Small talk in interpreted interactions in a medical setting

Abstract

ABSTRACTEven though the importance of small talk in institutional interactions has been extensively demonstrated in sociolinguistic studies, it has never been the object of analysis in interpreted interactions. Given the interpreters' theoretically prescribed role as animator in such interactions, it is particularly interesting to investigate how interpreters deal with small talk, while this type of talk may also offer important opportunities to clients for constructing interpersonal relationships with professionals. This study focuses on recordings of naturally occurring interpreted interactions in a medical context and the analyses demonstrate that almost all small talk is oriented to the interpreters. These thus hold a pivotal role in small talk sequences and this allows them to do a wide variety of identity work far beyond the prescribed role of translator. Finally, there is only limited evidence that small talk may contribute to establishing an interpersonal relationship between clients and professionals across language barriers.