Pragmalinguistic challenges for trainee interpreters in achieving accuracy

Interpreting ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-116
Author(s):  
Xin Liu
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Illocutionary Force ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
Institutional Setting ◽  
Reported Speech ◽  
South Wales ◽  
High Level ◽  
The University ◽  
The Way

Abstract In cross-examination, questions are used by counsel as powerful tools to control witness testimonies. In bilingual courtrooms, conveying the subtlety in the use of questions from one language to another is crucial for all participants. However, achieving a high level of accuracy is extremely demanding due to the intricacy of courtroom discourse and the complexity of interpreting in such an institutional setting. Drawing on a moot court exercise at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, this study investigates the most common pragmalinguistic challenges for trainee interpreters in achieving accuracy when interpreting cross-examination questions from English to Mandarin. Findings show that it can be challenging to produce pragmatically accurate renditions: Mandarin interpretations have an overall weakened illocutionary force compared to the original English questions. In particular, declaratives, reported speech declaratives, modal interrogatives, and tag questions are found to be difficult to interpret into Mandarin. This paper also explores the way the illocutionary force of the interpreted questions deviates from the original and the possible causes for this shift. Findings point to the need to enhance pragmatic competence among trainee interpreters, which in turn will require specialised training for interpreters working in legal settings.

Habitat preference, diet and demography of the smoky mouse, Pseudomys fumeus (Rodentia : Muridae), in south-eastern New South Wales

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Ford ◽  
Andrew Cockburn ◽  
Linda Broome
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Preference ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Habitat Choice ◽  
Early Spring ◽  
Suitable Habitat ◽  
Dietary Preference ◽  
Winter Diet ◽  
South Wales ◽  
High Level

The smoky mouse, Pseudomys fumeus, is an endangered rodent for which ecological information is lacking across much of its range. This paper provides the first detailed study of the local diet and habitat preference of P. fumeus since 1980, conducted on the recently discovered Nullica population in New South Wales. Diet and trap-revealed movements were examined in conjunction with 18 characteristics of habitat to determine the factors influencing habitat choice. Multiple logistic regression of habitat variables and capture locations revealed a floristically determined preference for heath habitat characterised by Epacris impressa, Monotoca scoparia, Leptospermum trinervium, Xanthorrhoea spp. and a variety of legumes. Hypogeal fungi and seeds were the most common food items in the diet of P. fumeus. Fungi were most abundant in winter diet, while seeds and fruit became dominant in late spring and summer. The spring and summer preference for ridge-top heath habitats observed in this study is probably the result of this dietary preference. Resident females constituted 71% of the population in early spring. However, there was a severe decline in numbers of female mice during early spring, and resident males also disappeared from the population. Causes of the decline were unclear. Five of eleven males captured during this study were transient, while no transient females were caught. The sudden decline in the study population, combined with the patchy distribution of suitable habitat and high level of male transience, suggests that P. fumeus form a metapopulation in the Nullica region.

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