Speak English or What?: Codeswitching and Interpreter Use in New York City Courts (Oxford Studies in Language and Law) - Hardcover

Angermeyer, Philipp Sebastian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 019933756X ISBN 13: 9780199337569

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2015

Synopsis

This book presents a study of interpreter-mediated interaction in New York City small claims courts, drawing on audio-recorded arbitration hearings and ethnographic fieldwork. Focusing on the language use of speakers of Haitian Creole, Polish, Russian, or Spanish, the study explores how these litigants make use of their limited proficiency in English, in addition to communicating with the help of professional court interpreters. Drawing on research on courtroom interaction, legal interpreting, and conversational codeswitching, the study explores how the ability of immigrant litigants to participate in these hearings is impacted by institutional language practices and underlying language ideologies, as well as by the approaches of individual arbitrators and interpreters who vary in their willingness to accommodate to litigants and share the burden of communication with them. Litigants are shown to codeswitch between the languages in interactionally meaningful ways that facilitate communication, but such bilingual practices are found to be in conflict with court policies that habitually discourage the use of English and require litigants to act as monolinguals, using only one language throughout the entire proceedings. Moreover, the standard distribution of interpreting modes in the courtroom is shown to disadvantage litigants who rely on the interpreter, as consecutive interpreting causes their narrative testimony to be less coherent and more prone to interruptions, while simultaneous interpreting often leads to incomplete translation of legal arguments or of their opponent's testimony. Consequently, the study raises questions about the relationship between linguistic diversity and inequality, arguing that the legal system inherently privileges speakers of English.

About this title

About the Author

Philipp Sebastian Angermeyer is Associate Professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics at York University.

Review

"This richly stimulating work is the product of ethnographic observations, interviews and extensive analysis of recorded interactions in several small claims courts in New York City. Although a good proportion is devoted to the analysis of code-switching and code-mixing in interpreter-mediated court interactions, the significance of the work extends beyond the micro level as it provides a comprehensive picture into organising and delivering interpreting services in a superdiverse social setting." -- Rebecca Tipton, IATIS Blog

"This book is logically structured and easy to read. In addition to a comprehensive analysis of research literature in the field, Angermeyer provides excellent examples which are then thoroughly analyzed and put into the wider framework of previous research results. Angermeyer strikes a good balance between theory and examples, offering new insights for researchers, interpreter trainers, court interpreters and students of interpreting. In addition, important consequences are drawn that are of interest to the legal profession and decision-makers not only in the United States but also elsewhere." -- Maria Bakti (University of Szeged), Target Vol. 30:1

"Speak English or What?: Codeswitching and Interpreter Use in New York City Courts by
Philipp Sebastian Angermeyer published in the Oxford Studies in Language and Law
series oers an investigation of interpreted-mediated hearings in small claims court in
New York...One of the major strengths of the book is the fact that it manages to combine insights from studies of bilingualism with research in interpreted-mediated communication,
and it does so with reference to language ideology. As such, it will be of interest
to researchers and postgraduate students working in the fields of linguistics as well as
translation studies. The context of the study means that legal professionals might also find the book useful, and although the analyses are described in linguistic terms, the
style is accessible and all main concepts are well introduced and explained."--Language and Law

"The extensive ethnographic fieldwork undertaken by the author must be praised, especially considering the fact that the corpus also includes various language combinations with English, namely Spanish, Haitian Creole, Russian and Polish. Given the fusion of sound research and academic rigor behind this book, it has all the potential of becoming an essential reference in this field. However, this book goes beyond court interpreting per se, spotlighting other topics that have been under-researched to date, such as codeswitching in interpreted interactions. For this, Angermeyer adopts a multidisciplinary approach combining theories from translation and interpreting studies, sociolinguistics, discourse studies, and forensic linguistics. The literature reviewed and discussed by the author is highly relevant for the topics under study, and could prove extremely valuable for any reader undertaking research in similar topics."--The Journal of Specialised Translation

"This book is logically structured and easy to read. In addition to a comprehensive
analysis of research literature in the field, Angermeyer provides excellent
examples which are then thoroughly analyzed and put into the wider framework
of previous research results. Angermeyer strikes a good balance between theory
and examples, offering new insights for researchers, interpreter trainers, court
interpreters and students of interpreting. In addition, important consequences are
drawn that are of interest to the legal profession and decision-makers not only in
the United States but also elsewhere." --Target

"On the whole, the volume offers clear evidence of the multiple ways in which
litigants speaking languages other than English in New York courtrooms (and
presumably elsewhere) are disempowered due to monolingual ideologies,
institutional and economic power relationships, and failures in the structuring and
process of interpreting. Litigants who do not speak English, who appear in court
without representation, who do not have interpreting available at all stages of the
legal process, and who are unfamiliar with the appropriate registers and ways of
presenting evidence do not get to tell their story in their own voice." --Sociolinguistic Studies

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 019933756X
• ISBN 13: 9780199337569
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 260