Cover not available

Article published In: Translation and Interpreting Studies
Vol. 13:2 (2018) ► pp.208–229

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
authorization required

Interpreter-mediated investigative interviews with minors

Setting the ground rules

 | Heriot-Watt University
 | University of London
Published online: 12 October 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.00012.bos
Abstract
When information is elicited from children in a criminal context, both their ability and willingness to disclose is at stake. In law, the communicative vulnerability of children is manifest in forensic protocols for interviewing children. These are designed to retrieve information in a child-aware fashion, as well as to produce evidence with sufficient integrity to stand up under the scrutiny of the criminal process. This article will consider some of the added challenges of interpreter-mediated interviews for minors. Drawing on research into monolingual child interviewing, the article proposes how some of the interpreting related aspects of this challenge may be addressed through the adaptation of elements of reflexive coordination in the widely used NICHD child interviewing protocol. The authors call for the data-based testing of these adaptations and suggests that modifications of institutional speech genres for bilingual use may be a component of mainstreaming public service interpreting.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Forensic child interviews
  • Interpreting in investigative settings with minors
  • The pre-substantive phase of the NICHD protocol
  • Reflexive coordination in interpreted interaction
  • Modifying the NICHD protocol for bilingual interaction
  • Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
References (76)
References
Amato, Amalie, and Gabriele Mack. 2015. “Briefing, Debriefing and Support.” In Children and Justice: Overcoming Language Barriers, ed. by Katalin Balogh, and Heidi Salaets, 247–280. Cambridge: Intersentia.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Interpreters and Translators (AUSIT). 2012. AUSIT Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct. Melbourne. Available at: [URL]. Last accessed 13 May 2018.
Balogh, Katalin, and Heidi Salaets (eds). 2015. Children and Justice: Overcoming Language Barriers. Cambridge: Intersentia.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baraldi, Claudio, and Laura Gavioli (eds). 2012. Co-ordinating Participation in Dialogue Interpreting. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berk-Seligson, Susan. 2000. “Interpreting for the Police: Issues in Pre-trail Phases of the Judicial Process.” Forensic Linguistics. The Journal of Speech, Language and the Law 7(2): 1350–1771.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2009. Coerced Confessions: The Discourse of Bilingual Police Interrogations. New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blakemore, Diane. 2010. “Communication and the Representation of Thought: The Use of Audience-directed Expressions in Free Direct Thought Representations.” Journal of Linguistics 46(3): 575–599. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blakemore, Diane, and Fabrizio Gallai. 2014. “Discourse Markers in Free Indirect Style and Interpreting.” Journal of Pragmatics 601: 106–120. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bot, Hanneke, 2005. Dialogue Interpreting in Mental Health. Amsterdam: Rodopi.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Carter, Cathleen A., Bette L. Bottoms, and Murray Levine. 1996. “Linguistic and Socioemotional Influences in the Accuracy of Children’s Reports.” Law and Human Behaviour 20(3): 335–358. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ceci, Stephen J., and Maggie Bruck. 1995. Jeopardy in the Courtroom: A Scientific Analysis of Children’s Testimony. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Colin, Joan, and Ruth Morris. 1996. Interpreters and the Legal Process. Winchester: Waterside Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Davidson, Brad. 2000. “The Interpreter as Institutional Gatekeeper: The Social-linguistic Role of Interpreters in Spanish-English Medical Discourse.” Journal of Sociolinguistics 4(3): 379–405. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dimitrova Englund, Birgitta. 1993. “Turntaking in Interpreted Discourse: Interplay of Implicit and Explicit Rules.” In Problemi na sociolinvistikata. Ezikovata situacija v mikro-i makrosocialnite obstnosti, ed. by Kiril Cankov, 15–21. Veliko Tarnovo: Universitetsko izdatelstvo.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
European Commission. 2014. Europa Press-release. Available at: [URL]. 6 June 2014. Last accessed 13 May 2018.
Fontes, Lisa A., and Amy C. Tishelman. 2016. “Language Competence in Forensic Interviews for Suspected Child Sexual Abuse.” Child Abuse & Neglect 581: 51–62. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gallai, Fabrizio. 2013a. Discourse Markers in Interpreter-mediated Police Interviews: An Interdisciplinary Approach. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. University of Salford.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gallai, Fabrizzio. 2013b. “I’ll Just Intervene When he Finds it a Bit Difficult to Answer.” Exploding the Myth of Literalism in Interpreter-mediated Interviews. ” Investigative Interviewing: Research and Practice 5(1): 57–78.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gallai, Fabrizio. 2016. “Point of View in Free Indirect Thought and in Community Interpreting.” Lingua 175–1761: 97–12. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2007. Community Interpreting. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heydon, Georgina, and Miranda Lai. 2013. “Police Interviews Mediated by Interpreters: An Exercise in Dimishment?” Investigative Interview: Research and Practice 5(2): 82–98.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holliday, Robin. E., Douglas M. Karen, and Brett Hayes. 1999. “Children’s Eye-witness Suggestibility: Memory Trace Strength Revisited.” Cognitive Development 14(3): 443–462. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kassin, Saul M., Steven A. Drizin, Thomas Grisso, Gisli H. Gudjonsson, Richard A. Leo, and Alison D. Redlich. 2010. “Police-induced Confessions: Risk Factors and Recommendations.” Law and Human Behaviour (34): 3–38. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Keselman, Olga, Ann-Christin Cederborg, Michael E. Lamb, and Örjan Dahlström. 2008. “Mediated Communication with Minors in Asylum-Seeking Hearings.” Journal of Refugee Studies 21(1): 103–116. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Keselman, Olga. 2009. Restricting Participation. Unaccompanied Children in Interpreter-mediated Asylum Hearings in Sweden. Linköping Studies in Arts and Science: Linköping.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Keselman, Olga, Ann-Christin Cederborg, and Per Linell. 2010. “‘That is not Necessary for you to Know!’ Negotiation of Participation Status of Unaccompanied Children in Interpreter-mediated Asylum Hearings.” Interpreting (12)11: 84–104.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Keselman, Olga, Ann-Christin Cederborg, Michael E. Lamb, and Örjam Dahlström. 2010. “Asylum Seeking Minors in Interpreter-mediated Interviews: What Do They Say and What Happens to Their Responses?” Journal of Child and Family Social Work 21(1): 103–116.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
King, Catherine. 2015. “Highly Vulnerable Child Suspects. Signed Language Interpreter.” In Children and Justice: Overcoming Language Barriers, ed. by Katalin Balogh and Heidi Salaets. 158–165. Cambridge: Intersentia.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Komter, Martha. 2005. “Understanding Problems in an Interpreter-mediated Police Interrogation.” In Ethnographies of Law and Social Control, ed. by Stacy Lee Burns, 203–224. Bingley: Emerald. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Krouglov, Alex. 1999. “Politeness and Sociocultural Context.” The Translator 5(2): 285–302. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lamb, Michael E., Kathleen J. Sternberg, Yael Orbach et al. 2003. “Age Differences in Young Children’s Responses to Open-ended Invitations in the Course of Forensic Interviews.” Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 71(5): 926–934. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lamb, Michael E., and Deirdre A. Brown. 2006. “Conversational Apprentices: Helping Children Become Competent Informants about their Own Experiences.” British Journal of Developmental Psychology 24(1): 215–234. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lamb, Michael E. et al. 2007. “A Structured Forensic Interview Protocol Improves the Quality and Informativeness of Investigative Interviews with Children: A Review of Research Using the NICHD Investigative Interview Protocol.” Child Abuse & Neglect 31(11–12): 1201–1231. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lamb, Michael E., Irit Hershkowitz, Yael Orbach et al. 2008. Tell me What Happened: Structured Investigative Interviews of Child Victims and Witnesses. Chichester: Wiley. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lamb, Michael E., David J. LaRooy, Lindsay C. Malloy et al. (eds). 2011. Children’s Testimony: A Handbook of Psychological Research and Forensic Practice. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Linell, Per, Linda Jönsson and Cecilia Wadensjö. 1992. “Establishing Communicative Contact through a Dialogue Interpreter.” In LSP Communication/Fachsprachliche Kommunikation, ed. by Anette Grindsted and Johannes Wagner. Tübingen: Narr Verlag: 125–42.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
LaRooy, David J., Elizabeth C. Ahern, Samantha J. Andrews. 2015. “Developmentally Appropriate Interviewing of Highly Vulnerable Children: A Developmental Psychology Perspective.” In Children and Justice: Overcoming Language Barriers, ed. by Katalin Balogh, and Heidi Salaets, 113–131. Cambridge: Intersentia.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lai, Miranda, and Sedat Mulayim. 2014. “Interpreter Linguistic Intervention in the Strategies Employed by Police in Investigative Interviews.” Police Practice and Research 14(4):307–321. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marschark, Marc, Patricia Sapere, Carol Convertino et al. 2005. “Educational Interpreting: Access and Outcomes.” In Sign Language Interpreting and Interpreter Education: Directions for Research and Practice, ed. by Marc Marschark, Rico Peterson, Elizabeth A. Winston, 57–83. New York: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maryns, Katrijn. 2006. The Asylum Speaker: Language in the Belgian Asylum Procedure. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mason, Ian. 2000. “Models and Methods in Dialogue Interpreting Research.” In Intercultural Faultlines. Research Models in Translation Studies I. Textual and Cognitive Aspects, ed. by Maeve Olohan, 215–232. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2012. “Gaze, Positioning and Identity in Interpreter-mediated Dialogues.” In Co-ordinating Participation in Dialogue Interpreting, ed. by Claudio Baraldi and Laura Gavioli. 177–200. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mason, Ian, Wen Ren. 2012. “Power in Face-to-face Interpreting Events.” The Sociological Turn in Translation and Interpreting Studies 7(2): 234–253. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Metzger, Melanie. 2002. Sign Language Interpreting. Deconstructing the Myth of Neutrality. Washington: Gallaudet University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mikkelson, Holly. 2010. “Consecutive or Simultaneous? An Analysis of their Use in the Judicial Setting.” Accross the Board 5(1): 4–7.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ministry of Justice. 2011. Achieving Best Evidence in Criminal Proceedings. Guidance on Interviewing Victims and Witnesses, and Guidance on Using Special Measures. Available at: [URL]. Last accessed 13 May 2018.
Nakane, Ikuko. 2007. “Problems in Communicating the Suspect’s Rights in Interpreted Police Interviews.” Applied Linguistics 28(1) 87–112. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2009. ’The Myth of an Invisible Mediator: An Australian Case Study of English Japanese Police Interpreting.” Portal 6(1) 1–16.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2011. “The Role of Silence in Interpreted Police Interviews.” Journal of Pragmatics 43(9) 2317–2330. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 2014. Interpreter Mediated Police Interviews. A Discourse-Pragmatic Approach. London, New York: Palgrave MacMillan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
National Institute for Child Health and Development. 2014. NICHD Protocol. Available at: [URL] Last accessed 13 May 2018.
Nilsen, Anne-Birgitta. 2013. “Exploring Interpreting for Young Children.” The International Journal of Translation and Interpreting Research 5(2): 14–29. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pavlenko, Aneta. 2008. “‘I’m Very not about the Law Part.’ Non-native Speakers of English and the Miranda Warnings.” TESOL Quarterly 42(1): 1–30. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Poole, Debra A., Bruck, Maggie, Pipe, Margaret Ellen. 2011. “Forensic Interviewing Aids: Do Props Help Children Answer Questions About Touching?” Current Directions in Psychological Science 201: 11–15. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Russell, S. 2004. “Three’s a Crowd: Shifting Dynamics in the Interpreted Interview.” In Language in the Legal Process, ed. by Janet Cotterill, 111–126, Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Russell, Sonia. 2000. “‘Let Me Put it Simply…’: the Case for a Standard Translation of the Police Caution and its Explanation.” International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law 7(1): 26–48. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scottish Government. 2011. Guidance on Joint Investigative Interviewing of Child Witnesses in Scotland. Available at : [URL] Last accessed 13 May 2018.
Sternberg, Kathleen. J., Michael E. Lamb, Yael Orbach, et al. 2001. “Use of a Structured Investigative Protocol Enhances Young Children’s Free-recall Prompts in the Course of Forensic Interviews.” Journal of Applied Psychology 86(5): 997–1005. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sternberg, Kathleen J., Philip W. Esplin, Yael Orbach, and Irit Herschkowitz. 2002. “Using a Structured Protocol to Improve the Quality of Investigative Interviews.” In Memory and Suggestibility in the Forensic Interview, ed. by Mitchell L. Eisen, Jodie A. Quas, Gail. S. Goodman, 409–436. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Solm, Lucy. 2015. “Interpreting Techniques.” In: Children and Justice: Overcoming Language Barriers, ed. by Katalin Balogh, and Heidi Salaets. Cambridge: Intersentia.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tebble, Helen. 2012. “Interpreting or Interfering?” In Co-ordinating Participation in Dialogue Interpreting, ed. by Claudio Baraldi, and Laura Gavioli. 177–200. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Teoh, Yee-San, Michael E. Lamb. 2010. “Preparing Children for Investigative Interviews: Rapport Building. Instruction and Evaluation.” Applied Developmental Science 14(3): 154–163. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tipton, Rebecca. 2010. “On Trust: Relationships of Trust in Interpreter-mediated Social Work Encounters.” In Text and Context: Essays on Translation and Interpreting in Honour of Ian Mason, ed. by Mona Baker, Maeve Olohan, and María Calzada Perez. 188–208. Manchester: St Jerome.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tribe, Rachel, and Marsha Sanders. 2003. “Training Issues for Interpreters Working in Mental Health.” In Undertaking Mental Health Work Using Interpreters, ed. by Rachel Tribe, Marsha Sanders, and Hitesh Raval, 54–68. New York: Brunner-Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
The Ministry of Justice. 2011. The Ministry of Justice’s Guidelines on Achieving Best Evidence (ABE). Available at [URL]. Last accessed 13 May 2018.
Virág, György. 2015. “Interpreted Interviews with Highly Vulnerable Children.” In Children and Justice: Overcoming Language Barriers, ed. by Katalin Balogh and Heidi Salaets, 77–112. Cambridge: Intersentia. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
United Nations. 2000. UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Available at [URL]. Last accessed 13 May 2018.
Wadensjö, Cecilia. 1997. “English Recycled Information as Questioning Strategy: Pitfalls in Interpreter-mediated Talk.” In The Critical Link: Interpreters in the Community, ed. by Silvana. A. Carr, Roda P. Roberts, and Aideen Dufour, 35–52. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. 1998. Interpreting as Interaction: On Dialogue Interpreting in Immigration Hearings and Medical Encounters. Linköping: University of Linköping.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (4)

Cited by four other publications

Remue, Lotte, Floor Verhaeghe, Ilse Derluyn & Katrijn Maryns
2024. Conflicting Expectations of Interpreters’ Roles in the Interaction between Guardians and Unaccompanied Minors. The British Journal of Social Work 54:6 ► pp. 2396 ff. DOI logo
Tryuk, Małgorzata
2023. Tłumaczenie dzieci i dla dzieci w obecnej sytuacji migracyjnej w Polsce. Przekładaniec :46 ► pp. 21 ff. DOI logo
Ernberg, Emelie, Mikaela Magnusson, Linnea Koponen & Sara Landström
2022. “It doesn't work at all, that's my experience”: Swedish forensic interviewers' views on interpreter-mediated child interviews. Child Abuse & Neglect 127 ► pp. 105540 ff. DOI logo
Monteoliva-García, Eloísa
2020. The collaborative and selective nature of interpreting in police interviews with stand-by interpreting. Interpreting. International Journal of Research and Practice in Interpreting 22:2 ► pp. 262 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 6 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue