Assessing the Manner of Speech in Australian Courts: A Study of Chinese-English Professional Interpreters in Remote Settings

Abstract

Professional interpreters are bound by the code of conduct to interpret everything that has been said in courts. In particular, the manner that the propositional content is conveyed in the target language. Using the experiment method and questionnaire instruments, the mixed-methods research investigates the manner of speech and its interpretation in virtual courtroom discourse during remote interpreting. The working article presents the initial findings from two questionnaire instruments: one for demographics and general knowledge about speech style and discourse markers, the other for views and strategies related to the manner of speech in the interpreted utterances. Questionnaire data collected from fifty consented interpreters revealed the three main views on the rendition of the manner of speech: complete disregard as “irrelevant”, verbatim rendition without pragmatic considerations, and pragmatic equivalents for its possible impact on the court decision, ethical conduct, and professionalism. The findings intend to inform future pedagogical practice.