Grosjean, Michèle, and Michèle Lacoste
(Eds) 1993 Soins et communication. Lyon, PUL/ARCI.Google Scholar
Diminescu, Dana
2008 “The connected migrant: An epistemological manifesto.” Social Science Information 47(4): 565–579. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dekker, Rianne, and Godfried Engbersen
2014 “How social media transform migrant networks and facilitate migration.” Global Networks 14(4): 401–418. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Moissac, Danielle, and Sarah Bowen
2019 “Impact of language barriers on quality of care and patient safety for official language minority Francophones in Canada.” Journal of Patient Experience 6(1): 24–32. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Drew, Paul, and Elizabeth Couper-Kuhlen
2014 “Requesting – from speech act to recruitment.” In Requesting in Social Interaction, ed. by Paul Drew, and Elizabeth Couper-Kuhlen. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Goodwin, Charles, and Marjorie Goodwin
1986 “Gesture and coparticipation in the activity of searching for a word.” Semiotica 62(1–2): 51–75. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Haith-Cooper, Melanie
2014 “Mobile translators for non-English-speaking women accessing maternity services.” British Journal of Midwifery 22(11). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heritage, John
1984 “A change-of-state token and aspects of its sequential placement.” In Structures of Social action, ed. by J. Maxwell Atkinson, and John Heritage, 299–345. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heritage, John, and Douglas W. Maynard
2006 “Introduction: Analyzing interaction between doctors and patients in primary care encounters.” In Communication in Medical Care: Interaction between Primary Care Physicians and Patients, ed. by John Heritage and Douglas W. Maynard, 1–21. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Frers, Lars
2009 “Space, materiality and the contingency of action: A sequential analysis of the patient’s file in doctor-patient interactions.” Discourse Studies 11(3): 285–303. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leite, Fernando, et al.
2016 “Using Google Translate© in the hospital: A case report.” Technology and Health Care 24(6): 965–968. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, Jennifer, Will Baker, and Martin Dewey
2017 The Routledge Handbook of English as a Lingua Franca. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jouin, Emilie, and Anna Claudia Ticca
In press. “Le dilemme de la chercheure : composer avec les questions déontologiques et éthiques dans l’enquête de terrains multilingues en santé.” Bulletin de l’AFAS Sonorités.
Katz, Vikki
2014 “Children as brokers of their immigrant families’ health-care connections.” Social Problems 61(2): 194–215. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Komito, Lee
2011 “Social media and migration: Virtual community 2.0.” Journal of the American Society of Information Science and Technology 62 (6): 1075–1086. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mahroug, Naoual, and Yasmine Bouagga
2020 “Demander l’asile dans sa langue.” Plein Droit 124(1): 15–18. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Maynard, Douglas W., and John Heritage
2005 “Conversation analysis, doctor–patient interaction and medical communication.” Medical Education 39(4): 428–435. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Miller, Joseph, et al.
2018 “Simple patient care instructions translate best: safety guidelines for physician use of Google Translate.” Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management, 25(1).Google Scholar
Mondada, Lorenza
2014 “The local constitution of multimodal resources for social interaction.” Journal of Pragmatics 651: 137–156. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nielsen, Søren Beck
2014 “I’ll just see what you had before”: Making computer use relevant while patients present their problems.” In Interacting with Objects: Language, Materiality, and Social Activity, ed. by Maurice Nevile, Pentti Haddington, Trine Heinemann, and Mirka Rauniomaa, 79–98. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2016 “How doctors manage consulting computer records while interacting with patients.” Research on Language and Social Interaction 49(1): 58–74. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Orellana, Marjorie Faulstich
2009 Translating Childhoods: Immigrant Youth, Language, and Culture. London: Rutgers University Press.Google Scholar
Panayiotou, Anita, et al.
2019 “Language translation apps in health care settings: Expert opinion.” JMIR mHealth and uHealth 7(4): e11316. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Patil, Sumant, and Patrick Davies
2014 “Use of Google Translate in medical communication: Evaluation of accuracy.” British Medical Journal 3491: g7392. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pennycook, Alastair
2017 “Translanguaging and semiotic assemblages.” International Journal of Multilingualism 141: 269–282. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pennycook, Alastair, and Emi Otsuji
2014 “Metrolingual multitasking and spatial repertoires: ‘Pizza Mo two minutes coming’.” Journal of Sociolinguistics 18 (2): 161–184. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Phelan, Mary
2012 “Medical Interpreting and the Law in the European Union.” European Journal of Health Law 19 (4): 333–353. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Piccoli, Vanessa, Anna Claudia Ticca, and Véronique Traverso
2019 “Go Internet it’s here” : démarches administratives de personnes précaires ou en demande d’asile.” Langage et société 2(2): 81–110. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pilnick, Alison, and Robert Dingwall
2011 “On the remarkable persistence of asymmetry in doctor/patient interaction: A critical review.” Social Science and Medicine 72(8): 1374–1382. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Robinson, Jeffrey David
1998 “Getting down to business: Talk, gaze and body orientation during openings of doctor-patient consultations.” Human Communication Research 25(1): 98–124. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Robinson, Jeffrey David, and Tanya Stivers
2001 “Achieving activity transitions in physician-patient encounters: From history taking to physical examination.” Human Communication Research 27(2): 253–98. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sidnell, Jack, and Tanya Stivers
(eds) 2013 Handbook of Conversation Analysis. Chichester: Wiley Blackwell.Google Scholar
Starlander, Marianne
2016 Méta-évaluation de la traduction automatique de la parole (TAP) dans le domaine médical. PhD Dissertation: University of Geneva.
Ten Have, Paul
2006 “On the interactive constitution of medical encounters.” Revue française de linguistique appliquée XI1: 85–98. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ticca, Anna Claudia, and Véronique Traverso
2015 “Territoires corporels, ressenti et paroles d’action : des moments délicats de la consultation médicale avec interprète.” Langage et société 153(3): 45–74. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Traverso, Véronique
2017 “Formulations, reformulations et traductions dans l’interaction : le cas de consultations médicales avec des migrants.” Revue Française de Linguistique Appliquée 2 (22): 147–164. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vertovec, Steven
2007 “Super-diversity and its implications.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 301: 1024–1054. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Vollmer, Stefan
2017 “Syrian newcomers and their digital literacy practices.” Language Issues 28(2): 66–72.Google Scholar
Wadensjö, Cecilia
1998 Interpreting as Interaction. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Zavratnik, Simona, and Sanja Cukut Krilić
2018 “Digital routes, ‘digital migrants’: From empowerment to control over refugees’ digital footprints.” Družboslovne Razprave 34(89): 143–163.Google Scholar