The Discourse of Court Interpreting: Hale

Review　

This book explores the intricacies of court interpreting through a thorough analysis of the authentic discourse of the English-speaking participants, the Spanish-speaking witnesses and the interpreters. Written by a practitioner, educator and researcher, the book presents the reader with real issues that most court interpreters face during their work and shows through the results of careful research studies that interpreter’s choices can have varying degrees of influence on the triadic exchange. It aims to raise the practitioners’ awareness of the significance of their choices and attempts to provide a theoretical basis for interpreters to make informed decisions rather than intuitive ones. It also suggests solutions for common problems. The book highlights the complexities of court interpreting and argues for thorough training for practicing interpreters to improve their performance as well as for better understanding of their task from the legal profession. Although the data is drawn from Spanish-English cases, the main results can be extended to any language combination. The book is written in a clear, accessible language and is aimed at practicing interpreters, students and educators of interpreting, linguists and legal professionals.

Table of contents

“This book is a must for all those who either work with court interpreters or who themselves practice the profession of interpreting. By generating an impressively rich collection of data, Sandra Hale provides linguists, interpreters and legal practitioners alike with invaluable insights into the multiple ways in which pragmatics has a crucial role to play in interpreted legal proceedings. Discourse analysts, in particular, would have much to gain from the important findings of Hale’s research.”
Susan Berk-Seligson, University of Pittsburgh

“Sandra Hale's contribution is certainly to be added to the few serious attempts to get to grips with the intricacies of community interpreting.”
Basil Hatim, American University of Sharjah, UAE

http://www.benjamins.com/cgi-bin/t_bookview.cgi?bookid=BTL%2052 

http://linguistlist.org/issues/16/16-1381.html