Decisions about turns Essay

Overlapping talk is Ð ° difficult dilemma for interpreters. Whether the talk is simply of Ð ° back-channel nature or will become an attempt to take Ð ° turn does not deny its potential meaningfulness in conversational activity. As overlapping talk begins, any prediction as to its eventual length is Ð ° fifty-fifty probability. In interpreted conversation, the only participant who can begin to comprehend the import of overlapping talk is the interpreter (who may also be the first to realize that overlapping talk is occurring). Acting on these communicative â€Å"problems,† and acting on them quickly, is what interpreter’s do. On what basis do interpreters make decisions about strategies such as stopping speakers, ignoring talk, and offering turns? Predicting how conversational activity will proceed is difficult, particularly when the participants are relatively unknown to the interpreter. The Interpreter in this study explained that most of the time he judges the purpose of Ð ° new utterance by simultaneously considering what has been said, who has said it, and what the topic is or by waiting until the first parts of an utterance are produced to see if he can predict its import or direction. During this meeting the Interpreter consistently stopped the Student and never stopped the Professor, the Interpreter did not interpret the Student’s contributions to the conversation four times. Many interpreters who are concerned, and rightly so, about the rights and equal treatment of minority speakers, might argue that the Interpreter did not act appropriately or was acting in Ð ° way that oppressed the Student. However, conversations with the Professor and Student suggest that issues of equality and rights were not among their priorities. The Student chose this Interpreter because of his fluency in ASL and his attitude. As І discussed previously, the Student had come to the Professor for advice and assistance and was glad that the Interpreter had stopped him. He wanted to hear (see) what the Professor had to say. The Professor was concerned about evaluating the narrative, discussing the idea from class, and getting copies of the narrative to other students. Under the constraint of time and the knowledge that other students were waiting to see her, she did not want Ð ° prolonged meeting. During the playback interview, І asked the Interpreter about his decisions when overlapping talk occurs. First, he mentioned that if the two primary speakers begin at the same time, he interprets what he hears, literally He said, â€Å"І think І am more inclined to go with the voice than І am with signs, І have to be honest. So if they both start at once, І will start signing [interpret what І hear in English] The Deaf person stops and І continue. † When asked if there could be any other reason other than hearing English, he replied, â€Å"Is it Ð ° matter of equality? This is her office, her territory. So he [the Student] is the outsider coming in so І think that takes Ð ° lot of rein, too† The Interpreter â€Å"knows† many things. He knows that this is the Professor’s territory; he knows that her conversational style includes persistence on topics; he knows that teachers have more status, if not authority, than students; and he knows that the Student has come to get information from the Professor. As the Interpreter assimilates and acts on these different bits of knowledge, it appears that many of the Interpreter’s decisions were acceptable and also appropriate and successful. Decisions that allow the Professor to talk actually favor the Student; it benefits him for the Interpreter to stop him so that the Professor can say what she wants. Undoubtedly, all these factors and more play Ð ° role in interpreter decisions about turns with overlapping talk. To what degree roles, prestige, status, authority, language prestige, culture, and other factors contribute to an interpreter’s decisions remains Ð ° subject for future study.