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Article published In: Translation and Interpreting Studies
Vol. 19:2 (2024) ► pp.257–276

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“Please make sure we don’t get this interpreter again”

Australian legal aid lawyers’ experience of working with interpreters

ORCiD logo with link | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Published online: 22 March 2024
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https://doi.org/10.1075/tis.21070.xu
Abstract
Based on data obtained from semi-structured interviews with legal aid lawyers in Australia, this study examines lawyers’ experience of working with interpreters in confidential legal settings. These interviews focused on lawyers’ knowledge of the interpreting profession and their expectations of interpreting services. The findings show that lawyers overall possess a sound knowledge of how to work with interpreters, as evidenced in their recognition of the interpreter’s ethical role, their awareness of the need to accommodate the interpreter’s professional needs, and their ability to use various strategies to evaluate interpreting quality. In terms of lawyers’ expectations, they value interpreters speaking the right dialect, being patient, and complying with ethical requirements. The lawyers’ expectations of interpreting services are closely related to their professional goal. However, lawyers raise serious issues about telephone interpreting, including interpreters not working in a secure location and engaging in other activities during interpreting.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Lawyers’ experience of working with interpreters
    • In the courtroom
    • In interpreter-facilitated legal interviews
  • The status quo of the interpreting profession in Australia
  • Method and data
    • Research method
    • Data collection and analysis
  • Results
    • Knowledge of how to work with interpreters
    • Expectations of interpreter competence
    • Issues with telephone interpreting
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (41)
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