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I am trying here to post quotations (for researchers) from studies talking about the necessity for interpreters to be educated in the law.
The review tries to see 1) is it necessary to introduce legal courses to the education of court interpreters, and 2) if yes, what should this legal knowledge be about?
1- Training for the New Millennium: Pedagogies for Translation and Interpreting
- From the pedagogical perspective it is clear that only a fully comprehensive
formative approach to the teaching of translation and translator education will
enable translators of the future to survive the far-reaching transformations that
the profession is undergoing. The breadth of perspective in terms of skills and
knowledge areas required of translators (Coulthard & Odber de Baubeta 1996)
are such that translation courses need to be multidimensional if they are to
cater for realistic translational market requirements in tomorrow’s world. First
and foremost, the importance of incorporating real world criteria within a
curriculum for translator training and education cannot be underestimated.
Trainee translators need to be prepared for the conditions they can expect to
find in their future working environment, bearing in mind that translation
is essentially a communicative activity that takes place within clear-cut sociocultural
and historical contexts.
- A training programme for translators will therefore ideally aim to develop,
within the framework of continuing education, a series of skills and competences
that are relevant to both their professional status and their future work.
- This broad educational process should begin at the
training stage in order to set trainee translators in good stead for what they will
encounter when they get out into the real world.
- Training interpreters:The goal of the training programme is to give the students a scientifically
based and principally practice-oriented education for working as interpreters
in public service institutions, courts and health services. The programme leads
to a Bachelor in interpreting with the chosen specialisation (court or medical).
The syllabus includes: Theoretical and practical problems of interpreting
and translation, interpreting at local authorities, in court, in hospital, translation
of general texts, translation of documents, terminology work, rhetoric,
psychology, basics of medicine or law, cultural knowledge, introduction to informatics,
data banks and information research. The students have two periods
of study abroad, in the fifth and sixth semester, at some partner university.
----------------------
NAATI
The knowledge test is an online test which covers a broad range of knowledge in the legal field, advanced interpreting knowledge, and ethical and intercultural competence as relevant to legal interpreting. Interpreting tasks will be based on real-life exchanges as encountered by interpreters in specialised legal contexts, at the level of experts communicating with other experts. Tasks will cover different legal domains and types of courts.
--------------
Switzerland
MuTra 2005 – Challenges of Multidimensional Translation: Conference Proceedings
© Copyright EU-High-Level Scientific Conference Series Court Interpreting:
Practical Experience and Implications for Training
Interpreters
Gertrud Hofer
Professional requirements cover an understanding of legal procedures in courts and
of corresponding terminology. Court interpreters must also have mastery of two
languages and extensive knowledge of the relevant cultural background. In addition,
their work demands knowledge of interpreting and notation techniques as well as of
the code of ethics.
Discussions with representatives of immigration courts and police officers as well as
participation in interpreting services at trials, interrogations, and legal examinations served as
further preparation for the development of educational measures. The following deficits were
identified as the most frequent:
· limited knowledge of the legal system and terminology
· insufficient knowledge of interpreting techniques and of the role of interpreters
· lack of language competence (particularly in German)
------
The Court Interpreters' Role and the Predicaments They Might Face
Soňa Záňová
- Pragmatic legal meaning: Sometimes, you do not have enough knowledge of the context or you are not as much acquainted in the case as all the other present. Very often the witnesses and defendants speak with the intention to conceal [everything] and not to tell anything specific, try to make the sentences confusing, ambiguous or even misuse the fact that they are interrogated via an interpreter.”
- -----
LEGAL EDUCATION OF COURT INTERPRETERS
AND SWORN TRANSLATORS UPON THE DIRECTIVE 2010/64/EU
Joanna OSIEJEWICZ
International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications
January 2015 Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Article: 19 ISSN 1309-6249
Copyright
Thus the
basic requirements for translating a legal text are as follows: proficiency in legal language(s), knowledge of the
legal system(s) and interpreting / translation skills.
- recipient and an indirect sender, it must not be forgotten, he is one and the same person, has only one brain
and the knowledge he has reconstructed in his brain after reception of the text A and the knowledge that has
served him to formulate the text B, are logically the same knowledge, regardless the practical aspect, that is
the language used in each case. At the end the final recipient decodes the meaning and the value of the
received text B and reconstructs the knowledge that has been used for the formulation of this text. Thus he
creates in his mind the knowledge, the meaning and the intentions, on which the production of the text A by
the initial sender was based and the expression of which was the intention of the initial sender (Osiejewicz,
2010: 361). This process is similar, both in translation and in interpretation, though of course there are
technical differences (Tryuk, 2006: 16).
--
Thus it is essential to pose a question whether it is better to teach lawyers languages instead of training
linguists in law, or in other words, who will better perform in this role: specialists with languages or specialised
translators. It is essential to point out, after World War I, there was even no profession of an interpreter in
Poland. This profession was mainly pursued by bilingual diplomats, officers, language teachers, scientists,
polyglots without a specific profession, whose speeches were regarded as a kind of art (Tryuk, 2007: 25).
However, the analysis of legal discourse and mediation in legal communication obviously requires both kinds of
knowledge. The key is to establish the proportion in order to determine when could a lawyer trained in the
translation and a linguist featuring an extensive knowledge in the field of law and constantly upgrading their
professional qualifications be a better translator / interpreter of legal texts.
---
Without doubt, however, the foundation for any legal translator / interpreter lies in an extensive
knowledge of substantive and procedural law, the judiciary, law enforcement activities and administration
combined with a specialized knowledge of legal language, as well as being entirely aware of the ways in which
legal knowledge is expressed in linguistic communication (e.g. pleedings in both languages).
A legal interpreter and translator cannot understand the information implicit in specialised texts without legal
training.
--
It is recommended to establish a special, preferably an inter-faculty,
field of study, namely translation / interpretation for authorities and law enforcement bodies, because that is
how students will be able to experience the complex character of the role they will be performing when they
embark on their careers.
--It is also impossible for sworn translators in Poland to choose a specialisation – they have to be skilled in each
branch of law, while lawyers are able to specialise. The abundance of branches of law, and hence the need to
master the terminology and substantive knowledge in all these areas, would be conductive to allowing
specialization, in particular with regard to the most commonly used languages. This would be beneficial for
both members of the judiciary who could benefit from translators specialising in a particular field and to the
interpreters themselves who could focus on training in a specific branch of law. Adding information about the
specialisation of specific translators to the register of sworn translators available at the Ministry of Justice
would directly contribute to improving the quality of translation and increase both the prestige of the
profession and trust in those who pursue it.
The review tries to see 1) is it necessary to introduce legal courses to the education of court interpreters, and 2) if yes, what should this legal knowledge be about?
1- Training for the New Millennium: Pedagogies for Translation and Interpreting
edited by Martha Tennent
- From the pedagogical perspective it is clear that only a fully comprehensive
formative approach to the teaching of translation and translator education will
enable translators of the future to survive the far-reaching transformations that
the profession is undergoing. The breadth of perspective in terms of skills and
knowledge areas required of translators (Coulthard & Odber de Baubeta 1996)
are such that translation courses need to be multidimensional if they are to
cater for realistic translational market requirements in tomorrow’s world. First
and foremost, the importance of incorporating real world criteria within a
curriculum for translator training and education cannot be underestimated.
Trainee translators need to be prepared for the conditions they can expect to
find in their future working environment, bearing in mind that translation
is essentially a communicative activity that takes place within clear-cut sociocultural
and historical contexts.
- A training programme for translators will therefore ideally aim to develop,
within the framework of continuing education, a series of skills and competences
that are relevant to both their professional status and their future work.
- This broad educational process should begin at the
training stage in order to set trainee translators in good stead for what they will
encounter when they get out into the real world.
- Training interpreters:The goal of the training programme is to give the students a scientifically
based and principally practice-oriented education for working as interpreters
in public service institutions, courts and health services. The programme leads
to a Bachelor in interpreting with the chosen specialisation (court or medical).
The syllabus includes: Theoretical and practical problems of interpreting
and translation, interpreting at local authorities, in court, in hospital, translation
of general texts, translation of documents, terminology work, rhetoric,
psychology, basics of medicine or law, cultural knowledge, introduction to informatics,
data banks and information research. The students have two periods
of study abroad, in the fifth and sixth semester, at some partner university.
----------------------
NAATI
The knowledge test is an online test which covers a broad range of knowledge in the legal field, advanced interpreting knowledge, and ethical and intercultural competence as relevant to legal interpreting. Interpreting tasks will be based on real-life exchanges as encountered by interpreters in specialised legal contexts, at the level of experts communicating with other experts. Tasks will cover different legal domains and types of courts.
--------------
Switzerland
MuTra 2005 – Challenges of Multidimensional Translation: Conference Proceedings
© Copyright EU-High-Level Scientific Conference Series Court Interpreting:
Practical Experience and Implications for Training
Interpreters
Gertrud Hofer
Professional requirements cover an understanding of legal procedures in courts and
of corresponding terminology. Court interpreters must also have mastery of two
languages and extensive knowledge of the relevant cultural background. In addition,
their work demands knowledge of interpreting and notation techniques as well as of
the code of ethics.
Discussions with representatives of immigration courts and police officers as well as
participation in interpreting services at trials, interrogations, and legal examinations served as
further preparation for the development of educational measures. The following deficits were
identified as the most frequent:
· limited knowledge of the legal system and terminology
· insufficient knowledge of interpreting techniques and of the role of interpreters
· lack of language competence (particularly in German)
------
The Court Interpreters' Role and the Predicaments They Might Face
Soňa Záňová
- Pragmatic legal meaning: Sometimes, you do not have enough knowledge of the context or you are not as much acquainted in the case as all the other present. Very often the witnesses and defendants speak with the intention to conceal [everything] and not to tell anything specific, try to make the sentences confusing, ambiguous or even misuse the fact that they are interrogated via an interpreter.”
- -----
LEGAL EDUCATION OF COURT INTERPRETERS
AND SWORN TRANSLATORS UPON THE DIRECTIVE 2010/64/EU
Joanna OSIEJEWICZ
International Journal on New Trends in Education and Their Implications
January 2015 Volume: 6 Issue: 1 Article: 19 ISSN 1309-6249
Copyright
Thus the
basic requirements for translating a legal text are as follows: proficiency in legal language(s), knowledge of the
legal system(s) and interpreting / translation skills.
- recipient and an indirect sender, it must not be forgotten, he is one and the same person, has only one brain
and the knowledge he has reconstructed in his brain after reception of the text A and the knowledge that has
served him to formulate the text B, are logically the same knowledge, regardless the practical aspect, that is
the language used in each case. At the end the final recipient decodes the meaning and the value of the
received text B and reconstructs the knowledge that has been used for the formulation of this text. Thus he
creates in his mind the knowledge, the meaning and the intentions, on which the production of the text A by
the initial sender was based and the expression of which was the intention of the initial sender (Osiejewicz,
2010: 361). This process is similar, both in translation and in interpretation, though of course there are
technical differences (Tryuk, 2006: 16).
--
Thus it is essential to pose a question whether it is better to teach lawyers languages instead of training
linguists in law, or in other words, who will better perform in this role: specialists with languages or specialised
translators. It is essential to point out, after World War I, there was even no profession of an interpreter in
Poland. This profession was mainly pursued by bilingual diplomats, officers, language teachers, scientists,
polyglots without a specific profession, whose speeches were regarded as a kind of art (Tryuk, 2007: 25).
However, the analysis of legal discourse and mediation in legal communication obviously requires both kinds of
knowledge. The key is to establish the proportion in order to determine when could a lawyer trained in the
translation and a linguist featuring an extensive knowledge in the field of law and constantly upgrading their
professional qualifications be a better translator / interpreter of legal texts.
---
Without doubt, however, the foundation for any legal translator / interpreter lies in an extensive
knowledge of substantive and procedural law, the judiciary, law enforcement activities and administration
combined with a specialized knowledge of legal language, as well as being entirely aware of the ways in which
legal knowledge is expressed in linguistic communication (e.g. pleedings in both languages).
A legal interpreter and translator cannot understand the information implicit in specialised texts without legal
training.
--
It is recommended to establish a special, preferably an inter-faculty,
field of study, namely translation / interpretation for authorities and law enforcement bodies, because that is
how students will be able to experience the complex character of the role they will be performing when they
embark on their careers.
--It is also impossible for sworn translators in Poland to choose a specialisation – they have to be skilled in each
branch of law, while lawyers are able to specialise. The abundance of branches of law, and hence the need to
master the terminology and substantive knowledge in all these areas, would be conductive to allowing
specialization, in particular with regard to the most commonly used languages. This would be beneficial for
both members of the judiciary who could benefit from translators specialising in a particular field and to the
interpreters themselves who could focus on training in a specific branch of law. Adding information about the
specialisation of specific translators to the register of sworn translators available at the Ministry of Justice
would directly contribute to improving the quality of translation and increase both the prestige of the
profession and trust in those who pursue it.
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