Publications
Publication details [#60018]
Gavioli, Laura. 2015. On the distribution of responsibilities in treating critical issues in interpreter-mediated medical consultations: The case of “le spieghi(amo)”. Journal of Pragmatics 76 : 169–180.
Publication type
Article in journal
Publication language
English
Keywords
Place, Publisher
Elsevier
Journal WWW
Annotation
This study explores interactional sequences involving Italian doctors, English-speaking patients and language mediators serving as interpreters. Doctors rather unusually and repeatedly ask mediators to transfer what they are saying to the patients, for instance via terms like “le spieghi” (“explain to her”) or “le diciamo” (“let's tell her”). Such turn structures appear to bear a dual function: (a) notifying that the issue addressed in the doctor's turn may be critical, sensible or novel in some way; (b) projecting a participation of the language mediator to do “something more” than merely translate, e.g. clarify or handle the criticalities signified by the doctor, “redesigning” them for the patients.